AriskapproachtothemanagementofboilertubethinningOriginalResearchArticle

Alargesetofindustrialthicknessinspectiondatacoveringfourboilerunitsofapowerstationoveraperiodoffiveyearswasmadeavailabletotheauthors.Themeasurementsweremadeinregionsoftheboilerwherecorrosion/erosionwasthemajorcauseoffailureoftheboilertubes.Therewereover40,000separatelymeasureddatapointsinthedataandallwerecollectedwithsomecareandexpense. Inthedevelopmentofmaintenancestrategiesforequipment,thistypeofdataistypicalofthedatathatmustbecollectedandassessed.Thisdatathusrepresentsanopportunitytoevaluatetheabilitytogenerateausefulriskapproachtothemanagementofthetubing. Animportantexampleofarisk-basedapproachistheAmericanPetroleumInstitute(API)RiskBasedInspection(“RBI”),API581.Avarietyofproblemswereencounteredapplyingthistoboilertubes.TheproblemsincludeirrelevantAPI581corrosionratetables,lackofinformationonhowtoanalyseinspectiondata,difficultyofdealingwithmultipleinspectioncategoriesandlackofsuitabledirectionforprogramminginspectionintervals.