Page 49 - Impiantistica Industriale

Piping Bolt Tightening is
considered a special process Flanged Joints Piping 3D
Model
“where the Quality of the fi nal attribute def. QCP
outcome cannot be evaluated (design) (inspection
just during final inspection ISOs and test)

(Tag)

Flanged
cation of all critical aspects and provide adequate Joints (sub-
control from the Design phase, through material Tag)
selection, competence of the involved personnel,
execution, until inspection and testing.
Being a special process, tightening works can be
compared with welding and therefore subject to Traceability
the application of the typical Quality requirements and Recording
stated on International standards, like ISO 9001
and ISO 3834.
Therefore tightening requirements have to include: The bolt tightening process could get benefi t from CONFIDENTIAL
1. Personnel Management; typical data-driven approach, where the data as-
• Bolt Tightening Operators; sociated to Flanged Joints have to be collected,
• Bolt Tightening Coordination Personnel; reported and fi nally analyzed: the target is to gua-
• Inspection and Test Personnel; rantee traceability, but also to substantially optimize
the work processes.
2. Process Management; The data management is based on an IT platform,
• Tightening Procedure Specifi cation customized for tightening works and used not only
• Qualifi cation of Tightening Process to collect or report data but also to extract informa-
• Post-Tightening Activities (reinstatement) tion useful to analyze and elaborate actions.
The use of an IT platform allows the real-time ac-
3. Inspection and Testing; cess to information (i.e. via mobile app) and a more
• Calibration and Validation of measurement, in- analytic approach.
spection and test equipment / tools; It is also used to set-up a Quality Control mana-
• Inspection before and during tightening works; gement based on statistical basis, built-up on the
• Inspection and testing after tightening works; criticality of the joints.
• Traceability and certifi cation.
Flanged Joints Attribute and Criticality
Tagging For each Flanged Joint belonging to a piping line
The identifi cation of the itemized element of the it is possible to defi ne some attributes associated
Plant is done through the defi nition of the tags. to Design classes. In particular, it is possible to link
A tag is a series of alphanumeric characters to a piping design class a level of criticality of the
that represents a specifi c category of the Plant single joint.
components to which is possible to associate a The criteria used for the defi nition of the criticality
work category or class defi ned as sequences of is based on a risk assessment approach therefore
elementary tasks referred to homogenous Con- linked to the severity of the hazard that could be
struction activities. caused by a potential leakage.
To each tag and specifi c work-class is then The defi nition of the appropriate level of Quality re-
associated a Quality Control Plan that lists the quirements will be in accordance with the expected
works, inspection and test steps, linking the re- outcomes and it is based on properly defi ned cri-
levant method, acceptance criteria and level of teria such as:
attendance of all Parties involved in the execu- • the level of safety and criticality of the Flanged
tion phase. Joints;
The Flanged Joints are considered sub-tags, • the material and components of the Flanged
where the piping isometric is defi ned as tag. Joints;
In this way it is easy to extract the mapping of • the complexity of the works;
the Joints and to associate a specifi c work class • the process / fl uid / service of the piping line.
and Quality Control Plan through the 3D Model Once set the level of criticality, it is possible to
used during Piping Design execution. associate to the specifi c piping line - and then
The opportunity to build-up a data-centric plat- to the Flanged Joints belonging to it - some
form where the Flanged Joints became the tag additional attributes such as:
element, allows to apply all typical data manage- • Tightening methods / values;
ment processes needed to analyze, track and re- • Inspection and test category and acceptance
port the information for each joint during Design, criteria;
Construction, Inspection and Testing • Extension of inspection and tests.

Impiantistica Italiana - Settembre-Ottobre 2021 45