The Energy Institute has published new guidelines to assess all those concerned with minimising the risk of incurring loss of containment from vibration induced fatigue failures of process plant pipework.

The document is an enhanced and expanded version of the former “MTD Guidelines” document which was first issued in 1999 which has been a key element in maintaining integrity in the design and maintenance of process pipework within the oil, gas and petro-chemical industries.

Since the first issue, years of practical experience have been gained in its use which has now been incorporated to good effect. The opportunity has also been taken to widen the document’s technical scope, remove ambiguities and make its use more user-friendly and more accessible to a wider range of operation and maintenance personnel.

These new Guidelines are designed to provide guidance, assessment methods and advice on control and mitigation measures when a new process system is being designed, when undertaking an assessment of an existing plant or process system, when changes to an existing plant or process system are being considered (such as operational, process or equipment changes), and when a vibration issue is identified on an existing plant.