Session: 02-12-01 Reliability Based Maintenance

Paper Number: 103603

103603 - A Framework for Defining Risk-Based Inspection Plans for Subsea 

Cost optimization of asset management is a central issue in the offshore Oil and Gas strategy, and risk-based approaches has been more and more employed to assist the segment in the concretization of that goal. In this sense, the use of Risk Based Inspection, or RBI, by the petroleum industry has significantly increased. The inspection procedure aims mitigating the uncertainty related to the asset degradation state, enabling a better quantification of the actual damage, and, consequently, increases the accuracy of remaining life projections.  However, the costs involved in offshore subsea inspections are considerable. Therefore, the optimization of inspection plans plays a crucial role in the definition of an asset management program economically balanced. In order to perform an efficient optimization, it is crucial not only to have an effective optimization algorithm but also to have a good quality of information used as input. In other words, an adequate definition of the risk indexes used is necessary, as well as the entire process used to quantify them. In many cases, due to resource and time constraints, organizations do not have a clear mapping of the risk associated with the operation of each equipment in the form needed as input to the process of optimizing inspection plans. In this context, this paper presents a framework for obtaining these optimized inspection plans, starting from the assessment of the risk associated with the failure modes (using an FMECA analysis, which is widespread tool in organizations), moving on through the process of defining risk indices (indices designed specifically to an adequate use in the optimization phase) and, finally, presenting the optimization process itself. In this way, the framework proposed presents all the phases necessary to obtain optimized inspection plans according to the associated cost and risk, including the stage of preparation for the optimization process.

Finally, the application of the proposed framework is illustrated by means of the elaboration of the inspection plans for a subsea equipment.

Presenting Author: Adriana M. Schleder University of São Paulo

Presenting Author Biography: Received a PhD in Chemical Process Engineering by the Universitat Politècnica da Catalunya (UPC) – BarcelonaTech. Also, received a PhD and an MSc in Naval and Oceanic Engineering by the University of São Paulo. Collaborating professor at Analysis, Evaluation and Risk Management Laboratory – LabRisco, University of Sao Paulo - USP.
Research interests are concentrated in the areas of project and operation management, reliability and risk analysis and risk management.

Authors:

Adriana M. Schleder University of São Paulo
Marcos C. Maturana Analysis, Evaluation and Risk Management Laboratory – LabRisco, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Marcelo Ramos Martins Analysis, Evaluation and Risk Management Laboratory – LabRisco, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Paulo F. F. Frutuoso E Melo COPPE, Graduate Program of Nuclear Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Leonardo de Oliveira Barros Research and Development Center – CENPES - Petrobras
Rene Thiago Capelari Orlowski Research and Development Center – CENPES - Petrobras