Fitness-for-Service (FFS)

Equity Engineering provides fitness-for-service (FFS) assessments to evaluate the integrity of in-service pressure vessels, piping, rotating equipment, and tanks. As industry leaders who pioneered standards development, our Mechanical & Structural Engineering team utilizes API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 and API 571 to evaluate/demonstrate the life of components containing flaws or damage. Make informed run-repair-replace decisions, optimize inspection plans, and safely extend your asset’s life.

Download the Fitness-for-Service Overview here.

Make Informed Run, Repair, or Replace Decisions

Fitness-for-service (FFS) is a multi-disciplined engineering assessment used to make run, repair, or replace decisions for equipment or piping systems that contain a flaw or are subject to a particular damage mechanism. FFS assessments are also used to determine remaining life and optimize inspection plans (including inspection techniques and inspection frequency).

Implementing FFS into an asset’s lifecycle management program will improve safety, reduce risk, optimize design, maximize equipment availability, and reduce future maintenance and inspection costs. Our Mechanical & Structural Engineering team provides proactive and reactive FFS assessments to help you extend equipment life and safely justify continued operation with known damage or defects.

What is Fitness-for-Service?

FFS assessments are conducted on in-service equipment to assess the structural integrity of pressure vessels, piping, and tanks to determine whether the component is fit for continued operation or if the flaw or damage will cause a failure. Implementing FFS into an asset’s lifecycle management program will improve safety, reduce risk, optimize construction, maximize equipment availability, and reduce future maintenance and inspection costs.

Proactive vs. Reactive Fitness-for-Service

FFS is typically used in a reactive mode to assist with critical run-repair-replace decisions once flaws or damage are discovered. Equity recommends implementing FFS technology proactively and reactively throughout your asset integrity management program to extend equipment life and optimize inspection plans and mechanical integrity decisions.

Proactive Fitness-for-Service

When? FFS technology can be utilized proactively to optimize decisions at every phase of the equipment lifecycle management process.

Benefits:

  • Extend equipment life, optimize equipment design, and refine inspection intervals and tasks  
  • Determine go/no-go acceptance criterion before an inspection
  • Understand the effects of and potential for future damage progression  
  • Establish screening tools to aid in non-destructive examination (NDE) and flaw sizing exercises

Reactive Fitness-for-Service

When? FFS assessments are traditionally used to determine whether equipment or piping systems are safe for continued operation with the presence of some type of damage or defect that is detected during planned outages or on-stream inspections.

Benefits:

  • Make informed run, repair, or replace decisions on in-service equipment 
  • Determine future inspection or outage intervals
  • Develop repair procedures

Equity’s FFS Assessment Workflow

Our Mechanical & Structural Engineering team combines the appropriate level of technology with their extensive industry experience to provide practical and cost-sensitive recommendations to challenging FFS problems. Our team offers many related services to help improve the reliability of and extend equipment life, from both a reactive and proactive approach, including:

Case Study: Expedited Level 3 FFS Assessment​

Issue: The client identified multiple regions of extensive localized wall loss during a plant outage. Upon closer inspection, the damage was due to corrosion under insulation (CUI).

Solution: Our team performed a Level 3 FFS assessment to determine whether the process column could be placed back into service without repair. To prevent any delay in the process unit start-up, an assessment was needed on an expedited timeline. The speed at which the assessment was completed was only feasible due to Equity’s tools and expertise in executing similar assessments.

Result: The assessment results provided the justification needed to continue safely operating the equipment without repair. The client was able to start up the process unit without any delay.

FFS for Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs)

Atmospheric storage tanks (ASTs) can present unique challenges that require experienced personnel. We combine the principles of API 653 and API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 to improve safety and reduce unnecessary and untimely maintenance costs on ASTs. We conduct FFS assessments to address a wide array of damage including shell distortions, foundational settlement, environmental damage, and corrosion issues.

Equity Software: Evaluate & Analyze In-Service Equipment

Use Equity Software tools to conduct comprehensive evaluations and FFS analyses of the design, condition, and compliance of both new and in-service equipment. Equity Software offers multiple cloud-based options to help you achieve accurate Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 FFS assessment results quickly and easily.

PlantManager SAGE

PlantManager SAGE is a collection of mechanical engineering and FFS modules for evaluating and analyzing the design, condition, and compliance of new and in-service equipment.​ PlantManager SAGE leverages SagePlus to incorporate the latest API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 standards to deliver accurate FFS assessment results quickly and easily.

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Automated Finite Element Analysis Tools

Automated Finite Element Analysis Tools automate the entire Level 3 assessment workflow, making detailed FFS evaluations as accessible as traditional Level 2 methods. Use the new automated FEA tools for nozzles, pipeline dents, aboveground storage tanks, and local thin areas.

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SIMFLEX-IV

SIMFLEX-IV is a cloud-based piping stress analysis software for preventing potential failures by improving the structural integrity of piping systems and supporting structures. Calculate spring hanger design, rotating equipment load compliance reports, anchor and support load combination tables, and nozzle stresses, all in one run.

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Equity’s Role in Advancing FFS Methodologies

Our engineers pioneered the advancement of FFS technologies and were the lead investigators of the international standard API 579-1/ASME FFS-1, Fitness-for-Service. Today, the document is the FFS standard of choice for other industries such as pulp & paper, biofuels, food processing, and non-commercial nuclear.

Equity was the lead investigator of API 571, Damage Mechanisms Affecting Fixed Equipment in the Refining and Petrochemical Industry. Understanding the effects of and potential for future damage progression is critical in completing an effective FFS evaluation.

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    – Fitness-for-Service Assessment, North American Refinery

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    – Wind-Induced Vibration Analysis, European Refinery

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    – Fitness-for-Service Assessment, North American Refinery

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    – Fitness-for-Service Assessment, North American Refinery

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    – Fitness-for-Service Assessment, North American Refinery

  • Equity Engineering personnel provided a high quality report which helped us better understand the issues affecting our piping system. Based on this, we were able to reduce the potential for a repeated failure.”

    – Stress Analysis, Latin American Petrochemical Facility

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    – Stress Analysis, North American Refinery

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    – Mechanical & Structural Engineering, Gulf Coast Region

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    – Rerate Assessment, Renewable Fuel Producer