Session: DA-09-02 Piping and Equipment Dynamics and Dynamic Response Analysis-2

Paper Number: 122972

122972 - Reliability and Efficiency Improvements Using Long Term Vibration Monitoring Data 

Vibration is one of the most common root causes for fatigue failures on process equipment. Structural vibration concerns can cause loss of production and limitations in plant operation. The current guidelines usually recommend a measurement campaign to quantify the vibration-induced integrity threat which is mostly performed using a short-term assessment approach. Due to the required setup and logistics, this approach generally tries to assess the worst-case scenarios which then ultimately can lead to very conservative decisions regarding production limitations, inspections or even mitigation efforts.

Because vibration concerns are usually only discovered relatively late in the design/operating stage of a plant, normally, no provisions have been made to allow for a thorough assessment of these concerns. Therefore, methods have been developed to use the data collected by an intrinsically safe, un-manned monitoring system to quantify the fatigue performance of process equipment which can then be correlated to the actual operating regime and environmental conditions. These methods use state-of-the-art technologies such as numerical analysis or machine learning algorithms to quantify the vibration-related integrity threat not only for the recorded monitoring period but also allow an extrapolation into past and future process conditions. This ultimately will lead to higher production rates, lower integrity risks, elimination of unneeded mitigations, or more cost-effective use of specialist resources.

Based on numerous case studies, it will be shown how the long-term vibration and stress data can be used to help with the increase of production, life extension decisions, root cause failure analysis, definition of inspection campaigns, or temporary dispensation while having nominally unacceptable vibration present.

In general monitoring systems are well established but this paper will show innovative ways of how the monitoring data can be combined with advanced data processing, numerical analysis techniques or updated communication protocols to improve production efficiency, reduce the overall integrity risk, and possibly extend the life of process equipment when it comes to vibration-induced fatigue concerns.

Presenting Author: Gernot Wally XodusGroup Ltd.

Presenting Author Biography: Gernot Wally qualified with a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Leoben in Austria in 2004. He has almost 20 years of experience in the petrochemical industry and is currently employed as a Senior Consultant at Xodus Group in Scotland, where his work involves mainly structural integrity and fatigue assessments associated with vibration.

Authors:

Gernot Wally XodusGroup Ltd.
Campbell Mckee Xodus Group Ltd.
Peter Sharpe Xodus Group Ltd.