Health, safety and environment are crucial elements to any onshore or offshore construction, be it topside or subsea. The main risk is unwanted incidents due to failing barriers. With long-standing experience in asset integrity management and risk based inspection (RBI), we offer our thoughts and perspectives on the topic from a materials and corrosion aspect.

What types of threats do we often face?

Some of the most common types of threats that we face are corrosion and vibrations that can cause leaks and pollution from pipes, collapse of structural parts, accidents, and fires at the facilities. Corrosion can occur in a variety of forms; it occurs internally on pipework and vessels, and externally for pipework, equipment, structures, and beneath insulation or at locations that are difficult to reach. Pumps, engines, compressors, process streams, slugging and waves can all cause vibrations that lead to fatigue and cracking. Also, insufficient material combinations in pipework systems and flanges may cause leakages due to galvanic effects.

In ageing facilities, it is also very common to see coating degradation that cause the onshore or offshore structures to suffer from atmospheric corrosion, especially in harsh marine environments.

In addition, reduced priority for inspection and maintenance due to budget cuts or resource effectivization may contribute to higher risk for barrier failure.

How can we ensure that risk is reduced?

In general, a robust material selection philosophy combined with a clear maintenance strategy make the foundation to ensure the integrity of offshore structures and piping systems.

For any installation or facility, a thorough risk-based analysis, assessing all parts of the process in detail, should be carried out to reveal the main threats and pinpoint where inspection and maintenance efforts should be focused. When Risk Based Inspection (RBI) plans are established, inspections should be carried out by qualified personnel at susceptible high-risk areas.

We believe that the ability to implement new technology is also an important factor. This is especially relevant for monitoring and inspection technologies, which may lead to earlier detection of possible threats and anomalies.

We also recommend implementing effective ways of managing anomalies, with a clear strategy on how to take care of the various conditions found during inspection. These are all an important part of a successful integrity management strategy.

What are the pit falls?

Not having a clear and precise strategy for managing barriers increase the risk of unwanted incidents. Also, focusing on the wrong areas, lacking proper procedures, and delaying important maintenance e.g. due to budget cuts, are typical pit falls that can increase the risk of leakages, structural collapses, and personnel risk.

We are passionate about these topics, so please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you would like to learn more or would like a consult for your installation or facility.