The Oil and gas industry deploys many assets, such as pipelines, tanks, turbines, and pumps, for its production activities. Efficient maintenance and operations of these assets are crucial not only for production but also for the safety of the personnel operating them and for avoiding environmental hazards.
Asset Integrity refers to an asset’s ability to perform its required function effectively and safely without posing any risk to people, the environment, or business operations. Integrity must be considered from the needs assessment stage to the design and construction of the facility. Once an asset is commissioned, operations and maintenance play a significant role in maintaining its integrity.
Data gathered by BlueWeave Consulting shows that the global oil and gas Asset Integrity Management (AIM) services market was valued at approximately USD 20.41 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 31.99 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 7.78%. The growth is attributed to multiple factors, including increasingly stringent compliance and ageing infrastructure.
In this article, we will examine asset integrity in detail, including why it is important, how it is achieved, and what it entails.
Why is Asset Integrity Important?
A lot has been written about the importance of asset integrity. The infographic below summarises the most prominent benefits of achieving asset integrity:
Managing Asset Integrity in Asset-Heavy Industries
Asset integrity is especially vital for industries with asset-intensive operations, such as oil and gas, LNG, petrochemicals, and mining. Assets in these sectors are often susceptible to various risks, such as corrosion, aging, and wear and tear. They also operate in volatile environments and are exposed to fluctuating temperatures and other weather conditions.
Different types of assets are susceptible to different risks to their integrity. For instance, rotating assets like motors, pumps, and turbines are at risk of wear and tear and damage to bearings, whereas static equipment like tanks, pipes, and pressure vessels is subject to corrosion.
Consequently, the maintenance team needs to execute multiple strategies,, frameworks, and use software to monitor and maintain different types of assets.
We can broadly classify asset integrity into two categories:
- Risk Management
- Asset Life Extension
In the following section, we will break down the most commonly used strategies and techniques for managing risk and extending the life of assets.
Risk management
During commissioning, operations, and maintenance, assets can be vulnerable to numerous risk factors. If any of these factors are overlooked, the assets may fail. Here are some of the most common strategies companies use to manage asset risk:
Risk-based inspections
Risk-based inspections (RBI) are a strategy to allocate inspection bandwidth based on the risk profile of each asset.
The Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) was introduced by the American Petroleum Institute (API) to define and rank the risk of process equipment failure, to review safety, environmental, and business-related risks economically, and to reduce the likelihood and consequence of failure by allocating inspection resources to equipment carrying high risk.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
FMEA is a systematic, proactive approach to identifying potential failure modes in a product, process, or system and assessing their impact. It helps organizations prioritize risks by evaluating the failure’s severity, occurrence, and detectability, allowing for preventive actions.
Commonly used in industries like manufacturing, aerospace, and oil and gas, FMEA improves reliability, safety, and efficiency by reducing the likelihood of failures before they occur.
The important steps in any FMEA activity are:
- Identifying the components/assets to be analyzed
- Identifying and preparing a list of all potential failure modes
- Comprehensively defining the effect of failure on the device/asset
- Listing possible effects of failure on personnel in the vicinity of the asset
- Listing down possible causes of failure based on the asset type
- Listing down possible causes of failure based on the environment it operates in
- Putting in place a robust detection mechanism and triggers to detect the failure
- Creating a handbook that contains recommended actions in case the equipment fails
Written scheme of examination
As the name suggests, a written scheme of examination provides a detailed step-by-step guide for examining various assets. A written scheme of examination generally includes:
- Identification of the items of the plant or equipment within the system for which the schemes of examination are to be developed.
- Identifion the parts within a system or equipment that need actual examination.
- Detailed information about what needs to be examined for each part and the details of the tools required to do the same.
- The preparation and background tasks that must be carried out safely during the examination.
- Critical parts that need special attention
- Details and protocols for post-examination certification, along with the name of the competent authority that can certify.
Corrosion Management
Corrosion leads to risks, unplanned outages, and disproportionate expenses when undetected. Mitigating the risks of corrosion requires developing a corrosion information management system (CIMS), which involves:
- Identifying CIMS applicable tags
- Preparing Asset Register templates for CIMS-applicable tags where essentiial information according to the asset type is captured (e.g., piping, static, etc.)
- Developing special templates for critical equipment.
- Gathering the data accurately and populating it within the templates
- Uploading the data into the CIMS
- Setting up a cadence for monitoring, analysis, and preventive activities.
Asset Life Extension Studies
Life extension studies involve examining an asset during or at the end of its life to determine if the equipment’s lifespan can be extended beyond the manufacturer’s specifications. These studies are thorough and include:
- Analysis of available information regarding the asset, including manufacturer specifications, operating practices, maintenance logs, inspection history, etc.
- Thorough evaluation of the equipment’s current condition and calculation of actual structural damage.
- Review of maintenance and repairs against the issued safety and operational guidelines.
- Engineering criticality assessment based on the size of inspected defects and material toughness.
- Assessment of remaining lifespan and the potential for extending it beyond the original equipment lifespan.
Hofincons Group and Asset Integrity Management
Hofincons Group offers various asset integrity services to Oil and gas organisations. Our services and solutions are based on our 47+ years of experience working with the industry. Along with the core knowledge of asset management and maintenance, Hofincons Group has unmatched expertise in building accurate and reliable asset data.
We have seen many integrity projects fail due to a lack of reliable and actionable asset and maintenance data. Our dual expertise in asset maintenance and asset data management leads to proven benefits to our clients.
We start with collecting and building data
Each piece of equipment has a maintenance procedure and schedule prescribed by the manufacturer. Maintaining hundreds of thousands of assets within the prescribed timeline and method is not easy. The most common reason organisations fail to achieve asset integrity is a lack of data.
- It is common for organisations to not register all assets in their ERP. Assets not registered in the ERP are not maintained and fail abruptly.
- Missing maintenance procedures prevent the maintenance personnel from carrying out the correct prescribed maintenance.
- Incomplete spares data leads to unavailability of spares and can delay the maintenance of critical equipment.
- In case of static equipment, the corrosion inspection data needs to be captured systematically so that it can be analysed later to predict failure.
At Hofincons Group, we begin by extensively gathering data so that the client has a robust foundation for achieving asset integrity.
We understand the context
While every piece of equipment comes with the maintenance prescribed by the manufacturer, it will not always be operated at the rated capacity or in the expected way. The maintenance of the equipment needs to be adjusted accordingly. For instance, if a pump is not being operated at the rated pressure, its maintenance can be modified to bring the overall maintenance cost of the plant down.
Hofincons Group has a team of experts who prescribe context-based maintenance for each piece of equipment. This allows maintenance personnel to properly utilize their bandwidth and reduce maintenance costs without compromising performance and integrity.
We empower our client’s teams
Maintaining asset integrity involves maintenance and inspections carried out almost daily. Hence, the best strategy always empowers and involves the daily equipment operators and maintenance personnel. Hofincons Group offers on-site specialised training that builds the capacity of the client-side teams to achieve asset integrity.
Conclusion
Ensuring asset integrity is not a one-time event but a continuous, integrated effort that spans the lifecycle of industrial equipment. From initial design to decommissioning, organizations must adopt proactive strategies to monitor, assess, and improve the reliability and safety of their assets. Implementing structured frameworks like RBI, FMEA, and corrosion management reduces risks and unplanned downtime and improves overall operational efficiency and regulatory compliance. By investing in asset integrity today, industries secure safer operations, extend the lifespan of critical infrastructure, and protect both people and the environment for the long term.