API RBI Software

Introducing API RBI V9.0

The upcoming release of API RBI V9.0 is the most anticipated release since the software’s inception for a number of reasons including additional analysis capabilities, an improved help system, more useful reports, improved graphical plots, direct integration with our other software products, and much more. In addition, this version will be the most tested and validated version of the software ever released by our company. All of these improvements are possible because the software development team has redesigned the software architecture to allow for more flexibility and reliability. It has taken a while to make these improvements, but now that this has been accomplished, future versions of the software can be released more regularly and incorporate additional feature requests more readily.

Significant Improvements

Some of the most significant improvements were made to the analysis of tanks based upon user feedback received during the 2009 RBI User Group Meeting. First and foremost, it is now possible to handle tanks designed using the API 653 and API 620 standards in addition to API 650. The organization of data on the forms has also been improved. The course height is now a component level field, whereas the operating height, operating temperature, specific gravity and foundation settings have been moved to the equipment level.

The Help System has been completely rewritten to be more descriptive and user friendly as well. The context-sensitive help has been greatly expanded to include detailed descriptions for every input field. The User Manual has been rewritten to use the standard Windows Help system. We also now include an integrated library of additional technical documentation including the relevant API codes and standards.

API 581 Example Problem Manual

The software has been extensively validated by organizing an internal multi-disciplinary team of engineers and programmers to develop an API 581 Example Problem Manual. In this manual, example problems are being created for every section of API 581. These problems are hand checked and compared with software results to ensure that the software is performing the correct calculation. A copy of this manual and a database of these example problems are provided with the software.

As part of our new software quality assurance initiative, these example problems will be checked against the software results on a daily basis as changes are made, and new example problems will be added over time to further expand upon this suite of test cases. This is just one part of a larger effort to develop methods for testing and validating the software. A comprehensive test plan for API RBI is being developed to ensure that the calculation results are correct and remain correct throughout the lifecycle of the product.

This testing will be automated and form an integral part of the test-driven development (TDD) process being established by our software engineers.

Featured Expert

Philip Henry
P.E.

Mr. Henry is responsible for engineering consulting services in the areas of Pressure Relief, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. He is a specialist in the design, installation...

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Philip Henry, P.E.

Mr. Henry is responsible for engineering consulting services in the areas of Pressure Relief, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. He is a specialist in the design, installation, sizing and selection of pressure relief devices and relieving systems, and is currently chairman of the API Pressure Relieving System Subcommittee’s Task Force on API 520 related to the design and installation of pressure relieving systems. He conducts audits of pressure relieving systems to ensure compliance with OSHA PSM legislation and ASME, API and DIERs Standards, Codes and Publications. He also teaches the official API Pressure Relieving Systems course.

He is actively involved in the development of technology for the API Risk-Based Inspection (RBI) methodology, is co-author of the re-write of API 581, Risked-Based Inspection Base Resource Document. He has been responsible for the development and implementation of RBI programs for pressure relief valves and heat exchanger bundles at many refining and petrochemical plants.

Mr. Henry is also an expert in the area of mechanical and thermal design of unfired heat exchangers, including troubleshooting of performance problems, fouling evaluation, network optimization and pinch analysis, mechanical vibration and field performance testing. He performs steady state and transient hydraulic evaluation of piping systems, including multi-phase flow systems, and develops bolting procedures for flanged joints including use of hydraulic torquing, tensioning, and ultrasonic elongation equipment. Mr. Henry has significant experience with the design and analysis of in-service fixed equipment. He has been responsible for rerating vessels to the ASME Code and NBIC and has applied FFS assessments in accordance with API 579. He has provided problem-solving support during numerous refinery shutdowns.

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