ageing plant in the process & chemical industries …...© esr technology ltd summary...

© ESR Technology Ltd

Ageing Plant in the

Process & Chemical

Industries

OPERA Seminar

David Mansfield, ESR Technology


UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE)

Ageing Plant Project by ESR Technology

• New Ageing Plant Delivery Guide (DG) to provide focused inspection guidance for COMAH (Seveso II) and sub-COMAH interventions informed by intelligence from accident/ loss of containment analysis and research

• Phase 1 – Is there a problem?

– Research of RIDDOR reports, COMAH incidents, Industrial databases, HSL LOC studies, other research, etc.

• Phase 2 – What to do about it?

– Inspection topic, Drafting of Delivery Guide and supporting guidance, means to raise awareness in industry

• Published reports (RR823):

– Plant Ageing Study – Phase 1 Report

– Managing Ageing Plant – A Summary Guide

– Ageing Plant Delivery Guide also available at HSE website


What do we mean by

Ageing Plant?


Summary Definition…….

• Overall, ageing plant is plant which is, or may be, no

longer considered fully fit for purpose due to deterioration

or obsolescence in its integrity or functional performance.

• ‘Ageing’ is not directly related to chronological age. There

are many examples of very old plant remaining fully fit for

purpose, and of recent plant showing evidence of

accelerated or early ageing, e.g. due to corrosion, fatigue

or erosion failures.


Ageing Mechanisms

Internal Corrosion

Erosion / Abrasion

Fatigue

Operation Beyond

Design Envelope

Wear & Tear

Component / System

Degradation

External

Corrosion

Physical Damage/

Impacts

Process Fouling,

Blockage, etc

Obsolescence


Scope of Ageing

• Primary Containment

• Structures

• Prevention, Control and Mitigation Measures (Safeguards/

Safety Critical Elements)

• Electrical, Control & Instrumentation equipment and systems

(EC&I) often from part of the Safeguards, but merit specific

attention due to their nature


Why is Ageing Plant

Important?


Review of Databases to identify ‘Ageing’

related incidents

• Reportable Injuries, deaths and Dangerous Occurrences

Regulations Database (RIDDOR) (operated by the Health &

Safety Executive)

• European Union Major Accident Reporting System (MARS)

(operated by the European Commission Joint Research

Centre)

• Major Hazard Incident Data Service (MHIDAS) (operated by

AEA Technology on behalf of the Health & Safety Executive)

• UK onshore chemical and major hazard industries voluntary

reporting of loss of containment incidents (HSE 2004, HSE

2005, HSE 2006, HSE 2007, HSL 2003)

• UKCS Hydrocarbon Releases Database (HCR) - offshore


Incident Statistics – Summary Findings

• MARS EU Major Hazard Accident Data

– 96 major accident loss of containment incidents

reported across Europe, between 1980 and 2006,

primarily caused by ageing plant mechanisms

– This represents 30% of all incidents and half of all

Technical Integrity and EC&I incidents

– These ‘ageing’ events equate to an overall loss of 11

lives, 183 injuries and over 170Million € of economic

loss

• Conclude – ageing a significant issue


High Level Categorisation of MARS Incidents

– By Causation Type


Causes of Technical Integrity and EC&I

Incidents in MARS data


Types of ageing related safeguards / SCE

failures recorded

• Inoperable, blocked, jammed or

passing isolation valves,

including ESD/ ROSOV valves

• Leaking bunds

• Cracked/ leaking drains

• Poor condition earth bonding

• Faulty vent and pressure/

vacuum relief valves

• Cooling water system failures

• Ineffective sprinkler and water

deluge/ spray systems

• Emergency generator that failed

to start / delayed start on

demand leading to power loss

• Failure/ malfunction of fire water

pumps to start on demand

• Inoperable site sirens /alarm

• Failure of monitoring / detection

systems (EC&I related) – vessel

overfill a common consequence

• Failure of sump pumps to work

on demand


Impacts of ‘Ageing’ Events

• Average economic loss per ageing incident is 1.8 M €.

• The highest average impact is the average for ageing related

containment integrity failures at 2.6 M €. This compares with

the average loss across all MARS incidents of 2.3 M €.

• Ageing incidents appear no different with respect to

deaths/ injuries and ecological impact compared to the overall

data for all accident causes, but when ageing ‘integrity’ related

losses do occur, these have relatively high associated costs

and disruptive impacts on local communities.

• Major leaks and escalating events arising from containment

failures may also explain the higher incidence of community

impact associated with ageing events.


Deaths and Injuries Statistics for MARS

Reportable Major Accident Hazard Incidents.

Class Total Deaths Injuries

No. Incidents No.

Incidents

Total

No.

deaths

Deaths

per

Event

No.

Incidents

Total

No.

injuries

Injuries

per

Event

All Events 348 57 124 2.2 140 42011 30.0

(Excluding 1) 139 1959 14.1

All Integrity 149 11 35 3.2 51 768 15.1

Integrity ageing 57 3 4 1.3 21 125 6.0

C&I ageing 21 2 4 2.0 4 32 8.0

Other ageing 23 2 3 1.5 7 47 6.7

All ageing5 96 7 11 1.6 30 183 6.1

1 - one incident with 2242 injuries, 5 – 5 incidents ‘double counted’ due to causes

On average, Ageing events result in similar fatality levels but possibly slightly

lower injury levels than an ‘average’ major hazard event.


Incidents involving Ecological Impact,

Material Loss and Community Disruption for

MARS Reportable Major Accident Hazard

Incidents

Class Total

No.

Ecology

Impact

No.

Incidence

of

Ecology

Impact

Material

Loss

No.

Incidence

of

Material

Loss

Community

Disruption

No.

Incidence

of

Community

Disruption

All Events 348 64 18% 224 64% 80 23%

All Integrity 149 26 17% 95 64% 37 25%

Integrity

ageing

57 11 19% 35 61% 17 30%

C&I ageing 21 4 19% 10 48% 3 14%

Other ageing 23 4 17% 16 70% 3 13%

All ageing 96 18 19% 58 60% 23 24%

Ageing plant events show similar characteristics to average events overall, but

“integrity ageing” (i.e. primary containment failures relates to ageing) appear to

show a higher incidence of community disruption (~30% cf 23%).


Total losses (Million € equivalent) for MARS

Reportable Major Accident Hazard Incidents

Class Total

Losses

(M €)

Incidents

where

loss

(No.)

Average Loss

per Event

(M €)

All

Incidents

(No.)

Average Loss

per Event

(M €)

All Events 794.7 107 7.4 348 2.3

All Integrity 329.1 42 7.8 149 2.2

Integrity ageing 149.7 18 8.3 57 2.6

C&I ageing 17.8 7 2.5 21 0.8

Other ageing 3.6 4 0.9 23 0.2

All ageing 171 28 6.1 96 1.8

In terms of the overall financial impact, no significant difference observed between

impacts of ‘average’ and ‘ageing related’ events


Trends in the Frequency of Equipment Fault

Causes in the UK Offshore HC Release Data

Causation Category Average Events per

Annum in Period

Frequency per million

units of population

Cause Type Specific Cause 1992-

1998

1998-

2003

2003-

2008

1992-

1998

1998-

2003

2003-

2008

Equipment

Fault

Internal Corrosion 14.4 19.8 17.6 8.2 11.8 12.2

External Corrosion 4.5 5.6 9.4 2.6 3.3 6.5

Erosion 12.4 10.4 10.0 7.1 6.2 6.9

Mechanical Failure 85.5 69.0 68.8 48.8 40.9 47.6

Mechanical Fatigue 13.6 27.6 22.2 7.8 16.4 15.4

Mechanical Wear 9.5 14.0 14.2 5.4 8.3 9.8

Material Defect 9.6 6.2 4.8 5.5 3.7 3.3

Specification Problem 0.0 2.2 0.8 0.0 1.3 0.6

Manufacturing Problem 2.4 1.8 0.4 1.4 1.1 0.3

Overall the ‘age related’ causes, i.e. corrosion, erosion, mechanical fatigue and

wear account for approximately 30% of all leak events in the database and around

50% of all ‘equipment fault’ related events – so broadly in line with the MARS data

analysis findings.

Suggestion from data that some trends could be increasing/ upwards.


Some Specific Ageing

Plant Issues


EC&I Obsolescence

• Importance of recognising and managing old / obsolescent

equipment and systems.

• May present challenges in terms of spares, repairs and

competencies for modifying or checking older software and

logic based systems may be presented.

• Experience has shown that particular care is needed when

upgrading control and instrumentation systems to new digital

standards where previously there has been a reliance on

analogue equipment.

• Advice and guidance on the issues for EC&I management of

change are provided in the Managing Ageing Plant - A

Summary Guide, appended to RR823 (Horrocks et al, 2010).


Non-Metallic Materials

• Some primary containment equipment is manufactured from, or

repaired using, non-metallic materials. HSE report RR509

touches on these and the general principles still apply.

• There may be a perception within industry that such materials

are not susceptible to age related degradation.

• Composites may not corrode per se but can be subject to a

number of degradation mechanisms including physical ageing,

mechanical ageing and chemical ageing.

• The consequence of these can be a reduction of 20 - 40% or

greater in the strength characteristics of the polymer during the

lifetime of the component and introduction of damage including

matrix cracking and delamination.


Addressing Ageing Plant


Ageing is more likely to be an issue on

sites that have processes with:

• A high cycling rate of extreme temperatures, pressures loads or flexing (which may lead to fatigue)

• A history of operating at the limit of, or beyond, its original design envelope.

• A demanding pressure and/ or temperature envelope (high or low extremes).

• Aggressive chemicals (corrosive or abrasive, or fouling)

• Use of many different materials of construction (indicator of aggressive conditions and potential for interface corrosion issues)

• Aggressive environmental conditions (e.g. salty atmosphere, hot and/or humid conditions, fumes, standing water)

• Insulated pipework and equipment with potential for corrosion under the insulation

• Key parts of the plant difficult to access or inspect

• A history of poor maintenance and inspection

• EC&I equipment that is obsolescent or no longer supported by the manufacturer or supplier


Fit for Purpose - Key Questions to ask:

• NOW - Are the assets ‘fit for purpose’ in basic design and engineering terms, regardless of how well the plant has been maintained?

• LOOKING AHEAD - Is the rate of deterioration in-line with expectations at given stage in design/ residual life?

• Operation beyond original design life? Life extension justification or replacement / down-rating strategies

• Reliance on out-dated E,C&I etc?

• Extent to which plant meets/ does not meet the latest standards for design and layout, etc?

• Meets current good practice in terms of safeguards/ prevention/ control/ mitigation features?


Further Information

Want to know about

ageing mechanisms

and their

management?

How to assess

which assets are

most at risk from

ageing?

How to check that the

assets are being managed

effectively in terms of

ageing?

RR823 ‘Managing

Ageing Plant – A

Summary Guide’

Provides a useful

introduction to ageing,

its issues and

management, and

how it can affect plant

and equipment

HSE COMAH

Ageing Plant

Delivery Guide

Appendix 4:

question set to

assess which

plants are more

likely to be prone

to ageing

HSE COMAH

Ageing Plant

Delivery Guide

Appendices 2 and

5: question sets

to assess

effectiveness of

ageing assets

management

HSE OSD

KP4

(Offshore)

Ageing and

Life

Extension

Inspection

Templates


Conclusions

• ‘Ageing’ is about deterioration affecting performance not about

the calendar age of plant and equipment

• The scope should consider all relevant assets, not just the

primary containment or primary structures

• Analysis of databases suggests that ageing is a key cause of

major accidents – so merits particular attention

• As a result, Ageing has been made a key HSE inspection priority

for both COMAH establishments and the Offshore Oil & Gas

Industry (KP4 programme)

• Raising awareness, providing leadership and understanding the

status of the assets are seen as key to successfully addressing

ageing – which should be managed as part of the asset integrity

arrangements


Thank You

Any Questions?

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