Risk-based inspection and life management in boilers in coal power plants

Abstract: This chapter adopts the view point of the operators of industrial coal-fired boilers. It discusses two critical issues in operation: finances and failures. Risk-based life management permits an assessment of both financial and technical issues and is claimed to be the best-practice approach to asset management. This chapter describes risk theory and discusses its implementation and limitations. The practical problem is that risk-based methods are data-hungry. Examples of the application of risk-based methods in boilers are analysed and some interesting results emerge.