Shutdown Scope

The comprehensive planning process for a major planned shutdown of a process unit or facility for inspection, maintenance, repair, and capital modification activities. Turnaround planning encompasses scope development, work list prioritization, resource planning, schedule optimization, logistics, safety planning, and post-turnaround recommissioning. Turnarounds are typically the single largest maintenance expenditure and the primary opportunity for internal inspection of fixed equipment.

The postponement of a planned inspection, maintenance activity, or corrective action beyond its originally scheduled date. Deferrals require formal justification (typically an engineering assessment demonstrating that the deferred activity does not compromise safety or integrity), approval by authorized personnel, interim monitoring or compensating measures, and a firm rescheduled date. Deferrals are governed decisions tracked in the deferral register.

The comprehensive plan that defines what to inspect, how to inspect, when to inspect, and what to look for on each equipment item. An inspection strategy integrates the RBI risk ranking, the identified damage mechanisms, the appropriate NDE techniques, the CML locations, the inspection interval, and the acceptance criteria into a coherent plan that can be executed in the field.

A methodology that uses risk assessment to prioritize and plan inspection activities for pressurized and other equipment. RBI combines Probability of Failure (driven by damage mechanisms and equipment condition) with Consequence of Failure (driven by process hazards and safety impact) to rank equipment by risk and allocate inspection resources where they will have the greatest impact on risk reduction.