Aging equipment has long been a reality in the chemical process industries. Plants built in the 1950s and 1960s, during an age of prosperity and growth, have since surpassed their life expectancy and many are still operating. Aging equipment is often more prone to failure than equipment built to current standards. Aging is recognized as a significant contributor to industrial accidents particularly in North America. CCPS published a concept book in 2018 highlighting best practices for dealing with aging equipment. In the current economic downturn coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic there are some additional challenges in applying these best practices. This article discusses some of these challenges.

中文翻译：

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管理老化的工艺设备和基础设施的挑战

老化设备在化学加工工业中早已成为现实。建于 1950 年代和 1960 年代的工厂，在繁荣和发展的时代，已超过其预期寿命，许多仍在运营。老化设备通常比按照当前标准建造的设备更容易出现故障。老化被认为是导致工业事故的重要因素，尤其是在北美。CCPS 于 2018 年出版了一本概念书，重点介绍了处理老化设备的最佳实践。在当前经济低迷和 COVID-19 大流行的情况下，应用这些最佳实践还面临一些额外的挑战。本文讨论了其中一些挑战。