Consulting Services

Engineering Services & Solutions

The Equity Engineering Group offers the following core consulting services:

Risk-Based Inspection
Fitness-For-Service
Materials & Corrosion
Process Technologies
Pressure Relieving Systems
New Equipment Design

To address new and aging infrastructure issues, Equity combines these core consulting services to create a Life-Cycle Management process that ensures equipment safety and reliably from design to retirement.

The Life-Cycle Management Approach

Most, if not all, pressurized equipment items will continue to operate well beyond their intended design life. To ensure that the equipment operates safely and reliably requires adoption of an equipment Life-Cycle Management (LCM) process. The LCM process covers equipment from design to retirement including in-service inspection, and Fitness-For-Service and/or repairs as required. To effectively implement the LCM approach, codes and standards must exist that cover each aspect of the process. In addition, the technology integration in these codes and standards must be coordinated so that similar analysis techniques are employed at the time of construction and for in-service assessments, as required. An overview of API, ASME, and other codes and standards is provided together with a discussion of the efforts to integrate technology to support the LCM process.

Life-Cycle Management

Featured Expert

David Osage
P.E.

Mr. Osage has over 30 years of experience in the refining and petrochemical industry both as an owner-user and consultant. He is responsible for engineering consulting services for pressure containing...

learn more

David Osage, P.E.

Osage Mr. Osage has over 30 years of experience in the refining and petrochemical industry both as an owner-user and consultant. He is responsible for engineering consulting services for pressure containing systems including pressure vessels, piping, and tankage. His responsibilities include stress and thermal analysis of pressure vessels, piping and tankage; development and maintenance of CAE systems for plant engineering; advanced finite element methods; Fitness-For-Service analysis of in-service equipment; high temperature design and remaining life assessment; fracture mechanics; failure analysis and resolution of lessons-learned; development and maintenance of engineering standards; implementation of design changes and problem solving at shut-downs; and troubleshooting and recommendations for repairs to damaged equipment.

Mr. Osage is internationally recognized as an industry expert and leader in the development and use of FFS technology. As the architect and principal author of API 579 Fitness-For-Service, he developed many of the assessment methodologies and supporting technical information. Mr. Osage was the recipient of a Certificate of Appreciation from API for his work on API 579. Mr. Osage is the chairperson for the API/ASME Joint Committee on Fitness-For-Service and was instrumental in completing the update to API 579 entitled API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 Fitness-For-Service. For his efforts on API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 and API 579-2/ASME FFS-2 Fitness-For-Service Example Problem Manual, Mr. Osage received a Resolution of Appreciation from API and Certificates of Acclamation from ASME.

Mr. Osage also has considerable expertise in the design of new equipment. As the lead investigator and principal author of the new ASME, Section VIII, Division 2 Pressure Vessel Code, he developed a new organization and writing style for this code and was responsible for introducing the latest developments in materials, design, fabrication, and inspection technologies. These technologies include a new brittle fracture evaluation method, new design-by-analysis procedures including the introduction of elastic-plastic analysis methods, and a new fatigue method for welded joints. Mr. Osage serves on the ASME Section VIII main Committee and the Subgroup Design.

Mr. Osage was the lead investigator in an effort to revamp the API Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) technology and software. The main focus of this effort is a clean-sheet rewrite of API 581 Risk-Based Inspection and the development of a new version of the API RBI software. Mr. Osage is also currently working on the next generation of RBI technology where Fitness-For-Service assessment procedures will be used to compute the probability of failure for Risk-Based Inspection.

Mr. Osage provides engineering consulting for all levels of refinery capital projects including, preparation of design specifications, coordination of design reviews, development of engineering standards for refinery equipment, and QA/QC procedures for project administration. He also has extensive experience in preparation and delivery of training courses to practicing engineers in industry-related technologies such as Fitness-For-Service. As an Adjunct Visiting Assistant Professor at Steven Institute of Technology, Mr. Osage taught graduate level courses in strength of materials and elasticity, structural analysis and finite element methods, and structural optimization.