Fitness-For-Services
Purpose of Fitness-For-Services
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When your equipment is first constructed, it is based on theoretical calculations or standard codes.
After the equipment has been put in service for some time, its condition deteriorates.
At this point of time, you have to decide if replacement or repair is to be done, or can the equipment be
used for the remaining design life without compromising the safety of the operators and staff.
In circumstances where it is necessary to examine critically the integrity of new or existing constructions,
we use DNV’s principle of FFS (Fitness-For-Services) and ECA (Engineering Critical Assessment) in
accordance to API 579 and BS 7910 coupled with advance NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) techniques to provide
with the assessment service.
What are FFS and ECA?
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Often it is found upon inspection and assessment that the code requirements can no longer be met.
The decision whether to continue operation or shut down for repair and modification may have great economic consequences for the plant.
FFS assessment is a multi-disciplinary engineering analysis of equipment to determine if it is safe and fit for continued service until the end of some desired period of operation (for example, until the next shutdown, until some specific future date, or until the end of its useful life).
FFS is mainly performed on in-service equipment as per API 579 and BS 7910.
ECA is applied during the design and implementation phase.
As fabrication is never perfect and flaws will always exist in some form.
ECA form a basis for alternative acceptance standards for production weld as per BS 7910.
The advantage is to reduce the repair rate, save time and cost for the project.
Both FFS and ECA as per API 579 and BS 7910 are coupled with NDT for optimized analysis and assessment.
