Managing NDE Services for Effectiveness and Reliability

Mark Koens, CET Senior Materials Technologist, NDE Specialist

Suncor Energy Inc.

1

Introduction • Has this ever happened on your site

• What to do before the examination

• What to do during the examination

• What to do after the examination

• What are the benefits

• Conclusions

• Questions

2

The Problem! • A UT report indicates that a vessel head has small

diameter pitting and must be weld repaired, this repair is unexpected and was not planned for

• Just prior to the approved repair taking place someone questions the UT results, the steel is not pitted, it contains inclusions

• The repair is cancelled as equipment is being mobilized to complete the repair

3

What Went Wrong?

• Obviously the UT tech screwed up……..or did he

• Is this the root cause of the incident, or one of a number of mistakes……..

• How can this close call be avoided

4

Getting it Right

• Not managing your NDE services is gambling with both personnel safety and facility reliability

• A poorly planned or performed inspection is worse than not inspecting at all

5

Prior to the Examination

• Communication is critical

• The visual inspector needs know the expected damage mechanism

• The visual inspector selects the inspection technique, not the service provider

• Use an approved procedure, verify that it’s acceptable to code

6

Prior to the Examination

• Make the vendor aware of any site specific requirements

• Use nationally certified personnel, give preference to CGSB certified technicians

• Verify technician certifications before the job begins

• Verify what equipment is being used, is it compatible with your systems where required, does it belong in a museum

7

Prior to the Examination

• Verify that shutdown work actually requires a shutdown

• Have filler work available for slow periods in a shutdown, keep this separate

• The visual inspector determines the manpower requirements

• Provide clear instructions to the technician

8

Prior to the Examination

• Provide drawings, previous inspection reports, all relevant history

• Verify access and cleaning

• Plan to verify results

• Use technology where it makes sense, not everywhere

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During the Examination

• Verify early in the job that the technician has everything that they need

• Verify that the correct calibration blocks are being used and are available

• Verify that the technician can easily calibrate the equipment

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During the Examination

• Check in as the job is progressing, are there any findings that need clarification, is the cleaning suffiencent, are there any problems to address

• Verify results as soon as possible, often it’s easier to verify results as a job is progressing than to try to address them later

11

During the Examination

• Require timely reports

• Reject reports that are incomplete or contain errors

• The job isn’t complete until an acceptable report is received, as a minimum a draft report must be made available while results can be verified

12

During the Examination

• Do not accept reports that have blanket statements about equipment cleanliness or other variables that may have impacted the examination, these should be brought up before testing or early in the inspection cycle

• If variables such as cleanliness or permeability variations are an issue, they should be specific

13

Post Examination

• Perform any required follow-up activities

• Share the results of findings with the NDE vendor

• Review vendor performance

• Update the equipment files, clarify where results have been confirmed

• Plan the next inspection

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The Benefits

• NDE technicians who improve their skills through feedback

• Higher results accuracy

• Increased plant reliability

• Inspection cost reductions of up to 40% are achievable

15

Cost Benefit

• In the following chart, identify the shutdown year that the NDE services were managed

• Similar benefits are seen outside of shutdowns

• Shutdown size added approximately 20% to the costs in year 6

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Actual Cost Benefit

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NDE Cost vs Year

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Year

$

Series1 Linear (Series1)

$

Year

The Problem - Identified

• The technician was certified and was using an approved procedure

• The technician was a Level 1 which is suitable for data collection, but as a Level 1 should not have made interpretations

• No evidence that prior history was provided to the technician

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The Problem - Identified • The person who’s task was to oversee and verify NDE

services and results was taken out of the role, there was no replacement – Plan to verify task and results

• Verification was not performed because AUT was not available - Use technology where required not everywhere

• Many other steps were missed • The UT interpretation was only one of a series of

errors

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Conclusion • Managing NDE services is not difficult, but is

essential to achieving operational excellence • Reliability depends on selecting the proper

inspection technique and receiving accurate results • Managing your NDE ensures that both of these goals

are achieved, while substantially reducing the cost of the examination

• In all cases, a poorly planned or performed inspection is worse than not inspecting at all!

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Questions?

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