Department of Materials and

Metallurgical Engineering

Planning the RBI

Assessment
 A RBI assessment is a team-based process. At the
beginning, it is important to define:
• Why the assessment is being one. • Which facilities, assets, and
components will be included.
• How the RBI assessment will be
carried out. • What data is to be used in the
assessment.
• What knowledge and skills are
• What codes and standards are
required for the assessment. applicable.
• Who is on the RBI team. • When the assessment will be
• What are their roles in the RBI completed.
process. • How long the assessment will remain
• Who is responsible and in effect and when it will be updated.
accountable for what actions. • How the results will be used.

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 ESTABLISHING OBJECTIVES AND GOALS OF
A RBI ASSESSMENT
• A RBI assessment should be undertaken with clear objectives and
goals that are fully understood by all members of the RBI team and
by management.
• Understand Risks
• Define Risk Criteria
• Management of Risks
• Reduce Costs
• Meet Safety and Environmental Management Requirements
• Sort Mitigation Alternatives
• New Project Risk Assessment
• Facilities End of Life Strategies

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 Department of Materials and
Metallurgical Engineering

INITIAL SCREENING
 INITIAL SCREENING
• Establish Physical Boundaries of a RBI Assessment
• Facilities Screening
• Process Units Screening
• Systems within Process Units Screening
• Equipment Items Screening
• Utilities, Emergency and Off-plot Systems

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 ESTABLISH OPERATING
BOUNDARIES
• Start-up and Shut-down
• Normal, Upset and Cyclic Operation
• Operating Time Period

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 SELECTING A TYPE OF RBI
ASSESSMENT
• Selection of the type of RBI assessment will be dependent
on a variety of factors, such as:
1. Is the assessment at a facility, process unit, system, equipment
item or component level.
2. Objective of the assessment.
3. Availability and quality of data.
4. Resource availability.
5. Perceived or previously evaluated risks.
6. Time constraints.

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 SELECTING A TYPE OF RBI
ASSESSMENT
• A strategy should be developed, matching the type of assessment
to the expected or evaluated risk.
• For example, processing units that are expected to have lower
risk may only require simple, fairly conservative methods to
adequately accomplish the RBI objectives. Whereas, process
units which have a higher expected risk may require more
detailed methods.
• Another example would be to evaluate all equipment items in a
process unit qualitatively and then evaluate the higher risk items
identified more quantitatively.

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 ESTIMATING RESOURCES AND TIME
REQUIRED
• The resources and time required to implement a RBI
assessment will vary widely between organizations depending
on a number of factors including:
• Implementation strategy/plans.
• Knowledge and training of implementers.
• Availability and quality of necessary data and information.
• Availability and cost of resources needed for implementation.
• Amount of equipment included in each level of RBI analysis.
• Degree of complexity of RBI analysis selected.
• Degree of accuracy required.

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 ESTIMATING RESOURCES AND TIME
REQUIRED
• The estimate of scope and cost involved in completing a RBI
assessment might include the following:
• Number of facilities, units, equipment items, and components to be
evaluated.
• Time and resources required to gather data for the items to be
evaluated.
• Training time for implementers.
• Time and resources required for RBI assessment of data and
information.
• Time and resources to evaluate RBI assessment results and develop
inspection, maintenance, and mitigation plans.

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 ESTIMATING RESOURCES AND TIME
REQUIRED
• RBI DATA NEEDS
• DATA QUALITY
• CODES AND STANDARDS—NATIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL  The amount and type of codes and
standards used by a facility can have a significant impact on
RBI results.
• SOURCES OF SITE SPECIFIC DATA AND
INFORMATION

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 RBI DATA NEEDS
• A RBI study may use a qualitative,
semi-quantitative and/or quantitative
approach. The fundamental
difference among these approaches is
the amount and detail of input,
calculations and output.
• Typical data needed for a RBI
analysis may include but is not
limited to:
1. Type of equipment.
2. Materials of construction.
3. Inspection, repair and replacement
records.
05/09/2023
4. Process fluid compositions.
5. Inventory of fluids.
6. Operating conditions.
7. Safety systems.
8. Detection systems.
9. Deterioration mechanisms, rates and
severity.
10. Personnel densities.
11. Coating, cladding and insulation
data.
12. Business interruption cost.
13. Equipment replacement costs.
14. Environmental remediation costs.
Slide - 12
 RBI DATA NEEDS
• Qualitative  items required only need to be categorized into broad ranges or
classified versus a reference point. It is important to establish a set of rules to
assure consistency in categorization or classification. Generally, a qualitative
analysis using broad ranges requires a higher level of judgment, skill and
understanding from the user than a quantitative approach.
• Quantitative  Quantitative risk analysis uses logic models depicting
combinations of events that could result in severe accidents and physical models
depicting the progression of accidents and the transport of a hazardous material to
the environment. Hence, more detailed information and data are needed for
quantitative RBI in order to provide input for the models.
• Semi-quantitative  The semi-quantitative analysis typically requires the same
data as a quantitative analysis but generally not as detailed. For example, the fluid
volumes may be estimated. Although the precision of the analysis may be less, the
time required for data gathering and analysis will be less too.
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 Data Quality
• The data quality has a direct relation to the relative accuracy of the RBI
analysis. Although the data requirements are quite different for the various types
of RBI analysis, quality of input data is equally important.
• This assumption can significantly impact the calculated corrosion rate early in
the equipment’s life. The effect may be to mask a high corrosion rate or to
inflate a low corrosion rate. A similar situation exists when the remaining life of
a piece of equipment with a low corrosion rate requires inspection more
frequently. The measurement error may result in the calculated corrosion rate
appearing artificially high or low.
• This validation step stresses the need for a knowledgeable individual comparing
data from the inspections to the expected deterioration mechanism and rates.
This review should also factor in any changes or upsets in the process.

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 SOURCES OF SITE SPECIFIC DATA AND
INFORMATION
• Information for RBI can be found in many places within a
facility. It is important to stress that the precision of the data
should match the complexity of the RBI method used.
• The individual or team should understand the sensitivity of
the data needed for the program before gathering any data.
• It may be advantageous to combine RBI data gathering with
other risk/hazard analysis data gathering (e.g., PHA, QRA)
as much of the data overlaps.

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 Specific potential sources of information include but
are not limited to:
• Design and Construction Records/Drawings  P&IDs, PFDs, MFDs, etc., Piping isometric drawings., Engineering
specification sheets., Materials of construction records., Construction QA/QC records., Codes and standards used.,
Protective , Instrument systems., Leak detection and monitoring systems., Isolation systems., Inventory records.,
Emergency depressurizing and relief systems., Safety systems., Fire-proofing and fire fighting systems., Layout.
• Inspection Records.  Schedules and frequency., Amount and types of inspection., Repairs and alterations., PMI records.,
Inspection results.,
• Process Data.  Fluid composition analysis including contaminants or, trace components., Distributed control system
data., Operating procedures., Start-up and shut-down procedures., Emergency procedures., Operating logs and process
records., PSM, PHA, RCM and QRA data or reports.,
• Management of change (MOC) records.
• Off-Site data and information—if consequence may affect off-site areas.
• Failure data.  Generic failure frequency data—industry or in-house., Industry specific failure data., Plant and equipment
specific failure data., Reliability and condition monitoring records., Leak data.
• Site conditions.  Climate/weather records., Seismic activity records.,
• Equipment replacement costs.  Project cost reports., Industry databases.
• Hazards data.  PSM studies., PHA studies., QRA studies., Other site specific risk or hazard studies.
• Incident investigations.

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 Department of Materials and
Metallurgical Engineering

Identifying Deterioration
Mechanisms and Failure
Modes
 Introduction
• Identification of the appropriate deterioration mechanisms, susceptibilities and failure
modes for all equipment included in a RBI study is essential to the quality and the
effectiveness of the RBI evaluation.
• A metallurgist or corrosion specialist should be consulted to define the equipment
deterioration mechanisms, susceptibility and potential failure modes.
• Data used and assumptions made should be validated and documented. Process
conditions (normal and upset) as well as anticipated process changes should be
considered in the evaluation.
• The deterioration mechanisms, rates and susceptibilities are the primary inputs into the
probability of failure evaluation.
• The failure mode is a key input in determining the consequence of failure except when
a worst case consequence analysis, assuming total release of component inventory, is
used.

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 FAILURE AND FAILURE MODES FOR RISKBASED
INSPECTION
• The term failure can be defined as termination of the ability
to perform a required function.
• RBI, as described in this Recommended Practice, is
concerned with one type of failure, namely loss of
containment caused by deterioration.
• The term failure mode is defined as the manner of failure.
• Failure modes can range from a small hole to a complete
rupture.

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 DETERIORATION MECHANISMS
• The term deterioration mechanism is defined as the type of
deterioration that could lead to a loss of containment. There are four
major deterioration mechanisms observed in the hydrocarbon and
chemical process industry:
• Thinning (includes internal and external).
• Stress corrosion cracking.
• Metallurgical and environmental.
• Mechanical.
• Understanding equipment operation and the interaction with the
chemical and mechanical environment is key to performing
deterioration mechanism identification.

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 Thinning
• Thinning includes general corrosion, localized corrosion, pitting, and
other mechanisms that cause loss of material from internal or external
surfaces. The effects of thinning can be determined from the following
information:
1. Thickness – both the original, historic and current measured thickness.
2. Equipment age – number of years in the current service and if the service has
changed.
3. Corrosion allowance – design allowance for the current service.
4. Corrosion rate.
5. Operating pressure and temperature.
6. Design pressure.
7. Number and types of inspections.

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 Stress Corrosion Cracking
• Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) occurs when equipment is exposed to
environments conducive to certain cracking mechanisms such as caustic
cracking, amine cracking, sulfide stress cracking (SSC), hydrogen-induced
cracking (HIC), stress-oriented hydrogen-induced cracking (SOHIC), carbonate
cracking, polythionic acid cracking (PTA), and chloride cracking (ClSCC).
Literature, expert opinion and experience are often necessary to establish
susceptibility of equipment to stress corrosion cracking. Susceptibility is often
designated as high, medium, or low based on:
• Material of construction.
• Mechanism and susceptibility.
• Operating temperature and pressure.
• Concentration of key process corrosives such as pH, chlorides, sulfides, etc.
• Fabrication variables such as post weld heat treatment.

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 Metallurgical and Environmental Deterioration of
Properties
• Causes of metallurgical and environmental failure are varied but
typically involve some form of mechanical and/or physical property
deterioration of the material due to exposure to the process environment.
• One example of this is high-temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA).
HTHA occurs in carbon and low alloy steels exposed to high partial
pressures of hydrogen at elevated temperatures.
• Consideration for equipment susceptibility to HTHA is based on:
• Material of construction.
• Operating temperature.
• Hydrogen partial pressure.
• Exposure time.

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 Mechanical
• Similar to the metallurgical and environmental failures,
various types and causes of mechanical deterioration are
possible.
• The most common mechanical deterioration mechanisms are
fatigue (mechanical, thermal and corrosion), stress/creep
rupture, and tensile overload.

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 OTHER FAILURES
• RBI could be expanded to include failures other than loss of
containment. Examples of other failures and failure modes
are:
• Pressure relief device failure – plugging, fouling, nonactivation.
• Heat exchanger bundle failure – tube leak, plugging.
• Pump failure – seal failure, motor failure, rotating parts damage.
• Internal linings – hole, disbondment.

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