I’m working with a potential inspect customer. He wanted to know if he would have the opportunity to do RBI on our platform, which we cannot do yet. I would imagine this is something several inspectors are interested in.
So with that he wanted to be able to do an analytic comparison of the check lists, to make the whole inspection process faster and smoother.
If the analytic comparison isnt possible, an alternative he was thinking of is being able to export the results of the check lists to Excel to make columns and charts to see similarities and results there.
What is RBI?
Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) is a methodology widely used in the oil and gas industry to assess and mitigate risks associated with static equipment, primarily pipelines, valves, heat exchangers, tanks, and reactors. The core objective is to identify potential leaks and implement an inspection program that minimizes the associated risks. This program is developed based on a structured risk analysis, ensuring that maintenance efforts are prioritized according to the likelihood and severity of failures.
Given the hazardous nature of oil and gas operations—where large volumes of flammable, explosive, and toxic substances are handled under high pressure and temperature—equipment failures can have severe consequences for personnel safety, environmental impact, and production continuity. RBI provides a data-driven decision-making framework to determine which maintenance activities should be performed and at what intervals to ensure operational safety and efficiency.
The risk assessment process considers both the probability of failure—based on degradation mechanisms such as corrosion, erosion, and fatigue—and the potential impact of leaks in terms of safety, environmental damage, and economic losses. Advanced analytics and predictive modeling techniques are leveraged to estimate degradation rates and optimize maintenance strategies accordingly.
A key output of the RBI process is a maintenance program that focuses on high-risk components while eliminating unnecessary inspections, thus improving efficiency. Common inspection techniques include Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), which enables condition assessment without invasive procedures. Equipment exceeding predefined risk thresholds is subject to time-based condition monitoring, which is integrated into the overall maintenance strategy.