IDMS journey

Overview

The IDMS journey starts by executing the Mitigation Plan where several inspection tasks have been defined for a specific asset. Once the activities have been performed, the Inspector is expected to move to the IDMS module in AllAssets to start collecting entering the information collected.

The inspections planned tasks can be grouped into two categories:

• Inspection Reports
• Thickness Reports

Let’s start by exploring the Inspection Reports:

Inspection Report

Inspection Reports can be created manually by clicking on the New Inspection Report item button at the Inspection Report area in the IDMS Module or they can be created in bulk using Data Uploads. When creating one report, the new button will create a new report which is initially empty. The following fields are required to start defining an inspection report:

• Site: users are expected to select the Site where the asset is located
• Hierarchy Item: upon selecting the site, AllAssets will filter the data to show only hierarchy items that are located within the selected Site. Users are then expected to select the actual asset which is linked to the inspection report
• Asset Family: Upon selecting the Hierarchy Item, AllAssets will automatically select the Asset Family. This information will be used to filter the following field, Report Type.
• Report Type: The report type is the most important step in this process. Upon selecting the Report Type, AllAssets will download all the information from the Inspection Template and create the form so data can be added. Only Inspection Templates for the selected Asset Family will be displayed.
• Inspection Date: this refers to the date of inspection
  Inspector: this field will be automatically defined to the user creating the report, but it can be changed and assigned to other users if required.
• Inspection Confidence: an inspection confidence level must be selected

At this point, the user should press Save so AllAssets can download other pieces of information that might be useful when completing the inspection report. Upon pressing Save, four buttons will become available at the top right of the screen – these buttons will allow users to:

• Check the Inspection History associated with this asset
• Attach any Media that has been collected as part of the inspection activity
• Delete the Inspection Report
• Save changes to the Inspection Report

Scrolling down on the page, users will see a Summary area. This is can be used to add an overview and comments around specific observations related to this Report.

If the user has pressed Save, AllAssets will then display important information from other modules:

• Work Orders: if work orders are defined in the Mitigation Plan, they will be displayed here. Users can use the radio button to include or exclude work orders from the Inspection Report which will synchronise data from AllAssets to the EPR system, where integration is available.
• Inspection Points: if Inspection Points are defined in the Drawings added to the Hierarchy area at the Manage Equipment Module, AllAssets will make them available here. Users can associate one or more inspection points to the report by using the Radio button
• Drawings: if drawings are available in the Hierarchy area at the Manage Equipment Module, AllAssets will make them available here. Users can preview the files but they will not be able to edit them. Drawings can only be edited in the Hierarchy area.

If an active Mitigation Plan is available, AllAssets will download that information and show Tasks required to be completed so the risk is mitigated. AllAssets will then compare the Tasks in the Mitigation Plan to the Master Inspection Method associated with the Inspection Template. With this information, the platform will automatically include Tasks that are associated with the template. This step is extremely important when updating the Mitigation Plan during the evergreen risk analysis process. The report association will be used by the Mitigation Plan to track the last inspection date which is used to calculate due dates. Inspectors are advised to review the Mitigation Plan table to ensure that the correct Tasks have been associated with the report.

Except for the Mitigation Plan Task association process, all the above steps after the Summary area are optional. The bottom part of the report is where the data collected through inspections should be added. The information displayed will be dependent on what has been defined in the Inspection Template.

Three areas may appear at the bottom of the screen:

• Headers are best described as information that is relevant to the inspection but not necessarily related to the location or asset. One example of this would be the "Outside Temperature". Although at first glance this would seem like measurement is information pertinent to the inspection, not a direct measurement of the item being inspected.
• Observations fall into two categories. Observations that only require a yes/no response, or those observations that have a condition-based response. An example of a yes/no observation would be "Visible Leaks". An example of a condition-based observation would be "Coating Condition". Condition-based responses are "Good, Fair, Poor, N/A" and are subjective based on the user's opinion.
• Measurements are mathematical values captured to help understand the health of an asset or the context of the inspection.

Once the data is available in this module, users can explore the reports to determine if new information needs to be included in the risk assessment. This is discussed in more detail in the Evergreen Risk Analysis chapter.

The next section explores Thickness Reports and Locations.

Thickness Reports & Locations

The first step in working with Thickness Reports is to define Thickness Locations.

Thickness Locations

Thickness Locations, also known as Condition Monitoring Locations (CMLs) or Thickness Monitoring Locations (TMLs) are designated locations on equipment items where thickness measurements are conducted to monitor the presence and rate of damage.

Most CMLs/TMLs consist of at least one examination point, usually a two to three-inch diameter circle on the surface of the equipment. It’s within these circles that the measurement takes place. The number of specific spots where individual readings are taken within these areas varies. API 510 and API 570 recommend recording either the lowest or an average of several readings within the area of the examination point.

The number and location of CMLs/TMLs need to be a sampling that covers the entire population range. Additionally, the number is based on the user’s desired confidence in the sample data. In other words, more CMLs/TMLs will produce more sample data, which, in turn, should increase a user’s confidence in the estimated condition. More locations should be used to monitor higher risk equipment. For sites that have implemented risk-based inspection, the number of CMLs/TMLs will typically depend on the desired level of risk mitigation.

To define Thickness Locations, the inspector is required to go to the Thickness Location area of the IDMS module. On this page, users can add a new location by clicking on “New Thickness Location items” or locations can be created in bulk via Data Uploads. To fully require a location, users are required to:

• Location Name: it is important to define a name that is easy to identify as this information will be used in the Thickness Reports area
• Description: a description of the location where the measurement is being taken
• Active: this defines whether a location is available for selection in the thickness report
• Site: users are expected to select the Site where the asset is located:
• Hierarchy Item: upon selecting the Site, AllAssets will filter the data to show only the Hierarchy Items available under the selected Site
• Asset Family: upon selecting the Hierarchy Item, AllAssets will automatically select the Asset Family
• Install Date: users are expected to determine the Install Date for the examination point which can be different than the Installation Date for the equipment item if repairs have been performed. This selection influences the way AllAssets calculates corrosion rates.
• Damage Mechanism: This is a free text field that allows users to add information around potential damage mechanisms being monitored by this specific Thickness location
• Nominal Thickness: users are expected to enter the nominal or initial thickness at for the inspection location
• Nominal Thickness UOM: users are expected to select the units of measure
• Material Spec: This is a free text field that allows users to enter information material specification
• Material Grade: This is a free text field that allows users to enter information material grade
• Size: users are expected to enter the diameter of the component or item where the examination point is located
• Size UOM: users are expected to define the units of measure for the size

The next is calculating the minimum required thickness (i.e. T-Min). AllAssets offers three options to enter this information:

• Manual T-Min: users are required to manually enter T-min and its reference units of measure. This is the value defined when Thickness Locations are created via Data Uploads.
• Structural T-min: the structural minimum thickness is an option that requires users to select a Component Type. AllAssets will then retrieve the reference value from a lookup.
• Pressure T-min: this calculated field is an option that requires users to define the Shape Type of the inspection location and then enter several fields required to calculate the pressure t-min for that specific shape.

The user-selected minimum thickness from these 3 options will be used to calculate Remaining Life for the location.

• Specifying the T-Min is the last step in the Thickness Location definition. Users are expected to define all the Thickness Locations before moving to Thickness Report.
• The next section describes how users should work with Thickness Reports.

Thickness Report

Thickness Reports imports information from Thickness Locations, allows measurement readings to be entered for selected locations and then calculates corrosion rates and remaining lifefully define a thickness report.

The process to create Thickness Reports are very similar to Inspection Reports. The inspector is required to go to the Thickness Report area of the IDMS module or they can be created in bulk using Data Uploads. When creating one report, a new report can be created by clicking on the “New Thickness Report item” button. To fully define a report, users are required to:

• Site: users are expected to select the Site where the asset is located
• Hierarchy Item: upon selecting the site, AllAssets will filter the data to show only hierarchy items that are located within the selected Site. Users are then expected to select the actual asset which is linked to the thickness report
• Asset Family: Upon selecting the Hierarchy Item, AllAssets will automatically select the Asset Family.
• Report Type: Upon selecting the Report Type, AllAssets will create the form so method-specific data can be added for the selected measurement method – Eddy Current, IRIS, RT or UT.
• Inspection Date: this refers to the date of inspection
• Inspector: this field will be automatically defined to the user creating the report, but it can be changed and assigned to other users if required.
• Inspection Confidence: an inspection confidence level must be selected

At this point, the inspector should press Save so AllAssets can download other pieces of information that might be useful when completing the thickness report.

Again, similarly to Inspection Reports, upon pressing Save, five buttons will become available at the top right of the screen. There is one important difference between the functionality available in Inspection Reports and Thickness Reports – the ability to import thickness locations. The buttons on the top right will allow users to:

• Check the Inspection History associated with this asset
• Attach any Media that has been collected as part of the inspection activity
• Delete the Thickness Report
• Import Thickness Locations – by clicking on this button, users will be prompted with another window showing all the active Thickness Locations associated with this asset. The table that supports the selection of the appropriate locations shows information such as Location Name, Equipment, T-Min (Minimum Thickness Required) and Previous Reading. The previous reading will only show if the data exists. If data is not available, AllAssets will display a blank cell. Users are expected to select only the locations that have readings for this specific inspection activity. This will create another table at the bottom of the screen which will be discussed in detail later in this section.
• Save changes to the Thickness Report

Scrolling down on the page, users will see a Summary area. This area can be used to add an overview and comments around specific observations related to this Report.

If the user has pressed Save, AllAssets will then display important information from other modules:

• Work Orders: if work orders are defined in the Mitigation Plan, they will be displayed here. Users can use the radio button to include or exclude work orders from the Inspection Report which will synchronise data from AllAssets to the EPR system, where integration is available.
• Drawings: if drawings are available in the Hierarchy area at the Manage Equipment Module, AllAssets will make them available here. Users can preview the files but they will not be able to edit them.

If an active Mitigation Plan is available, AllAssets will download that information and show Tasks required to be completed so the risk is mitigated. AllAssets will then compare the Tasks in the Mitigation Plan to the Master Inspection Method associated with the Inspection Template. With this information, the platform will automatically include Tasks that are associated with the report type. This step is extremely important when updating the Mitigation Plan during the evergreen risk analysis process. The report association will be used by the Mitigation Plan to track the last inspection date which is used to calculate due dates. Inspectors are advised to review the Mitigation Plan table to ensure that the correct Tasks have been associated with the report.

The bottom part of the report is where the data collected through inspections should be added.

The CML Information table is created as soon as the user has imported Thickness Locations by using the buttons on the top right. This table will retrieve data from the Thickness Locations and it will display:

• Inspection Location: this data comes from the Thickness Location
• Item Name: this data comes from the Thickness Location
• Nominal Thickness: this data comes from the Thickness Location
• Install Date: this data comes from the Thickness Location
• Previous Date: this refers to the last date a reading was recorded for the Thickness Location for this asset.
• Previous Reading: this refers to the last measurement that was recorded for the Thickness Location for this asset if available. AllAssets will use the information from previous readings to calculate Short Term Corrosion Rate. This field will only show data from the very last reading/inspection activity. If this is the first reading, the cell will be empty, but the Evaluations tab will use Nominal Thickness as Previous or Original to calculate corrosion rates.
• Current Reading: this field is where the inspector is expected to enter new readings that have been captured as part of this inspection activity
  Ignore?: this checkbox is where the inspector can decide the ignore readings where there is evidence that the data should be ignored
• T-min: this data comes from the Thickness Location
• Internal?: this checkbox indicates whether a reading indicates internal wall loss.
• Comments: this optional field is where users can add commentary around specific readings

Another tab called Evaluations becomes available the moment the inspector saves the Thickness Report. At the top of the Evaluation page, the inspector will see a visualization that displays the Thickness Measurement and the Corrosion Rate on the verticals axis and each location on the horizontal axis.

The data on the visualization is controlled by the rows selected in the table just below it. By clicking on each row, the inspector can add data to the visualization. In addition to controlling the data, inspectors can show or hide the following variables:

• Short-term corrosion rate
• Long-term corrosion rate
• T-min thickness
• Current Reading

This table will have all locations added to the report and their respective readings. In addition to this data, AllAssets will calculate the following variables:

• Short-term Corrosion Rate
  • Short Term corrosion rate = (Previous Reading – Current Reading)/(Thickness Report Current Date – Thickness Report Previous Date)
  • If the Current Reading is equal to the Previous Reading then the Short-term corrosion rate will be equal to zero
  • If the Thickness Report Current Date and Thickness Report Previous Date are the same, the calculation will show “No Data”
  • If this is the first reading for the location, two changes are made for the above formula:
    • Previous Reading = Nominal Thickness
    • Thickness Report Previous Date = Install Date for the Thickness Location
• Long-term Corrosion Rate
  • Long-term corrosion rate = (Original Reading – Current Reading)/(Thickness Report Current Date – Thickness Report Original Date)
  • If the Current Reading is equal to the Previous Reading then the Long-term corrosion rate will be equal to zero
  • If the Thickness Report Current Date and Thickness Report Previous Date are the same, the calculation will show “No Data”
  • If this is the first reading for the location, two changes are made for the above formula:
    • Original Reading = Nominal Thickness
    • Thickness Report Original Date = Install Date for the Thickness Location
• Remaining Life (Years)
  • Remaining Life = (Current Reading – T-Min)/ (Short-term corrosion rate or Long-term corrosion rate - whichever is the greatest)
  • When the greatest corrosion rate is smaller or equal to zero then Remaining Life will be blank
  • When the Current Reading is less than T-min then the Remaining Life will be equal to zero
  • When both the Short-term and Long-term corrosion rates are blank and the location has no T-min then Remaining Life will be blank
• Due Date
  • Due Date = (Remaining Life)/2 + (Current Date)
  • Due Date is Blank if Remaining Life is Blank
• Retirement Date
  • Retirement Date = Remaining Life + Current Date
  • Retirement Date is Blank if Remaining Life is Blank
• Remarks
  • AllAssets will provide comments when the data is offering a significant insight. For example, if Corrosion Rates are negative, AllAssets will report it.
• Comments
  • AllAssets will bring any comment entered in the Report tab to this column

Short-Term and Long-Term Corrosion Rates could have a negative value. This is normally an indication of poor readings where thickness readings are higher than the previous readings. Users can exclude these readings to ensure that calculations are correct.

Also, the platform will colour-code important information on the table:

• AllAssets will mark in red when a location reading is smaller than T-min
• AllAssets will mark in yellow when a location has the earliest Retirement Date

At the bottom of the screen, the inspector will see another table that summarises the information for the Thickness Report. This table will show:

• Average of all Short-Term corrosion rates for all active thickness locations on that component
• Average of all Long-Term corrosion rates for all active thickness locations on that component
• Displays the maximum Short-Term corrosion rates for all active thickness locations on that component
• Displays the maximum Long-Term corrosion rates for all active thickness locations on that component
• Displays the smallest remaining life value from all active thickness locations on that component.
• Displays the shortest Retirement Date from all active thickness locations on the component
• Displays earliest CML Due Date on the component.

When the checkbox is checked to Exclude Growth, if a Thickness Monitoring Location (TML) is negative, then it will be ignored for the average Short-Term corrosion rate calculation and average Long-Term corrosion rate calculation individually (e.g. ST and LT) . The consequence of this selection is the component Short-Term and Long-Term average corrosion rates trend higher when fewer inspection locations are used because they are excluded due to “growth”.

Finally, the overall result of the Thickness Report is shown at the bottom of the page – it will display:

• Remaining Life (Years)
• Due Date
• Retirement Date