Integrity Management During Design Stage

Abstract

Abstract The surging cost of Crude Oil has provoked oil and gas exploration and production to higher levels than expected. The wells that were previously considered abandoned for less GOR is now profit earning facility. Exploration and exploitation of new wells are at full swing and the time frame between identifying prospective wells and commission of a facility has shortened much. Planning, development and production of new facilities and systems / equipment needed for its support must take into account how operation and maintenance requirements are met into the design. Omitting the human factor and ergonomics (fitting the workplace to worker) in design has compromised the safe and efficient production, reliability, availability and maintainability of facilities leading to injuries to personnel and damage to equipment as well as costly retrofit. In the race to start an early production, integrity of assets has to be ensured in design, technical and operational phases for long term operational benefits. Introduction Integrity Management in Design means ensuring integrity of the Assets, in order to operate within acceptable safety margins and to ensure optimized economy throughout operational life. This is achieved by developing a safe layout integrating ergonomic (human factor) requirements right from design stage, material selection for sustained operation during life cycle of the plant, Reliability, Availability & Maintainability (RAM) studies, detailed Mechanical handling studies to ensure accessibility, operability and adequate facilities & clearances for maintenance during lifting and transportation of item / equipment, Risk identification, risk assessment and risk mitigation for all Health Safety & Environment Critical Equipment and Systems (HSECES), Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) studies and Safety Management as per applicable codes and standards. A bad design stays with the designers until construction, but the impacts of this bad design stays on with the people (Operators and Maintainers) who live with it throughout lifetime of the facility. 90% of the human errors are inherited from Design Phase of Facilities. Hence Integrity in Design must also aim at improving design so that there are fewer opportunities for human error or to reduce the possibility for human errors ALARP to avoid consequences for production, safety and Environment. Hence the design should incorporate all such requirements from the operators (human factors) of the facility that will enhance system reliability, availability, maintainability and safety. The effect of this bad design has a direct exponential impact on the OPEX through increased maintenance costs, extended shutdown periods and LTI human errors.