About RBI Components

In Risk Based Inspection, you can divide equipment into components whose risk you want to analyze using an RBI Criticality Analysis. You can divide a piece of equipment into components based on shared degradation mechanisms. Each sub-part of the asset that shares the same degradation mechanisms will belong to the same RBI Component.

In GE Digital APM, the information related to an RBI component is stored in the following Criticality Calculator RBI Component records:

Criticality RBI Component - Cylindrical Shell
Criticality RBI Component - Exchanger Bundle
Criticality RBI Component - Exchanger Header
Criticality RBI Component - Exchanger Tube
Criticality RBI Component - Piping
Criticality RBI Component - Pump Compressor Casing
Criticality RBI Component - Tank Bottom
Criticality RBI Pipeline Segment (only if the Pipeline Management license is active)

The information related to a PRD component is stored in the following Criticality Calculator PRD Components:

Criticality PRD Component - Relief Valve
Criticality PRD Component - Rupture Disk

Example: Heat Exchanger

Consider a Heat Exchanger, which is a piece of equipment that contains the following components:

A Cylindrical Shell that makes up the Heat Exchanger Shell section.
A Cylindrical Shell that makes up the Heat Exchanger Channel section.
Any number of small tubes that make up the Heat Exchanger Bundle section.

Each of the components can contain items such as Nozzles, Flanges, or Piping.

In RBI, to analyze the ways in which the exchanger can fail, you must divide the components into logical groups that represent common failure characteristics. Each group of components is a separate component and is represented by a single RBI Component record. Keep in mind that some of these groups are involved in the overhead system, and others are involved in the cooling water system.

For example, you might group the equipment's components as follows:

Heat Exchanger Shell: Includes a cylindrical shell, an inlet nozzle, an outlet nozzle, and a head, often referred to as a shell cover. The Shell is part of the Cooling Water System (blue) because the purpose of the shell is to allow water to flow over the tubes and cool the process fluid running through the channel and bundle section of the exchanger.
Heat Exchanger Channel: Includes a cylindrical shell, an inlet nozzle an outlet nozzle and a flat head, often referred to as a dollar plate. The Channel is part of the OVHD System (yellow) because the purpose of the Channel is to funnel the process fluid in to the tubes and allow cooling of the process fluid running through the channel and bundle section of the exchanger.
Heat Exchanger Bundle: Includes tubes, baffles, and a tubesheet. The Bundle is part of the OVHD System (yellow) because the purpose of the bundle is to provide as much surface area as possible for the process fluid in to the tubes and allow cooling of the process fluid running through the bundle section of the exchanger.

If you create an RBI Criticality Analysis using this example, your database contains the following records:

Unit / Area (Functional Location record)
Overhead System (Corrosion Loop record)
Cooling Water System (Corrosion Loop record)
Heat Exchanger (Equipment record)
Heat Exchanger Shell (Criticality Calculator RBI Components record)
Heat Exchanger Channel (Criticality Calculator RBI Components record)
Heat Exchanger Bundle (Criticality Calculator RBI Components record)

Note: If you have already created Functional Location records to represent the OVHD System and Cooling Water System using the recommended asset hierarchy, you must create additional Corrosion Loop records to represent these same systems. The existing Functional Location records need not be linked to the Corrosion Loop records.