Mitigating disasters

摘要

Chris Cashmore, SPX Bolting Systems, UK, addresses the necessity of flange integrity management software for the mitigation and avoidance of high consequence events. Flange integrity management is essential, as evidenced by the events below: In 1988,167 lives were lost on a platform in the Piper Alpha disaster. A report into the disaster judged that the operator had used inadequate maintenance and safety procedures. From then on, the attitude to asset integrity, including safety, reliability and efficiency, in the North Sea oil and gas industry changed entirely. In 2010, the cost of the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill was eleven lives and several billion dollars. The accident involved a well integrity failure, followed by a loss of hydrostatic control of the well. In a Californian refinery, improper tightening of a 4 in. 300# gasket resulted in a high consequence event. The refinery reported that consequential damages due to production loss, fines, and rework were in excess of US$500 million. A three year study on the impact of leaking pipe flanges showed a major refinery averaged 630 leaks/yr resulting in 380 000 lb of volatile organic compounds (VOC) being released into the atmosphere. Estimated monetary losses from fines, materials, and labour charges averaged US$440 000 per year (not including production losses).