A Level 3 fitness-for-service assessment goes beyond screening calculations. It builds a defensible model of how the equipment is actually behaving under its real geometry, material condition, loads, and operating history.
From inspection findings to operating decisions
API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 provides the framework. Advanced simulation supplies the resolution needed when damage, geometry, or loading cannot be represented reliably by simpler methods.
The objective is not a more complicated model. It is a clearer decision: continue operating, repair, rerate, monitor, or replace.
Three completed Sonatrach applications
- Distillation Column Vapour: assessment of the critical operating envelope and localized stress response.
- Diesel Storage Tank: evaluation of observed degradation against safe continued-service limits.
- Fired Heater for Distillation Column: advanced thermal and structural assessment of the equipment condition.
What a strong Level 3 study delivers
The final result should connect assumptions, inspection inputs, model validation, acceptance criteria, and recommended actions in one traceable engineering argument. That is what turns simulation into an integrity decision.
