In today’s competitive and safety-conscious petrochemical industry, enhancing mechanical integrity (MI), reliability and ensuring plant safety are critical goals.
Aging infrastructure, complex process equipment, continued pressure on production efficiency and increasingly stringent regulatory demands have elevated the importance of proactive asset monitoring.
One approach gaining significant traction is the use of remote monitoring equipment to collect real-time data and improve risk-based inspection (RBI) programs. These technologies are transforming how engineers evaluate the health of valves, piping systems, storage tanks, pressure vessels and other critical plant components where early indicators of failure are often subtle or hidden. This boosts safety, reducing downtime and saving millions of dollars annually.
Remote asset monitoring provides continuous, real-time insights into the condition of critical plant assets. These technologies enable early detection of mechanical issues, allowing for maintenance interventions before failures occur. Instead of relying solely on periodic manual inspections, online acoustic systems provide a constant stream of actionable data, helping engineers optimize turnaround planning and prioritize maintenance tasks more effectively.
This continuous monitoring capability supports data-driven decision-making, allowing facilities to move beyond static, time-based maintenance schedules. Instead, asset health and performance dictate inspection intervals, aligning with the principles of risk-based inspection and improving both safety and cost-efficiency. These advanced monitoring benefits can also be realized through asset insurance and risk mitigation groups for additional cost savings.
Revolutionizing mechanical integrity with asset monitoring
Valve monitoring: Isolating leakage, maximizing efficiency
Valves represent a significant opportunity for reliability improvement and cost savings. Industry data suggests that 5-10% of valves leak through, and a small subset — around 1-2% — can contribute to over 70% of product losses. Acoustic monitoring systems detect ultrasonic turbulence indicating leakage, enabling early intervention.
Documented case studies have shown that implementing acoustic valve monitoring has saved facilities upwards of $4 million per year by identifying and addressing leaking valves before they cause large-scale losses, process inefficiencies or safety issues.
Online acoustic monitoring systems, such as the MISTRAS 1278, are particularly effective for critical safety or process valves, especially those in hazardous, hightemperature or difficult-to-access locations. Unlike traditional manual inspections that require physical access, these systems offer 24/7 coverage from the control room, enhancing safety and reducing the need for confined-space entry or elevated work.
In chemical facilities, nearly 2000 valves are removed every year to be replaced or bench tested. 25-30% of removed valves are satisfactory and do not need to be replaced. Handheld acoustic testing tools, like the MISTRAS VPAC II, can complement online systems to quickly evaluate large populations of valves prior to a turnaround. The result is a more efficient turnaround, as work can focus only on faulty valves, identified ahead of schedule, minimizing unnecessary delays and costly surprises.
Corrosion monitoring: Staying ahead of wall loss
Corrosion is a silent but persistent threat in petrochemical operations. Equipment exposed to hazardous or acidic fluids, such as process piping and storage tanks, is especially vulnerable. The wall thickness of these assets does not degrade at a predictable, linear rate; rather, it often varies depending on operational conditions, flow dynamics and chemical composition.
Technologies like MISTRAS CALIPERAY 1616 enable real-time wall loss monitoring using permanently installed ultrasonic thickness sensors, detecting the thinning of pipe and tank walls before they fall below operational requirements. With this insight, maintenance teams can better assess risk and adjust inspection schedules accordingly, shifting from reactive to predictive corrosion management.
Revolutionizing mechanical integrity with asset monitoring
Crack detection in piping systems
Crack initiation and propagation in piping systems and pressure vessels are complex phenomena often driven by fatigue, flowaccelerated corrosion and thermal stresses. Traditional inspection approaches can only detect cracking while the system is offline and can accumulate large costs each year.
Online acoustic monitoring systems like the MISTRAS Sensor Highway III are uniquely suited to detect early-stage cracking by picking up high-frequency sound emissions generated during crack formation and growth. These capabilities are especially beneficial for girth welds, longitudinal seam-welded piping and vessels, where creep-fatigue and flow-induced degradation are present.
With this continuous monitoring, plants can better align needed inspections with actual risk, enabling a transition from timebased to risk-based inspections. This shift enhances safety while reducing unnecessary inspections and associated costs.
Integration through expert service providers
While the technology behind remote monitoring is powerful, its real value is unlocked when paired with robust data management and expert analysis. Partnering with an experienced, integrated service provider that is familiar with a plant’s operations streamlines implementation directly into asset integrity management software or computerized maintenance management systems, providing automated alerts and faster response times.
These providers offer end-to-end support, from sensor installation and calibration to data visualization, reporting and engineering consultation. By centralizing data across multiple asset classes, they help plant teams develop a comprehensive understanding of current mechanical integrity, identify emerging risks and prioritize capital investments.
Moreover, integrated platforms simplify the implementation of RBI methodologies, delivering not only technical tools but also strategic guidance that enables plant leadership to make informed, confident decisions about asset health and inspection intervals.
A smarter path to mechanical integrity
Remote asset monitoring is changing the way petrochemical plants approach mechanical integrity. By providing continuous online insight into the condition of valves, piping and critical systems, these technologies enable earlier fault detection, reduce downtime and support the implementation of riskbased inspection programs.
For plant engineers and maintenance professionals, the value is clear: safer operations, improved turnaround efficiency, and data-driven decision-making that aligns with evolving industry standards. As more facilities adopt these advanced monitoring systems, the future of mechanical integrity looks smarter, safer and more sustainable than ever.
For more information, visit mistrasgroup.com.
