Category Archives: Reliability Engineering

Improvements in the Steels Used in Oil and Gas Processing Equipment over the Last Half Century

Written on December 1, 2015 at 9:57 am, by

In the post-World war II period, the steels used in the oil and gas industry were quite different from what we use today. This tip of the month (TOTM) presents a brief overview of improvements in the steels used in oil and gas processing equipment for safer and more reliable operations. Plate was SA-285C aContinue Reading

Process Safety and Low Oil Prices

Written on March 1, 2015 at 12:00 am, by

In this Tip of the Month, we reflect back to December 2008, and get a reminder from the United States Chemical Safety Board (CSB) to remain focused on process safety and accident prevention during this time of lower oil prices. During the economic downturn of 2008, oil prices dropped significantly. The latest drop in crudeContinue Reading

Impact of Gas-Oil Ratio (GOR) on Crude Oil Pressure Drop in Gathering Systems

Written on October 1, 2014 at 9:00 am, by

The use of multiphase flow systems is common practice in the oil and gas industry. Multiphase flow is often encountered in the well tubing, flow lines and gathering systems. For transport of oil and gas (and water) to downstream processing facilities the preference is normally a single pipeline in which both phases are transported simultaneouslyContinue Reading

The Importance of Leadership in Process Safety Management

Written on August 1, 2014 at 12:00 am, by

The first pillar of Risk Based Process Safety Management is “Commitment to Process Safety.”  A formalized mentoring system can ensure workforce involvement, compliance with company and regulatory requirements, increase the competency of personnel and enhance the process safety culture of the entire organization.  Within this element there are several essential features that lead to aContinue Reading

Debriefing Jobs Provides Several Benefits Associated With Process Safety

Written on January 1, 2014 at 8:00 am, by

A pillar of Risk Based Process Safety (RBPS) is Learn from Experience.  The work we do and the processes we use to analyze our work provide significant learning opportunities to enhance process safety competency.  This is a derivative of Kolb’s experiential learning cycle [1], but many times we fail to take advantage of the learningContinue Reading

The Stainless Steel Family – An Overview

Written on October 1, 2013 at 12:01 am, by

Stainless steel is a family of corrosion resistant steels containing chromium in which the chromium forms a passive film of chromium oxide (Cr2O3) when exposed to oxygen [1]. This phenomenon is called passivation and is seen in other metals, such as aluminium and titanium. The film layer is impervious to water and air and quickly reforms whenContinue Reading

What is Mentoring?

Written on February 1, 2013 at 6:30 am, by and

What is Mentoring? In this Tip of the Month, we explore how process safety competency can be enhanced through mentoring programs. This TOTM is the paper that was developed by JMC Instructor/Consultants Clyde Young and Keith Hodges presentation at the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) 8th Global Conference on Process Safety in April, 2012. Continue Reading

Maintenance Fallacy: Focusing on Maintenance Planning and Scheduling and Reliability Will Increase Reliability Quickly

Written on December 1, 2008 at 9:01 pm, by

Is it possible to increase reliability by simply enhancing or focusing on planning and scheduling? I don’t think so. I remember the old saying “which comes first the chicken or the egg”? Most people, including myself until a couple of years ago, would have said that in order to achieve results quickly, planning and schedulingContinue Reading

The Truth about Why Your Preventive Maintenance Program Isn’t Working

Written on July 1, 2008 at 5:43 pm, by

Does it annoy you that in spite of regularly performing Preventive Maintenance (PM) on your equipment it continues to breakdown?  Some may call this insanity – Continuing to do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result. If you sat down and graphed out your companies’ PM labor hours versus emergency labor hoursContinue Reading