Risk-Based Inspection and Mechanical Integrity Management of Piping, Pressure Equipment, and Gas Processing Infrastructure: A Critical Review

Abstract

Risk-based inspection (RBI) is the dominant basis for planning the inspection of piping, pressure vessels and gas processing equipment, yet the ruptures at Chevron Richmond in 2012 and Tesoro Anacortes in 2010 showed how damage can escape risk-based programmes. This critical review examines 387 peer-reviewed studies published up to 2023, coded into seven themes: RBI and risk-based maintenance methods (53 studies), probabilistic and data-driven risk modelling (42), damage mechanisms (94), non-destructive testing and probability of detection (97), monitoring and digital twins (41), corrosion growth and remaining life (28), and integrity management systems (32). The literatures are poorly connected: none of the 53 RBI method studies refers to probability of detection or inspection reliability in its title, none of the 20 probability-of-detection studies refers to risk-based planning, and only 12 studies address gas processing equipment directly. Most RBI applications still use categorical inspection effectiveness and generic failure frequencies rather than validated detection and sizing models. In an illustrative calculation, when a “highly effective” inspection missed the most corroded location, a three-state effectiveness update underestimated the 20-year probability of failure by more than half in every case. The review proposes a closed-loop integrity framework linking operating windows, damage mechanisms, detection-aware Bayesian updating and monitoring, and sets out a research agenda.