Maintenance & Inspection of Static Equipment

Course Content

• Module 1: INSPECTOR OCCUPATION & STATUTORY REGULATIONS RELATING TO PRESSURE VESSELS

  • Introduction to production facilities inspection:
  • Impact on safety, pressure vessel integrity, accident analysis.
  • Inspector occupation:
  • Duties and organization of inspection services: inspector role and responsibilities.
  • Inspection plan: definition, set-up, implementation.
  • Inspection report. Interaction with the other departments.
  • Statutory regulations applicable to pressure vessels:
  • Main regulatory texts. Area of application and regulatory context of pressure vessels.
  • Roles and responsibilities of various parties. Managing feedback and lessons learnt.

• Module 2: METALLURGY & MATERIALS, WELDING

  • Metallurgy:
  • Ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
  • Structures and behavior of metals and alloys at service conditions for static equipment.
  • Evaluation of the mechanical characteristics required for predictable behavior at service conditions.
  • Most widely used metals and metal alloys in production facilities: steels, their composition, structure and behavior at service conditions.
  • Steels: HIC-resistant, CRA resistant, cupronickel, aluminum bronze.
  • Effect of heating and cooling on steels: current heat treatments resulting from welding or deliberately applied.
  • Common defects in steels.
  • Boilermaking - Welding:
  • Current cutting, forming and welding processes; impact on metals structure.
  • Post-welding heat treatment.
  • Identification of welding defects in welded assemblies using non-destructive checks and destructive tests on weld test pieces.
  • Qualification of welding procedures and welders.
  • Technique for the permanent assembly of heat exchanger bundle tubes and tube plates: roll and mechanical expansion.
  • Case study.

• Module 3: CONSTRUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY, NON-DESTRUCTIVE & DESTRUCTIVE TESTING

  • Equipment construction technology:
  • General information on static equipment.
  • Type of pressure vessels and pressurized accessories.
  • Drawings: reminder on PFD, P&ID, Isometrics reading.
  • Introduction to construction codes and standards:
  • Rules and regulations application areas, standards, harmonized standards, professional guides.
  • Notions of materials strength and pressure vessel shells calculations. Safety and welding margins.
  • Construction monitoring, destructive and non-destructive testing.
  • Notions of strength test.
  • Introduction to relevant codes and standards (ASME).
  • Techniques for non-destructive and destructive testing:
  • Standard faults in external and internal walls.
  • Principles, possibilities and areas of application of main NDTs: visual, sweating, magnetic crack detection, ultrasound, X-ray, sealing, acoustic emission.
  • Review of innovative NDTs: digital radio, phased array, TOFD, IRIS, MFL, intelligent pigging, ROVs, drones, reinforced visual inspection.
  • Implementation in equipment inspection: on base materials and components, during production, on acceptance, in operation.
  • Principles, possibilities and areas of application of destructive test methods.

• Module 4: CORROSION PREVENTION IN PRODUCTION FACILITIES

  • Definition and mechanisms of corrosion:
  • Wet corrosion, dry corrosion.
  • Elements of electrochemistry.
  • Cost of corrosion: both financial and human, impact on safety.
  • Common types of corrosion: origin and development process, possible methods of prevention.
  • Types of corrosion encountered in the Oil & Gas industry:
  • Case studies of corrosion observed in Oil & Gas installations: identification of the types of corrosion and suggested remedial treatments.
  • Corrosion prevention:
  • Design of equipment; choice of materials; corrosion inhibitors; anti-corrosion coatings and systems.
  • Cathodic protection with sacrificial anodes or imposed current.
  • Methodology and control of processes. Control of process and environmental parameters.
  • Corrosion monitoring:
  • Corrosion coupons and probes; non-destructive testing of wall condition.
  • Corrosion monitoring plan.