Abstract
Plant piping integrity management is considered as a big challenge for upstream/downstream operators worldwide because of the complexity of plant piping loops and the resources required to build and maintain solid inspection database. Statistics from two upstream operators indicates that majority of leaks within operating plants occurred at plant piping loops rather than main static equipments and with majority of operating facilities exceeding its intended design life (40 years), the Middle East upstream/downstream industry is expected to see a higher rate of failures in the coming years unless a paradigm shift is made in plant piping integrity management. Hence it is essential to focus integrity initiatives on plant piping in order to achieve higher overall plant integrity status, without ruling the need for integrity management for other plant equipments. This paper is presenting a unique structured approach towards plant piping integrity management which was deployed by two upstream Operators in the period from year 2004-2008 and from year 2007-2010 respectively. The piping integrity management approach presented in this paper is based on multidisciplinary engineering team consisting of process, CAD-draughting, Corrosion, Inspection, NDT, Piping, Mechanical, Maintenance data management disciplines. The approach was proven to enhance plant integrity status by evidence from failure statistics trends which are presented in this paper. Several challenges were faced during the implementation; the case studies discuss how the two Operators overcame these challenges and developed a systematic integrity review using existing Computerized Maintenance Management System ERP package. Nevertheless, the implementation of this approach enabled the two Operators to identify weak design specifications (e.g. piping support design) and supported the upgrade of the piping specification to avoid reoccurrence of the frequent failures. In the two case studies, the Operators were leading a rehabilitation program addressing non-integral piping systems over the entire facilities. The piping integrity management approach discussed in this paper is generic in nature and can be applied by any upstream/downstream operators in the world with high rate of success. It is expected that this topic will be of a big interest to all upstream/downstream operators in the region and possibly worldwide. The results of the implementation of the subject approach confirmed suitability of this approach in enhancing plant piping integrity, and therefore overall plant integrity status.
