The purpose of Plant Predictive Maintenance (PDM) programme is to improve Reliability of machineries through early detection and diagnosis of equipment problems, and degradation prior to equipment failure. Ferrography (Wear Particle Analysis) is one of the PDM techniques which allows detection, identification and evaluation of the degradation at the very incipient stage so that degradation is timely attended and mitigatory actions initiated. Ferrography is a Wear Particle Analysis technique based upon systematic collection and analysis of sample of lubricating oil from rotating and reciprocating machines. Ferrography analysis is conducted in 2 phases: Stage I – Quantitative, and Stage II – Qualitative. After Stage II analysis, recommendation is issued based on wear rating (Normal, Marginal, or Critical) so that operator can take timely action. Presently, 21 Nuclear Power Plants are operational in India and Forced Shutdown is a very costly affair. Lube oil of around 60 equipment from Indian Nuclear Power Plants is examined quarterly for Ferrography analysis, and failure of several equipment is avoided due to timely action. This paper will elaborate on the basic principles of Ferrography, and how systematic implementation of Ferrography has helped in avoiding forced failure of equipment, and hence prevent Forced Shutdown.
Development of a Simple Method for Classifying the Degree of Importance of Components in Nuclear Power Plants using Probabilistic Analysis Technique
