Research and Application of Safety Valves Inspection Method Based on Failure and Risk Big Data

Abstract Inspection interval of safety valves is generally at least once a year specified by the Safety Technical Supervision Regulations for Safety Valves (TSG ZF001-2006) in China, while the maintenance interval of production equipment in oil refining and chemical enterprises is usually 3–5 years. There is a prominent problem that inspection interval and maintenance interval is not consistent. This paper reveals the main failure modes, opening rate as well as maintenance replacement rate by analyzing the operation condition of 24720 safety valves of 322 typical units in oil refining and chemical industry. Moreover, the engineering application data of 44692 safety valves carried out with Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) method in the past eight years are statistically analyzed to reveal the risk distribution and risk level of safety valves. Based on the failure and risk level big data of safety valves, this paper proposes the safety valves inspection method to solve the contradiction between inspection interval and maintenance interval, which maybe further promote the legal compliance and long-term safe operation of production units in oil refining and chemical enterprises. The advantages and limitations of this method are summarized by sharing the engineering application cases in a petrochemical company about Safety valves inspection based on big data of failure and risk.