Multilevel Risk-Based Inspection Scheme for FPSOs
As the floating, production, storage, and off-loading (FPSO) fleet matures, the challenge of how to more rationally and efficiently manage the life-cycle integrity of an FPSO attracts more attention. Risk-and reliability-based approaches are regarded as very powerful tools to help optimize an integrity program and offer flexibility in helping better manage the integrity management regime. This paper presents a multilevel risk-based inspection (RBI) methodology ranging from simplified deterministic approaches using standard design analysis up to sophisticated probabilistic approaches. Each approach has various levels of usefulness ranging from the definition of critical areas for a single inspection campaign up to the generation of an optimized inspection schedule and work scope covering the entire life cycle of a particular unit. These RBI methodologies have been successfully applied in inspection planning for several FPSO installations. A wide range of engineering analyses were involved, depending on the needs of individual projects and client requests, inspection objectives, condition of the asset, availability of design analysis information, and so forth.