Principles of Oil Refinery Maintenance - Case Study Example

Oil Refinery Maintenance Name Institution Course ABSTRACT Maintenance of various systems is an important step towards realizing effective operation and subsequent production in mechanical systems (Jardine& Tsang, 2013). Such maintenance has been adopted by the different fields of operation, and the oil refinery industry has also undertaken effective maintenance steps. The underlying impetus for adoption of maintenance is the oil refinery industry has been linked with the need for optimal returns, enhanced safety, reduced maintenance costs, averted operational downtime and achievement of sustainability. Although many firms find it difficult to detect technical breakdowns in time, there are set measures that can help companies to operate in readiness for any technical breakdown. Undertake of predictive and preventive maintenance, determination of the life of a component and its reliability, acquisition of relevant spare parts, adequate training of personnel to react to emergency repair needs, lubrication of systems, planning for maintenance costing and documentation, adherence to safety maintenance and sustainable maintenance practices are common areas studied in maintenance practices. Effective maintenance is characteristic of informed decisions with regard to the most effective means of inspection of modes of mechanical failure (Jardine& Tsang, 2013). Determination of the types of maintenance and equipment inspection go a long way to enhancing the experience and results of maintenance practice. This implies that adequate planning is a key step in the maintenance procedures. This paper is a critical study of the maintenance themes in the oil refinery industry. The paper also undertakes a critical reflection of a case study on failure of a mechanical system with regard to the identified themes. KEY THEMES 1. Preventive and Predictive Maintenance 2. Component life time and reliability 3. Lubrication 4. Maintenance costing and documentation 5. Maintenance Safety 6. Sustainable maintenance and the environment INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW Preventive and predictive maintenance Preventive maintenance Preventive maintenance is identified as a major strategy that draws its maintenance basis from repairing, overhauling, manufacturing or replacing an equipment at fixed time intervals (Smith & Mobley, 2008). Such steps of maintenance take place with total disregard of the condition of the equipment at the time of maintenance. The driving force behind preventive maintenance is the need to forestall instances of mechanical and technical equipment failure and avoiding downtime that is unplanned. Preventive maintenance only occurs when the equipment has been shut down from normal operation. Predictive maintenance Predictive maintenance is understood as a strategy for maintenance which is equipment condition-based (Levitt, 2003; Smith & Mobley, 2003). This implies that this form of maintenance evaluates the state of the equipment with intent to determine whether the equipment is prone to Failure in time to come, followed by taking effective measures that are aimed at preventing the failure and its impacts in future. A number of techniques of assessing the state and condition of equipment have been devised. Among these techniques are efforts dedicated towards technologies for monitoring equipment states, use of the human senses and processes of statistical control. It is worth noting that predictive maintenance occurs while the equipment under assessment is under normal operation and the interruption at its lowest levels possible. The tools for predictive maintenance are applied to identify equipment defects that might not have been detected as the equipment was in operation previously. Component life time and reliability The life time and reliability of a component are intertwined features. The life time of a component is understood as the expected service life of the component, usually as acceptable time frame that the component will be of service(Jardine& Tsang, 2013). With regard to manufacturers of machinery, they expect that their products will be serviceable for a given period of time, after which their usage drastically reduces with their service life. In these terms, it is therefore common that the component life time of an equipment entails its average time to failure and the time of utility of the equipment with total disregard of its maintenance –free period of usage. According to Elsayed (2012), manufacturing plant will always use a series of hypothetical calculations and modelling techniques to determine the life of equipment. Such techniques are vital in the determination of the warranty systems for the product and its mission fulfillment. The component reliability refers to the assigned probability on the effectiveness of performance of an equipment within a limited time frame (Blischke& Murthy, 2000). In other cases, the reliability of a component has been as the distribution of the lifetime of the component. Systems which have been built using components that are independent have their lifetime distribution determined by the lifetime distribution of the independent components with regard to the structures of their systems, most preferably series or parallel. In most cases, the component reliability is a feature that is useful in the safety dimensions of the component, and at other instances for economic provisions which have links to the satisfaction of utility needs and determination of warranties. In more explicit terms, the lite time and reliability of a component may be implied through the cost, use and quality of the component. Lubrication Lubrication ensures that two surfaces that are in contact or close proximity and in a relative motion mode do not lead to wear of both or one of the surfaces (Pirro, Wessol& Wills, 2001). The process of lubrication works through mechanisms designed to reduce friction between the two surfaces. In lubrication, a lubricant is interposed between the surfaces. The lubricant may assume various states of nature, specifically solids, gas, liquid dispersion or solid dispersion. In case a fluid lubricant is being used, the load applied is lifted by either the pumped liquid which s at high pressure exerted between the close surfaces or by the pressure which is resultant from the liquid itself by action of viscous resistance of friction on the lubricant on the surfaces in motion. Although lubrication is necessary between surfaces in motion to avoid wear and tear forces on the surfaces, it is a hazardous phenomenon if it unintentionally occurs in such instances as road hydroplaning. Lubrication together with friction and its resultant effects of wear and tear has been largely applied in the process of maintenance of oil refinery industrial systems (Gresham et al, 2009). The study of tribology informs the science behind lubrication and friction. Sufficient lubrication results in continuous and smooth equipment operation. Reduced rates of wear and tear forces are achieved through lubrication, a measure that is consistently advised in equipment maintenance (Pirro, Wessol& Wills, 2001). With adequate lubrication, seizure and stress as the bearings are greatly minimized. Breakdown of lubrication might result in destructive motion between the surfaces on an equipment that in contact. Such a phenomenon is likely to cause heating of the surfaces which might eventually result in local welding of the equipment, its damage and subsequent failure in operation. There are three main regimes of lubrication that are defined by the effect of change of load on the surfaces in contact. Boundary, elastohydrodynamic and fluid film lubrication are the main regimes of lubrication. Maintenance costing, documentation Maintenance is a key process in any organization, and most significant in industrial and engineering plants (Tidwell, 2000). Maintenance becomes a core objective in such firms for their operations largely depend on the state of their equipment. The essence of equipment maintenance in oil refinery firms is to ensure that their business operations run smoothly to achieve their set objectives and enhance corrective actions such as alteration of the life plan of the plant equipment. Properly designed maintenance costing systems are the most effective practical control mechanism for the general effort dedicated towards maintenance (Smith & Hawkins, 2004). The design itself might not realize the best results. Firms that have experienced optimal returns have maintenance costing systems that are characteristically long-term, high-level and controlling the maintenance effort. Such a costing system for maintenance then requires supplementary systems of operation control which however work at lower levels of maintenance for short-term periods. Figure 1 shows a sample system of a maintenance costing system. Figure 1: Sample system of maintenance costing For maintenance costing systems to work effectively with the lower control systems, it is important that hierarchy of needs and responsibilities be determined and duly followed. Maintenance safety For maintenance to be effectively carried out in any form operational plant, emphasis has to be given to the need for safety (International conferenceon bridge maintenance safetyand management, Biondini&Frangopol, 2012). This is for the simple reasons of the fatal hazards and extremely high costs incurred during the processes of maintenance. It is for the reason of the potential risk posed in maintenance site that there is need to emphasize on safety on maintenance workplaces. This need for safety measures in maintenance has to be effected with total disregard to the type of maintenance being carried out; be it predictive, preventive or emergency maintenance. The International conferenceon bridge maintenance safetyand management, Biondini&Frangopol (2012) suggests that most common actions geared towards attaining safety in maintenance include; Isolation of equipment to enhance the process of maintenance. The most important step here entails ensuring that all the power source to the equipment are potentially turned off. The electrical power sources must be tagged ‘OFF – REPAIR OF UNIT UNDERWAY’ with the signature and due date accordingly. The equipment under repair must be isolated from other equipment within the same operation unit. Planning of procedures of maintenance has to mandatorily be undertaken. The procedures developed should cater for all types of equipment owned by a firm. For effective results, the procedures must duly contain all the drawings of equipment, a list of all the parts of the equipment and the instructions that guide the process of maintenance. Such details of the procedures should be recommended by the equipment manufacturer. Streamlining of the activities of repair processes. Here determination of the period that the maintenance process will last with regard to the planning for the job, getting acquainted with the procedures of maintaining the oil refinery and acquiring the equipment required for safety is provided for in the job safety and enhanced job completion. Even a small magnitude of planning can enhance the carrying out maintenance for it to be safe. There is always a disastrous outcome whenever there is a rush response to a repair emergency. Training of maintenance personnel is key towards achieving maintenance safety. For maintenance to be safely carried out, the personnel must use proper and protective gear. Any devices meant for safety that are removed for the maintenance process to be carried out, must be put back in place and those installed on any equipment must be on after the maintenance process. Before the equipment is returned for operation, the supervisor is charged with the responsibility of ascertaining the effectiveness and reassembling of the equipment. This stage also ensures that all maintenance tools are removed from the equipment. Sustainable maintenance and the environment The maintenance and operations of oil refineries result in indirect and direct effects on the economy, society and environment. It is for this reason that efforts of sustenance are geared towards balancing the needs of the affected areas. Such balance of needs can be reached through integration and consideration of the needs of each area. Therefore, sustainable maintenance seeks to diminish natural resource depletion and degradation of the environment. Thus, the maintenance process will achieve productivity, safety and comfort. The International conferenceon bridge maintenance safetyand management, Biondini&Frangopol (2012) further identifies three fundamental guidelines inform sustainable maintenance. These guidelines are herein discussed. Selection of appropriate maintenance sites. Viable maintenance realizes sustainability through consideration of such factors as utility and availability of energy sources, modes of equipment transportation, accessibility of the maintenance site and reuse of tools needed in the maintenance process. In this regard, the process of maintenance should uphold sustainability while meeting its set objectives through effective use of natural resources where necessary. Sustainability in maintenance can be achieved through optimization of energy utility. The demand for energy has seen increased burning of fossil fuels. However, continued burning of fossil fuels has seen the climate undergo adverse changes due to the destruction of the ozone layer as a result of release of the green gases. Effective oil refinery maintenance should discourage utility of fossil fuels and encourage use of renewable energy sources. Such sources of energy as wind and solar are effective natural sources of energy. Sustainable maintenance also reduces the use of energy at all costs. Sustainability in oil refinery maintenance processes is achieved through conservation and protection of water and materials. The process of maintenance of equipment might require water for cooling of the systems. Sustenance can be realized through efficient use of water resources. The process should also recycle or reuse water for its maintenance needs. The process of maintenance characterized by efficient use of maintenance tools and materials is defined as sustainable. Due to the increased demand for raw materials of every kind due to increase in world population, maintenance process of oil refinery firms ought to optimally utilize the materials required. CRITICAL REFLECTION Analysis of ‘The North Sea Piper Alpha Disaster’ case study ‘The North Sea Piper Alpha Disaster’ rates among the world’s popular safety cases. In the North Sea, on the 6th of July in 1988, the crew aboard the Piper Alpha changed shifts for the night, not knowing the fatal fate that awaited them and their operation (Matsen, 2011). As was reported, Piper Alpha that was manned by the Piper Oilfield had one of its two condensate pumps at the platform experiencing failure. The crew is said to have made attempts of correcting the failure prior to the efficiency of the platform getting impaired. However, the night shift crew had not noted the removal of the valve that guarantees pressure safety system. This critical safety valve had been replaced with a blind flange that was hand tightened temporarily. The crew learnt of this temporal replacement when they turned on the alternate system for the condensate pump as the hand-tightened bling flange did not withstand the high pressure generated. This failure led to the subsequent failures of other systems and chain reactions that triggered explosions in the Piper Alpha which resulted in the demise of 167 labourers in the Piper Alpha. This disaster has been termed a major disaster to the offshore oil industry in the world(Matsen, 2011). The ‘The North Sea Piper Alpha Disaster’ case can be subjected to analysis against the oil refinery maintenance practice, with adherence to specific measures that the Piper Oilfield might have failed to observe in its operations. This section is a critical analysis of the ‘The North Sea Piper Alpha Disaster’ with regard to the aspects discussed in the introduction. The Piper Oilfield industry failed to undertake effective preventive and predictive maintenance of the Piper Alpha in due time to prevent the disaster at sea. The damage of one of the platform condensate pumps during operation is an indication that the maintenance procedures of the industry were not effective(Matsen, 2011). Preventive maintenance ought to have been carried out to determine the defects of the pump. This form of maintenance ought to have been done long before the Piper Alpha would sail across the North Sea. Then, appropriate measures could have been taken when the Piper Alpha was not in operation to avoid instances of mechanical breakdown during operation, which could have averted the disaster. Equally, the crews, both for day and night shifts did not practice effective predictive maintenance measures. The daytime crew had not effectively determined the chances of failure of the platform condensate pumps, thus they were not in a position to determine the future failure of one of the pumps. On realizing that the pump had defects, they undertook a replacement of the valve with a blind flange. However, the effectiveness of the replacement could not be justified as the replacement could not withstand the pressure generated. Communication of the replacement also might not have been clearly made between the day and night shift crews. It is important to determine the life time of a component and its reliability. There are chances that Piper Oilfield had accessed the Piper Alpha without accordingly analyzing its component lifetime. This is justified with the unpreparedness with which the failure of one of its platform condensate pumps occurred(Matsen, 2011). The company should have duly been informed on the speculated time of failure of the components of the Piper Alpha. The company should also have known when to start the service programmes for the Piper Alpha technical system to avoid system failure. Intertwined in this maintenance measure is the reliability of the equipment. The effectiveness of performance of the Piper Alpha was in question. The extent to which the Piper Alpha would effectively perform its operations without failure had not been determined as the pressure systems showed unprecedented defects that caused the disaster. Lubrication of equipment realizes reduced tear and wear of the surfaces of the equipment. Such surfaces must then be in contact or in close proximity for lubrication to hold as an effective maintenance mechanism. The failure of the condensate platform pump can be attributed to poor lubrication regimes applied. Pumps work effectively when the motion their components is not hindered in any manner. It is from this understanding that the failure of the pump is thought to have been caused by poor lubrication. The seizure and stress at the bearings of the pump reached their optimal limit thus failure of operation became inevitable. This failure necessitated replacement of the critical valve for pressure safety with a less effective blind flange. Any process of maintenance must be geared towards achieving safety. The need for safety is emphasized so as to avoid hazardous results and high costs that could be incurred during the process of maintenance. Such safety was not emphasized by the Piper Oilfield. The crew aboard Piper Alpha did not observe any safety standards as they undertook repair of the failed system(Matsen, 2011). Replacement of the pressure safety critical valve with a blind flange was not a justifiable repair step since the flange was not in a position to withstand the pressure generated in the system. Further, the safety of the replacement was not guaranteed as the flange was not any reliable. Its weakness led to the explosion which was a hindrance to safety of property and the lives of the workers on board as seen in the explosion. Piper Oilfield can be held responsible for the disaster as they had not adequately trained its personnel to effectively respond to such emergency. The replacement undertaken is characteristic of poor technical know-how on maintenance. Sustainable maintenance was not practiced by the crew on board. Sustainable maintenance is geared towards achieving protection of the natural resources as repair and replacement of equipment is done. The process of maintenance achieves sustainability if the process uses natural resources optimally and the results have negligible impact on the ecosystem. The repair process on the Piper Alpha did not use natural resources, although the results of the repair which led to the explosion hindered sustainability as water and air resources were polluted through the explosion. Other that the measures identified from the introduction, the Piper Oilfield could have as well undertaken other measures which could have reduced the probability of occurrence of the disaster. Such a measure is the presence of the on-board repair engineers and relevant spare parts. This could have been the major step which could have most effectively responded to the demands of the emergency failure of the condensate pump at the platform of the Piper Alpha. Availability of repair experts and parts onboard is identified among the most important steps towards operational readiness. However, problems related to availability of such vital services have been noted in most sea disasters reported. Research conducted by the U.S. Navy Support System reveals that half of the emergency situations at sea that require equipment repair do not have the necessary spare parts. The research further states that an average of 18 days is required for access of such spare part, which is too long to avert the awaiting disaster. The Piper Oilfield Company should have ensured availability of spare parts to basic equipment as the pumps to avoid failure of the systems. SUMMARY The form of equipment inspection carried out is key in the maintenance process. Inspection determination should also entail the appropriate technologies that should be used. Such forms of maintenance include the preventive and predictive modes of inspection. Here, a study of the condition of an equipment is important prior to a technical breakdown. This ensures that a firm is ready for any form of defect detected through repair or replacement. Maintenance also seeks to determine the life time of a component, in which the general time period for which equipment is expected to be in normal operation states without any repairs. Before any equipment is dedicated for operation, it is necessary to certify its reliability in operation. In this regard, the equipment should be in good condition and realize the desired operational results. Effective maintenance calls for adequate lubrication of the equipment. Lubrication can be productive or disastrous, depending on its instance and necessity. Through lubrication, friction is reduced, thus wear and tear of equipment is minimized. Documentation and costing of maintenance, safety observation and sustainable maintenance are other key indicators of effective maintenance. These are the factors that determine the effectiveness of the maintenance schemes adopted by companies. However, maintenance is a tedious process for other firms, and improper maintenance can be disastrous, as seen in the critical reflection of ‘The North Sea Piper Alpha Disaster’ case study. REFERENCES Blischke, W. R., & Murthy, D. N. P. (2000). Reliability: Modeling, prediction, and optimization. New York: Wiley. Elsayed, E. A. (2012). Reliability engineering. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Gresham, R. M., Totten, G. E., & Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. (2009) . Lubrication and maintenance of industrial machinery: Best practices and reliability. Boca Raton: CRC Press. International conference on bridge maintenance safety and management, Biondini, F., & Frangopol, D. M. (2012). Bridge maintenance, safety, management, resilience and sustainability. Boca Raton (Fla.) [etc.: CRC Press. Jardine, A. K. S., & Tsang, A. H. C. (2013). Maintenance, replacement, and reliability: Theory and applications. Levitt, J. (2003). Complete guide to preventive and predictive maintenance. New York: Industrial Press. Matsen, B. (2011). Death and oil: A true story of the Piper Alpha disaster on the North Sea. New York: Pantheon Books. Pirro, D. M., Wessol, A. A., & Wills, J. G. (2001). Lubrication fundamentals. New York: Marcel Dekker. Smith, R., & Hawkins, B. (2004). Lean Maintenance: Reduce Costs, Improve Quality, and Increase Market Share. Burlington: Elsevier. Smith, R., & Mobley, R. K. (2003). Industrial machinery repair: Best maintenance practices pocket guide. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. Smith, R., & Mobley, R. K. (2008). Rules of thumb for maintenance and reliability engineers. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann. Tidwell, M. (2000). How to produce effective operations and maintenance manuals. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I extend my deepest gratitude to all who shared their ideas and support towards the writing of this paper. Read More

It is worth noting that predictive maintenance occurs while the equipment under assessment is under normal operation and the interruption at its lowest levels possible. The tools for predictive maintenance are applied to identify equipment defects that might not have been detected as the equipment was in operation previously. Component life time and reliability The life time and reliability of a component are intertwined features. The life time of a component is understood as the expected service life of the component, usually as acceptable time frame that the component will be of service(Jardine& Tsang, 2013).

With regard to manufacturers of machinery, they expect that their products will be serviceable for a given period of time, after which their usage drastically reduces with their service life. In these terms, it is therefore common that the component life time of an equipment entails its average time to failure and the time of utility of the equipment with total disregard of its maintenance –free period of usage. According to Elsayed (2012), manufacturing plant will always use a series of hypothetical calculations and modelling techniques to determine the life of equipment.

Such techniques are vital in the determination of the warranty systems for the product and its mission fulfillment. The component reliability refers to the assigned probability on the effectiveness of performance of an equipment within a limited time frame (Blischke& Murthy, 2000). In other cases, the reliability of a component has been as the distribution of the lifetime of the component. Systems which have been built using components that are independent have their lifetime distribution determined by the lifetime distribution of the independent components with regard to the structures of their systems, most preferably series or parallel.

In most cases, the component reliability is a feature that is useful in the safety dimensions of the component, and at other instances for economic provisions which have links to the satisfaction of utility needs and determination of warranties. In more explicit terms, the lite time and reliability of a component may be implied through the cost, use and quality of the component. Lubrication Lubrication ensures that two surfaces that are in contact or close proximity and in a relative motion mode do not lead to wear of both or one of the surfaces (Pirro, Wessol& Wills, 2001).

The process of lubrication works through mechanisms designed to reduce friction between the two surfaces. In lubrication, a lubricant is interposed between the surfaces. The lubricant may assume various states of nature, specifically solids, gas, liquid dispersion or solid dispersion. In case a fluid lubricant is being used, the load applied is lifted by either the pumped liquid which s at high pressure exerted between the close surfaces or by the pressure which is resultant from the liquid itself by action of viscous resistance of friction on the lubricant on the surfaces in motion.

Although lubrication is necessary between surfaces in motion to avoid wear and tear forces on the surfaces, it is a hazardous phenomenon if it unintentionally occurs in such instances as road hydroplaning. Lubrication together with friction and its resultant effects of wear and tear has been largely applied in the process of maintenance of oil refinery industrial systems (Gresham et al, 2009). The study of tribology informs the science behind lubrication and friction. Sufficient lubrication results in continuous and smooth equipment operation.

Reduced rates of wear and tear forces are achieved through lubrication, a measure that is consistently advised in equipment maintenance (Pirro, Wessol& Wills, 2001). With adequate lubrication, seizure and stress as the bearings are greatly minimized. Breakdown of lubrication might result in destructive motion between the surfaces on an equipment that in contact. Such a phenomenon is likely to cause heating of the surfaces which might eventually result in local welding of the equipment, its damage and subsequent failure in operation.

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