At Stress Engineering Services, we provide a wholistic review of process facilities, such as refineries and chemical plants, that operate with light hydrocarbons to identify and mitigate auto-refrigeration/brittle fracture (AR/BF) risks. Our assessments also addresses concerns about brittle fracture due to low ambient temperature exposure, where applicable.
We conduct process hazards assessments (PHAs) as part of our offering for plant-wide Auto-Refrigeration/Brittle Fracture assessments. PHAs are an effective tool for identifying and mitigating AR/BF risk, to protect your facility against catastrophic failures that can challenge personnel safety, cause property damage, and result in significant process downtime.
Our team of experts work closely with your plant personnel to help identify the pressure vessels and piping systems operating at your facility, which could be subject to AR/BF risks. From this information, we can develop a strategy with cost effective solutions to mitigate the identified hazards in compliance with your risk management standards.
This is a multi-disciplinary effort involving our mechanical and process engineering expertise. The PHA is performed utilizing equipment minimum allowable temperature (MAT) curves developed based on API-579, and our specially developed AR/BF Guide-List (What-if Checklist), with Layer of Protection Analysis (LOPA) and detailed review of process historian data. In addition, standard operating procedures (SOPs) are reviewed and, in some cases, detailed process simulations are performed to identify specific parameters of a given scenario.
AR/BF risk assessment is performed semi-quantitatively incorporating a facility’s process safety standards. The outcome of the PHA review is extensive documentation of the associated LOPA analysis, and a series of recommendations in the form of engineering or administrative safeguards, including SOP revision recommendations, which reduces the probability of occurrence of the scenario and mitigates the risk of AR/BF within acceptable parameters.
If you would like more information on Stress Engineering Services, please call us at 281.955.2900, or complete the following form and one of our representatives contact you shortly. For a complete listing of contact information, visit our Locations page.
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