(132c) Damage Mechanisms and Risk in An Ethylene Plant

The ethylene industry is faced with aging facilities and the need to continue to operate plants safely and profitably. Most of the industry is now using risk-based inspection technology to understand and manage the risks in the plants that are caused by degredation of the equipment.

This paper will identify the typical damage mechanisms in an ethylene plant that are most likely to cause deterioration in the plant fixed equipment assets. These mechanisms will be associated with different sections of the plant, based on typical design and operations considerations. An analysis based on an actual operating plant will be used to show how the risk contribution from each of the damage mechanisms will vary over the life of the plant with different inspection regimes.