Risk-Based inspection and maintenance

The concept of risk refers to an undesired event intended as the release of substance due to the loss of integrity of the containment walls of the equipment and/or piping.

In order to better optimise the inspections of a system, the best approach is certainly that of focusing greater energy in the inspection of the equipment that features a higher level of risk. RBI in general is applied to a system that may be defined as a group of equipment and piping of a production unit destined for the production of a specific product. The purpose of the analysis is to prepare inspection and control strategies capable of maintaining the risk level of each item of the overall unit within acceptable limits. The benefits of Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) are:

• Identification of the risks connected to the damage of materials;
• Optimisation of inspection operations;
• Compliance with conformity regulations thanks to the increase in safety;
• Downtime reduction.