K.R.Mondal, Associate Professor, JIPT By pitfalls in Maintenance we means the factors contributing towards poor maintenance quality and as a result of which equipment availability and reliability is reduced.
In this paper some areas have been
identified which are responsible for Poor maintenance quality , equipment availability and suggestions to improve. WHAT WE MEAN BY MAINTENANCE OF PLANT EQUIPMENT OR MACHINES:
By maintenance of any plant equipment, means the kind
of work performed on running, shutdown or on equipment under break-down, for restoring its condition or performance close to original within intended time and intended quality. Maintenance personnel seldom have good name as it is generally felt worldwide that once the equipment is touched by maintenance technicians, it is going to deteriorate further and may even have recurring problems from then onwards. To some extent it is true also. Those who have long experience in maintenance of plant equipment and training understand the truth behind it. This is mainly due of poor maintenance practices and bad working skills/techniques. Such poor maintenance practices and bad work techniques can be as summarized below. • Habit of using improper tools. • Inadequate skill, knowledge and training. • Inherited poor skills and bad work practices. • Improper Housekeeping. • Lack of proper procedures and check lists. • Lack of supervision. • No regard for safety. • Lack of attitude for good work. Figure showing correct size of a screw driver being used
Figure showing special
kind of tools Figure showing tools abuse
A hook spanner used on slotted nut.
Hollow Punches A gasket cutter tool Kit
A technician punching bolt
holes in a gasket
A Click or trip type torques wrench
Packing Extractors now easily available in market Valve Insitu Seat cutting and lapping tool EXPERIENCE WITH THE NEW EQUIPMENT OR A MACHINE: Keeping aside bath tub curve behavior every new equipment like BFP or any other, when put into operation, will generally perform satisfactory. This is thought to be due to the following reasons. All new components are inspected strictly as per drawing. Such components when assembled will have desired fit, shouldering, squareness, properly balanced, running clearance and alignment etc. A well written assembly procedure and check list is followed during assembly. Due to the use of specific and correct size tools i.e. wrenches, hook spanner, torque wrenches, bearing mounting tools, solid punches, circlip pliers, plastic or nylon hammers etc., no component will get damaged while assembling In field maintenance though we strive for everything as best but seldom achieve. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN MAINTENANCE PRACTICES: 1. Implementation of condition monitoring in place of preventive maintenance system (PM): It has been well proved that condition monitoring system of maintenance is far more superior to usual system of Preventive Maintenance, because preventive maintenance may lead to over maintenance and unnecessary stoppage of machine to fulfill PM schedules. 2. A maintenance check list for every critical equipment describing details of the equipment, step by step disassembly and assembly procedure should be made available (to be developed if not available), along with list of tools to be used, gaskets, gland packing, gland packing cutting procedure, bearings, bearings installation and removal procedure (no hammer to be used on bearings), torque wrench. Good housekeeping and testing of the equipment after maintenance work is completed. Such check lists can be reviewed time to time for improvement as we gain experience. A suggested list of procedures: • Gasket cutting, installation, tightening and testing procedure. • Gland packing cutting practice and adjusting procedure. • Bearings removal and installation check list. Expert help from M/s SKF, FAG and Timken must be taken initially to train technicians. • Display torque tables in the maintenance workshop for every kind and size of bolt. • Display proper gasket and gland packing identification and selection charts. Such information can be down loaded from the websites of gaskets and gland packing manufacturer and supplier like Champion and others. • Buy and use only quality materials particularly Bearings, Seals, “O” Rings and diaphragms. In India spurious bearing are abundantly available and one of the major cause of premature bearing failure is the use spurious bearing which cannot be easily distinguished from the genuine bearing. Best thing is to buy from manufacturers or their authorized dealers. • Develop special tools for specific use in free time as is felt and make a mention of it in the maintenance check list. • Train technicians to use hand held vibration measurement machines like one from M/S SPM, IRD and others to collect vibration data & educate them to analyze the data thus collected. • Develop in-house training facilities and mock up for in situ training like installation and testing of Mechanical seals, use of gate and globe valves seat machining and lapping by in situ lapping tools. • Lapping Room with lapping tools kits and testing facilities of lapped components by Monochromatic check light and optical flat • Welder’s qualification and welding procedures for getting welder’s qualified by agencies like IBR. 3. Implementation of International Standards like ISO 9000, 14000 and 18001: Implementation of ISO 9000 about quality, 14000 environment and 18001 regarding safety, are now well established procedure bringing overall improvement. They must be adopted. 4. Upkeep of maintenance Documentation Cell: Maintenance documentation play key role in establishing effective maintenance programs, maintenance of spare parts and reducing maintenance cost by reducing the occurrence of shut downs and setting high maintenance standards. Having a comprehensive experience of working in Maintenance of Nuclear and thermal power plants particularly in mechanical maintenance department it is believed, if above measures are implemented religiously, maintenance quality will definitely improve, reduce machines down time, reduce maintenance cost, increase in plant availability and as a result improve profitability. Thank you