The Risk Based Inspection as a Process Risk Management Tool

The process risk management in an industrial plant is a critical factor for the success in companies integrated in a global market. The equipments should have maximized performance and operational runlenghts without committing operational safety. The management based in key performance index pushes the companies to operate in the limits. The optimization with reduction of maintenance costs and the need of larger reliability in the equipments can seem antagonistic, however techniques exist to maximize these two important indicators. The risk based inspection (RBI) as API 581 is an important tool to mitigate de risk and ensure static equipments reliability. Based in information from process engineering and inspection records is possible to determine mechanisms of preferential damages for each static equipment of an industrial plant, with a risk matrix of consequence x failure probability. These results helps to define exactly when and how to inspect, they also allow to focus the inspection activities and maintenance, allocating the best resources in the equipments of higher risk and criticize. Braskem is implanting RBI in their static assets and is using it as a process risk management tool. This work has as objective presents Braskem's experience of RBI use in the planning and execution stages of a turnaround, happened in Olephins Plant 2 of UNIB-RS. This important tool allowed an optimization in the inspection and maintenance resources, increasing reliability and maintaining the process risks in acceptable levels.