Synergy for Success

The Unit Inspector and the Turnaround

Organization

Dana Baham
Consulting and Field Services
January 2015
 What is a Successful Turnaround

• Safety and environmental Goals are met, no one gets hurt!

• Meets or beats the published duration
• Does not exceed the communicated, agreed upon budget
• Follows the Plan
• All Mechanical Integrity , Safety or VOC work that is due before the next
outage is completed
• End of life equipment identified and replaced according to capital guidelines
• No Surprises are discovered
• Everyone produces what everyone else needs to complete their job
• Inspection Job scopes include the degree and extent of expected repairs
• Only work that requires an outage is completed at this time
• Communication, communication, communication, do you have an electronic
system that is available to everyone that can be used to access data and
report status on a real time basis
 Responsibility

• If a turnaround does not meet its commitments everyone on

the team is responsible, an us-them mentality never works
on any successful team. You either succeed together or you
fail miserably together, this includes, operators, inspectors,
planners, craftsmen, technical resources and managers. It is
the responsibility of every member of that group to build a
good plan, calculate the cost and timing, determine the
resources , execute the outage then critique. Unit Inspectors
play a major role in this process, I believe that 60 to 70% of
each outage is mechanical Integrity/reliability driven,
therefore inspectors have a huge role (responsibility) in the
process.
 Unit Inspector’s Role

• Inspector turnaround planning starts at the end of each turnaround,

inspection reports are reviewed and work requests are initiated based
upon observations, recommendations and the list of equipment that will
be due before the turnaround following the next one (two turnaround
periods out).
• At least two years out (more so if the outage is a big one) the inspector
should pool resources (senior operators, engineers and maint. persons)
and review each piece of equipment (this can be a criticality study, RBI or
process review) process issues should be identified, as well as their affect
on the materials of construction, if repairs are expected, the degree and
extent of expected repair should be estimated.
• Specific Equipment Plans (SEPs) should be initiated, one for every piece of
equipment opened. The plan should include the resources required by the
inspection process, i.e. scaffolding, cleaning requirements, utility
requirements, etc. and what the inspector may find
 Unit Inspector’s Role, con’t

• SEP should include possibility of repairs, that possibility must be

quantified (>60% etc.) Additionally the extent of repairs should be
provided (i.e. grind re-weld 20 % of circ seams)
• SEPs should include end of life projections, this is especially important on
heat exchangers (ie. If CS tubes historically only last 8 years then predict
re-tubes, don’t waste money inspecting them). Heater tube end of life
projections are a big deal, it’s the worst kind of surprise in a turnaround.
• Conduct as much on-stream NDE as possible, use it to determine the
repairs required (i.e. don’t be surprised by cracks in a non-PWHT’d flare
drum that you can scan on line). Please identify piping iso’s at this time
that need to be replaced.
• This two year out plan is extremely important because it fits into the
budget cycle of most installations and accurate projections may be based
upon this plan, lack of this plan is often why MI items don’t make the list
Include logistics (C-cans,transportation,radios, speciality NDE)
 Imbed within the Turnaround Organization

• Become part of the planning team as it ramps up, make yourself available
to answer questions and defend your requests.
• Know what your process engineer or senior operator is having trouble
with(i.e. if de-salters are not working expect problems in pump arounds or
accumulators).
• Become acquainted with the contractors that are hired by the turnaround
organization, make sure you provide your MI procedures to them and
review and critique their quality guidelines (most have good ones that are
for the most part the same from one to another, it is a very good tool to
hold them accountable)
• Know your Safety departments expectations,(i.e. do not be surprised if
they require fresh air in a hexavalent chrome atmosphere, or retractable
harnesses, manways are not the place to have these discussions).
 Surprises

• The most embarrassing thing an inspector can surface during a

turnaround is a surprise, its your job not to have surprises, there are too
many tools out there to help you know your equipment better.
• If for some reason you do have a surprise do not just dump it into the
organization’s lap, take ownership and suggest repairs that will get you to
a time when you can plan for the repair, remember if it causes increased
time or money you all get embarrassed together (you dropped the pass in
the in zone)
• Pay special attention to the classic surprises, heater tube u-bends,
convection section u-bends, cracking in non-PWHT equipment, blistering
in non-PWHT vessels, pipe or equipment proven recently to be not as
sound under certain conditions as we once thought (HTHA), bi-metallic
welds, refractory exposed to, too many stops and starts, thinning in flare
headers, heater sheet metal, loss of liners in coke drums, to name a few.
 One Year Out

• Cuts, your Turnaround team will be pressured by

management to reduce costs, whether or not your items
survive is how well you are prepared to defend their need
• Logistics; C-cans you require and where you want them,
transportation for contractors, radios ,internet connections,
access rights etc.
• Pick contract Inspection organization, your T/A organization or
Corp organization may push hiring the least cost contractor,
make sure every inspection contractor in the mix is bidding on
a fixed template, which you should provide to the
organization. This is very important it allows the contractor to
secure his work force early
 Six Months Out

• Table top: Sit down with your entire T/A team and talk
through each TA item on the list, understand timing and each
others expectations, reiterate your repair expectations,
degree and extent. Identify possible safety issues.
• Review contract API inspector resumes with selected
contractor and settle on work force names
• Conduct the same review with the contract NDE company
and/or specialty provider.
• All of your Inspection packages should be complete at this
time and provided to your Inspection contractor, as should
your safety requirements, procedures and equipment
 One Month Out

• Mobilization. TA org will begin moving equipment in, stay on

top of this make sure your facilities are placed in the most
efficient location
• Have a face to face meeting with your inspection contractor.
Outline your teams safety expectations and make them aware
of the expected reporting of inspections
• Laying the ground work with contract maintenance
supervisors, cleaning before entry, areas to be buffed etc.
• Review Logistics, are you going to need transportation to and
from the work sites, where the contractor will stage, required
safety gear and radio availability
 One Week Out

• Take a vacation, you are “gonna” need it, I

don’t mean leave the plant, I mean, close your
door and use this week to conduct a smooth
review of your plan and perhaps identify
things you missed.
 After The Turnaround

• Review all reports while they are fresh on your mind and file
them in the appropriate location. If photographs were taken
make sure they are dated and labeled.
• Initiate work requests for the next outage based upon findings
from the just completed outage
• Modify your SEP based upon the most recent inspection.
• Look at your costs, compare them to what you had predicted
• Supply a list to your capital project team of items that require
replacement.
• Critique your process for successes and failures and what
should be done differenlty