Tags: Consequence Probability Process Safety Management Risk Risk Based Inspection
How the application of qualitative RBI helped a client prioritize equipment damage mitigation in order to effectively scope a refurbishment project and achieve their system reliability goals. This scenario highlights a significant problem for some refrigeration system owner/users who may be maintaining their assets as prescribed but are unaware of the damage mechanisms that could affect the reliability of their assets and safety of their personnel.
In light of Mike Hurley's recent post on Process Safety Management (PSM) and Commercial Refrigeration, I wanted to share the scope and results of a Qualitative RBI study employed to prioritize inspection and repairs for a commercial refrigeration unit ahead of a refurbishment project.
Background:The client used a redundant refrigeration system to maintain product storage temperatures within a relatively tight tolerance that was required by the FDA. The system was fourteen (14) years old and had been maintained per the manufacturer's recommendations. Manufacturer's recommended maintenance did not account for the two (2) biggest damage mechanisms affecting the refrigeration unit: the water quality of the system and corrosion under insulation (CUI). Failures were already occurring in the process, and the client needed the highest level of reliability in this system to avoid product spoilage.
RBI Approach:A qualitative RBI Assessment was recommended to address the needs of the client. The equipment was divided into basic components for a total of ninety-three (93) components. A non-standard risk matrix with three (3) criticality levels was developed based on the needs of the client.
Probability of FailureProbability of Failure (POF) was determined by using the following:
Consequence of Failure (COF) was determined with the client for each component. A methodology was drafted to capture different impacts (Safety, Environmental, System Operability and Storage Room Operability). Each component was then ranked from High to Low based on five (5) different criteria for each impact.
Project Results:Risk was then defined for each asset by merging POF and COF, the results of which had shown:
The application of qualitative RBI helped this client prioritize equipment damage mitigation in order to effectively scope a refurbishment project and achieve their system reliability goals. This scenario highlights a significant problem for some refrigeration system owner/users who may be maintaining their assets as prescribed but are unaware of the damage mechanisms that could affect the reliability of their assets and safety of their personnel.
We have found that refrigeration systems are often overlooked as their integrity is typically managed by personnel outside of the compliance-related, asset integrity industry.
Qualitative RBI is just one of the tools we can use to help owner/users better understand and effectively manage their asset integrity and reliability.
Are the damage mechanisms properly identified and mitigated for your refrigeration assets?
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