Are you the turnaround coordinator at an oil and gas company? We don’t envy you. Executing inspection and maintenance turnarounds (TARs) has become increasingly complex over the past few years. Supply chains remain disrupted by COVID-19, hampering procurement of necessary parts. Compliance and emissions standards continue to evolve. Company executives hold competing priorities between maintaining assets and maximizing production, sometimes delaying maintenance until an outage occurs. Due to these factors, studies indicate that your chances of executing a TAR on time and within budget are about 1 in 3.
With millions of company dollars at stake, that’s a tough pill to swallow. Fortunately, there are practical steps you can take now to maximize the speed and efficiency of your TARs.
Step 1: Implement a Good Inspection Schedule
Getting assets onto a regular inspection and maintenance schedule minimizes disruptions by addressing issues before they lead to outages. Before NDE inspection techniques came onto the market, regular inspections would have been too disruptive to oil and gas operations. Now, not so much. Advanced NDE technologies, like Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing, can identify poor welds and areas of corrosion while equipment remains in service. You can then get all the materials and maintenance engineers to the site before shutting down the plant for repairs.
A good TAR inspection schedule, particularly one based on predictive data, also allows you to plan around times of high demand to prevent major drops in production. You can also account for the expense in your annual budget, spreading out the costs—as well as reducing them—over time.
“When done well, turnaround maintenance may only be necessary every 4 to 6 years, depending on the specific installation. Otherwise, a plant may need to shut down for turnaround maintenance every 2 years or even less, with the associated expense, and profit forgone.”
~ Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Step 2: Document the Details for Accurate Scoping
Developing an accurate turnaround scope remains one of the biggest challenges faced by TAR coordinators. Scope creep can creep up quickly as the initial discovery process uncovers multiple maintenance possibilities. Should that worn heat exchanger be replaced now? Or that mild corrosion removed from the condenser? Even if it adds another two weeks to the TAR? These are rarely easy calls to make.
Good documentation of all system assets and components will allow you and your TAR inspector to make these decisions wisely. Your documentation should cover all of the major events in the life of your assets: design, operational role, inspections, shutdowns, outages, repairs and upgrades. Additionally, documenting changes in priorities or maintenance plans during the TAR—and clearly communicating them to everyone involved—will keep your TAR from being derailed by unnecessary mistakes.
While documentation should be standard practice for everyone, some do it better than others. Adopting software and processes that allow you to easily gather, organize, and access this data will help your team get assets back into operation quickly. Many companies use programs like SAP, Primavera P6,or Microsoft Dynamics 365 to keep this vital information at their crews’ fingertips, even in the field.
Step 3: Prioritize Safety
Let’s face it: a turnaround inspection is no task for the timid. Inspectors must often squeeze into tight, dark spaces to evaluate various components. One mistake can cause loss of life or limb, catastrophic damage to assets, and an extended closure of your facility.
Prioritizing safety might seem negligible when faced with an urgent TAR, but companies disregard precautions at their financial (and legal) peril. For starters, OSHA demands that TAR activities meet many safety requirements. But also, having properly equipped and certified inspectors working on your TAR makes the whole turnaround process quicker and more seamless. You’ll deal with fewer errors and incidents, and your crew will work more confidently. Safety saves lives and money.
For success, your lead inspector should be knowledgeable about current safety regulations, as well as the unique hazards that can arise during a TAR. Additionally, opting for more NDE inspection techniques during the discovery phase—while more expensive than the hands-on types—will not only provide you with valuable information about your assets, it will also reduce the number of safety risks your crews will have to face.
Step 4: Choose a Reliable Inspection Team
When it comes to finding qualified turnaround inspectors, think twice about taking the lowest bid. Minimizing costs on the front end can lead to budget-busting expenses on the back end if your third-party inspector isn’t experienced in handling TARs. They should be able to determine the best inspection methods for your needs, provide you with comprehensive inspection and safety checklists, get qualified crews to the site, perform all the necessary evaluations, and quickly generate inspection reports with clear and actionable recommendations. It’s a job where quality of execution directly impacts company profits.
For TARs, we operate a proprietary software program that tracks all inspection activities on a live digital screen. It also assigns a unique NCR number to each piece of equipment, eliminating confusion about which component has been inspected or needs repair. Our system allows TAR coordinators and crews to see exactly where they are in the TAR process, what reports have been compiled, and what should happen next.
Inexperienced contractors can delay a TAR by weeks or months, extending the time your assets remain out of service. Instead, choose a partner with a reputation for finishing turnaround inspections on time with sufficient expertise. In the end, it’s money—and frustration—well saved.
Turnarounds with HMT
With new technology available to track TAR inspections, it’s now easier than ever to minimize turnaround time, ensure safety, and keep assets operating at peak efficiency. Our highly experienced inspection team can work with you to identify your maintenance needs and draft a turnaround plan designed to get you back into profitable operation, on time and within budget.
As a full-service company, we offer advanced NDE inspection techniques, in-house fabrication and design of products that reduce emissions, and 45 years of meeting API standards in the aboveground storage industry. Contact us to plan your next turnaround.
