Fitness for Service Evaluation

Fitness for Service is defined as the ability to demonstrate the structural integrity of an in-service component containing a flaw. The rapidly becoming standard for conducting fitness-for-service assessments is API 579, Fitness for Service. API 579 describes standardized fitness-for-service techniques for pressurized equipment used in industry and supplements the inspection and assessment techniques in API 510, API 570 and API 653.

Fitness-for-service assessments provide useful economic and safety benefits to end users and operators including:

• Ensuring the safety of plant personnel and the public while older equipment continues to operate
  
• Helping to optimize maintenance and operation of existing facilities to maintain the availability of older plants and enhance long term viability.

• Assessment of equipment for general metal loss;
• Assessment of equipment for local metal loss;
• Assessment of equipment for brittle fracture;
• Assessment of equipment for pitting corrosion;
• Assessment of equipment for blisters and laminations;
• Assessment of equipment for crack-like flaws;
• Assessment of fire damage;