The rotating equipment used in a plant is essentially the heartbeat of the plant. Rotating equipment is used to move gases and liquids throughout the plant, allowing the different production process units to perform their intended duties. To provide the desired on-stream production rates of these units, the rotating equipment must be reliable. Maintaining the equipment’s reliability at the desired high level is a process that requires many different people’s abilities and skills. The rotating equipment must be both maintained and operated in a manner that allows continuous on-stream production in-order to stay competitive. While improving the reliability of the rotating equipment, safety will be improved for both the productions unit and the equipment itself.
Any disruption with the equipment can result in many issues, such as safety issues, loss production and thus lost revenue, chain reaction of additional problems, additional expenses AND a disruption of people’s lives (especially non-scheduled working hours).
There is a major difference between a piece of equipment abruptly stopping vs being able to “plan” a shutdown due to equipment problems. An abrupt change in a process opens a door of opportunity of additional issues that can lead to human error of quick decisions, fires, additional unit issues and safety issues.
Knowing that equipment cannot run forever, how can these abrupt equipment downtimes be minimized and even eliminated? The answer is in knowing the condition of the equipment and experience with the equipment. Not being able to “look” inside of equipment makes it difficult to know its condition. Or does it? There are many ways to determine the condition of the equipment without having to look inside of it. Just as a doctor can tell you of your health’s condition by doing tests, the equipment’s health can also be evaluated by routine monitoring and performing tests and in many cases, without taking the equipment off-line!. The monitoring and tests can assist with providing an assurance that the equipment should be able to function as intended and when certain signals are detected, just like the doctor discovers, the equipment’s condition can be closely monitored so that a planned event can occur instead of a sudden abrupt stoppage.
Condition monitoring – the process of monitoring one or more key parameters of condition (such as vibration, or bearing oil temperature) on something (such as rotating equipment) in order to identify a significant change which may be indicative of a developing fault using the data from the parameter(s). Condition monitoring is one of the main components of a predictive maintenance program. A predictive maintenance program uses the information / measurements of the different parameters to help determine the condition of in-service equipment in order to predict when maintenance should be performed. This approach promises cost savings over routine or time-based preventive maintenance, because tasks are performed only when necessary.
Even with condition monitoring, the type of equipment and how it is operated must be considered. For example, the deterioration of internal components may be jeopardized due to the operating parameters such as load, temperatures, pressures or speed. Evasive (look inside) work still needs to be performed in addition to condition monitoring programs, but the schedule can be optimized. Therefore, reviews of the operation of the equipment, experience from the plant and experience from the manufacturer all play a factor in the overall equipment’s condition monitoring / predictive maintenance programs.
But, so what, why should a plant do condition monitoring or predictive maintenance programs anyway? Don’t these programs cost a lot of money which eats away from profits? We are trying to reduce our budget, not increase it! True, there are some costs involved. However, we need to provide a safer plant and to reduce expenses and condition monitoring and predictive maintenance programs can do that. How? Well, wouldn’t it be good if equipment did not catastrophically fail? Wouldn’t it be good if equipment could be repaired when it needed to be and not just because the clock dongs? Those are some of the goals. Maintenance programs for a long time have been based on the clock or repair when it breaks. Many inspections have been performed because a clock said to do it and many times the results of the inspections were that the equipment was in good condition. That was good to know, but it cost a lot of money to determine. Also, when taking equipment out of service, there is a risk involved and many pieces of equipment have been damaged due to exercises that did not need to be done. True, there is a cost for programs or instrumentation for monitoring, but by choosing the right programs, the right instrumentation and applying it practically and effectively to the right equipment will provide that result. Keeping track of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) will provide the evaluations of whether programs are effective or a waste of money. Each plant needs to fine tune their programs to fit their plant. Sometimes doing something for one plant will not be as beneficial as doing it with another. Don’t get me wrong, there are activities that doing routinely with the clock makes appropriate sense. However, there are sometimes that we need to re-evaluate these activities and possibly there can be some changes and improvements made that may extend their life cycle.
Condition monitoring / predictive maintenance programs can apply to many different types of equipment such as rotating equipment, vessels, piping, electrical systems and many many others. The parameters for monitoring will be dependent on the equipment, but can include performance, visual and listening (human senses), vibration, temperature, ultrasonics, lubrication condition, corrosion, electrical current signature, partial discharge as some examples. Keeping track of the data is important for trending to determine where and how fast deficiencies are occurring.
Each plant should develop appropriate condition monitoring / predictive maintenance programs that fit that site while providing ownership and accountability. The extensiveness of each program is associated with the risk that is allowed. Like any other program, these programs require management’s buy-in and leading. The level, detail or extensiveness of the programs may be different for different equipment.
Each piece of equipment will have its different failure modes and the effects of failure defined. Knowing the ways that the equipment can fail, and the effect of the failure will determine the appropriate and best cost beneficial condition monitoring / predictive maintenance programs.
Each program is to define its purpose, details, person in charge, expectations and training of the program’s activities. It is crucial that each program is well understood throughout the plant with all people. To ensure that the program is providing the expected benefit, the (KPI’s) should be established, tracked and provided to the plant’s personnel. A program that is not providing the expected results needs to be modified or replaced. An audit performed by an outside source can provide benefits for the evaluations for the success and failures of the programs.
Implementing and performing condition monitoring / predictive maintenance programs may be a cultural change for a plant. The change will not be overnight and possibly needs to be slow and steady to achieve the goals. Not all people will react the same and working shoulder to shoulder with management’s direction will help with the cultural changing. Building a culture of continuous improvement will provide a direction that all people can associate with and will hopefully want to get on board.
Did I also say that by knowing the condition of the equipment, a “planned” outage can be scheduled well in advance to plan and coordinate along other work scopes within the plant?
Oh yea… Less unanticipated issues should lead to each worker having a more capable “planned” OFF time that is not “got to go fix this thing again” lifestyle that is theirs to use to enjoy with their family!
Actions to Take:
1) Ask if your plant uses current condition monitoring / predictive maintenance programs.
2) Review if you have relative KPI’s.
3) Talk with your Maintenance / Operations staff about their knowledge of your
condition monitoring / predictive maintenance programs.
4) If programs are not established or are not “making the grade” ask for assistance from others that have
had been associated with successful programs.
If this seems overwhelming or you need help, BoilerRock can assist with the identification, development, monitoring or auditing of these condition monitoring / predictive maintenance programs that can benefit your plant AND allow you to have time with YOUR family!!!
Terry Roehm
Terry Roehm is a Rotating Equipment Specialist with 40+ years experience in both the upstream and downstream businesses of the Oil and Gas Industry. He is a member of the American Petroleum Institute (API) serving on task forces for the mechanical subcommittee and is a past advisory committee member for the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Symposium. He has held various positions in maintenance and engineering involving specification, selection, procurement, testing, installation, startup, troubleshooting and turnaround planning for the rotating equipment. He has established programs, provided and developed training opportunities and has completed audits for companies to improve their operating and maintaining of rotating equipment. He has a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Purdue University and is a registered Professional Engineer in the states of Kentucky and Texas.
