Research and application of reliability-based cost optimization method for constant interval preventive maintenance

Preventive maintenance is a means to ensure the component is kept in the desired state. Lack of preventive maintenance will cause unexpected consequences for the component, and too much preventive maintenance will result in unnecessary investment of resources. Based on the reliability data of the component, this paper establishes an analysis model to determine the optimal preventive maintenance interval of the component to make the cost of preventive and corrective maintenance lowest.

Reliability

This chapter introduces key concepts for quantification of system reliability. In addition, basics of statistical inference for reliability data are explained, in particular, the derivation of the likelihood function.

Unmanned Platform Design Methodology

Remotely operated and unmanned facilities offer significant safety, environmental and economic benefits over conventional facilities. This paper describes the key elements for successful design and an approach for evaluating the reliability, availability and TOTEX of unmanned facilities. The approach was developed during the concept and FEED phases of a wellhead platform project and forms the basis of the unmanned strategy going forwards but can also be used for facilities with partial processing topsides. During the design of a recent platform it became clear that normal FMEA/RAM analysis was not suitable for assessing the reliability and availability of unmanned facilities with low visit frequency. Drawing on previous experience, a new approach was developed to address the specific challenges of low maintenance intervals and provide a methodical approach to proving reliability. The new approach improved confidence in the predicted availability by identifying key components and appropriate reliability data. The process adds some extra steps to typical reliability and availability assessment, which are designed to address the specific demands of unmanned operations. The result of this work has given a clearer understanding of how reliability can be assessed and managed for low-manned or unmanned applications. The methodology helps to identify unmanned /low manned opportunities and provides guidance on design and reliability assessment It is observed that system reliability is usually driven by a few key components and that whilst many components have good overall reliability data this may not be applicable for the proposed specific operating environment and maintenance regime of an unmanned platform. It is therefore essential to evaluate components individually for their specific applications. It is concluded that to achieve the unmanned goal it is vital to fully understand the system and component reliability early in the project. The proposed methodology can be applied at any stage to validate the design, confirm assumptions, or identify gaps.

U.S. Nuclear Power Plant Performance Assessment Using the Versatile Economic Risk Tool (VERT)

This paper addresses the use of a new nuclear power plant performance risk analysis tool. The new tool is called Versatile Economic Risk Tool (VERT). VERT couples Idaho National Laboratory’s SAPHIRE and RAVEN software packages. SAPHIRE is traditionally used for performing probabilistic risk assessment and RAVEN is a multi-purpose uncertainty quantification, regression analysis, probabilistic risk assessment, data analysis and model optimization software framework. Using fault tree models, degradation models, reliability data, and economic information, VERT can assess relative system performance risks as a function of time. Risk can be quantified in megawatt hours (MWh) which can be converted to dollars. To demonstrate the value of VERT, generic pressurized water reactor and boiling water reactor fault tree models were developed along with time dependent reliability data to investigate the plant systems, structures, and components that impacted performance from the year 1980 to 2020. The results confirm the overall notion that US nuclear power plant industry operational performance has been improving since 1980. More importantly, the results identify equipment that negatively or positively impact performance. Thus, using VERT, individual plant operators can target systems, structures, and components that merit greater attention from a performance perspective.