Developing an Engineering Based Integrity Management Program for Piping, Pipelines, and Plant Equipment

ABSTRACT:

Establishing integrity for piping and pipelines requires an understanding of the specific threats, their relationship to the overall condition of the system, and the mitigating measures required to assure safe operation. In the past, industry has relied on years of research and experience to develop a set of tools to analyze these threats and apply conservative solutions to ensure integrity and fitness for service. An effective integrity management program as discussed in this paper, known as the Engineering Based Integrity Management Program (EB-IMP), provides operators with a resource for integrating inspection results, analysis, and testing to qualify the components within a pressurized system. This paper presents a detailed discussion on how experience, advances in analytical techniques, experimental methods, and engineering rigor are combined to develop a tool to characterize and ensure system integrity. Several case studies are included to demonstrate how the EB-IMP method was used to evaluate the integrity of a piping system, as well as rail gondola cars used to transport coal. The intent with the approach presented in this paper is to foster further.

Alexander, C., Bedoya, J., “Developing An Engineering Based Integrity Management Program For Piping, Pipelines, And Plant Equipment”, Proceedings of the ASME 2014 Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference, PVP 2014-28256, July 20-24, 2014, Anaheim, CA, USA