Maintenance & Reliability
Update on lubrication systems
Several case histories illustrate the pros and cons for maintaining rotating equipment under various plant conditions.Example 1In late May 2013, a US oil-mist provider in one of the Great Lakes states..
Control moisture in ‘wetted’ rotating equipment
In turbomachinery, water is one of the most deleterious contaminants. Left unchecked, moisture can severely reduce the service life expectancy of oil-wetted rotating and reciprocating components by as..
Improve quality of lubricating fluids via filtration
Micro-sized dust particles, along with water, can ruin the best lubricating fluids. Contamination of lubricating fluids can occur due to the byproducts of combustion, metal wear, oxidation and more. T..
HP Reliability: Was that a failure or ‘just a repair’?
Purists among reliability professionals are sometimes concerned about the accuracy of the measurement of the mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) of an asset. There are many ways to conduct this failure f..
HP Automation Strategies: ISA108 Intelligent Device Management focuses on work processes
Over the last decade, field instrumentation and analytical chemistry device suppliers have made tremendous progress incorporating value-added functionality into intelligent devices. This includes enha..
HP Water Management: Best practices for RO operations
Widespread use of reverse osmosis (RO) technology in industrial applications began in the late 1980s, following the introduction of polyamide materials that had a significantly higher permeate flow an..
Mitigate heat exchanger corrosion with better construction materials
Better materials can provide optimal equipment service life, reduce maintenance, mitigate contamination by corrosion products and minimize heat loss due to fouling.
Mitigate fouling in crude unit overhead—Part 3
CASE STUDYThe basis for this case study is shown in Fig. 18; it is a crude unit with overhead heat integration. This is a one-drum overhead system with heat integration and no water wash. In an attemp..
Consider process-based failure analysis methods for piping and equipment
Avoiding incident (or accident) recurrences at industrial systems is a long-standing problem, and it involves process safety strategies (PSSs). Incurring zero incidents is the ultimate goal for any st..
HP Reliability: Demand specifics in designing your asset management programs
In 2009, an automation journal commissioned an online survey asking industry observers and practitioners to rank technology trends in 2009 and beyond.1 Table 1 summarizes the respondents’ prefere..
- Valero Energy Q4 profit beats estimates; shares surge 1/30
- Dow launches "Transform to Outperform" to raise the competitive industry benchmark for productivity and growth to enable improved returns 1/30
- Russian oil refineries' peak maintenance expected in January and September 1/30
- U.S. lifts some Venezuela sanctions to ease oil sales 1/30
- Keppel, Aster plan sustainable aviation fuel project in Singapore 1/30
- Boeing, Israel's Technion to develop sustainable aviation fuel, as sector grapples with 2050 goal 1/30
