Piping and equipment safety and failure

Piping and equipment are used to transport and process gas in the midstream industry and typically operate at very high pressures or extreme temperatures. Due to these extreme operating conditions their aging processes can be accelerated and are more susceptible to accidental events which can result in safety hazards or catastrophic events. These events could lead to significant damage to the midstream facilities and impose significant loss or downtime costs to the operator. Moreover, the consequence from these events could affect the personnel and result in fatalities and injuries. Leakage of combustible gases or liquids from a pipe could lead to fires or vapor cloud explosions which could result in collapse of structural elements and harm to personnel. The failure of a piping components may also lead to the escalation of fires from one area to another. Pipes are also prone to accidental impact by objects dropped from cranes and moving machinery in and around the facilities. An unprotected pipe or pipeline could leak a significant amount of hazardous flammable gas or liquid if ruptured by a dropping/impacting object. On the other hand, corrosion of these process pipes and equipment could lead to incidents resulting in property damage and fatalities. In this paper, we will discuss methodologies to assess existing process piping, pipeline, and equipment. We will present approaches and structural design methodologies to mitigate those potential hazards to lower costs and increase survivability in the event of an incident. Moreover, we will present fitness-forservice assessment methods and demonstrate how advanced analysis could help to increase plant safety and prevent failures.