Process Plant Upgradation Using Reliability, Availability, and Maintainability (RAM) Criteria

The objective of this study is to propose a solution for process plant upgradation becoming extinct due to obsoleteness of spares. The study will help in reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) based upgradation of control system of process plants in developing countries. Available options for plant upgradation are compact control, modular, and semiautomatic. RAM based upgradation provides solution which is high in reliability and availability (usually all parts are replaced with upgraded and compatible technology) and is easy to maintain throughout the service life of process plant. Case study for stacker and reclaimer of cement plant upgradation is considered to both implement and evaluate the idea. Upgradation methodology is finalized by expert’s feedback regarding selection of hardware with respect to availability, market survey to validate the opinion, and economical availability viability of selected hardware. Pre- and postupgradation scenarios are analyzed to validate the implementation of study and conclude the expected outcomes. The process plant upgradation yielded a cost-effective solution to the problem with automation increasing by 17%, plant maintainability increasing by 80%, and downtime of plant decreasing by 17%. Among all available options, modular design Op1 is considered the best choice that can satisfy RAM criteria.

Integrity Assessment of Pipelines Failures

The proactive maintenance of pipelines through condition based monitoring, plays an essential role in improving their overall reliability and availability. Their criticality can also be assessed by conducting reliability analysis such as FMECA, which helps in identifying relevant failure modes and averting catastrophic failures to sustain economic growth. This paper will focus on an integrity assessment set up for pipelines and the potential failure modes associated are evaluated and mitigated by determining the risk triggers. The outcome of this research has shown the various threats associated with pipelines, having an effective integrity assessment program will help mitigate such threats. Keywords: Risk Assessment, Corrosion, FMECA, Risk Priority, Failure, Inspection, Regulations, Pipelines, Monitoring

Fault-Tolerant Cooperative Control of Large-Scale Wind Farms and Wind Farm Clusters

Large-scale wind farms and wind farm clusters with many installed wind turbines are increasingly built around the world, and especially in offshore regions. The reliability and availability of these assets are critically important for cost-effective wind power generation. This requires effective solutions for online fault detection, diagnosis and fault accommodation to improve the overall reliability and availability of wind turbines and entire wind farms. To meet this requirement, this paper proposes a novel active fault-tolerant cooperative control (FTCC) scheme for large-scale wind farms and wind farm clusters (WFCs). The proposed scheme is based on a signal correction method at wind turbine level that is augmented with two innovative “control reallocation” mechanisms at wind farm and network operator levels. Applied to a WFC, this scheme detects, identifies and accommodates the effects of both mild and severe power-loss faults in wind turbines. Various simulation studies on an advanced WFC benchmark indicate the high efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed solutions.

Water network functional analysis

Water distribution systems should have a high level of reliability and availability. Water distribution system failures should be diagnosed and categorised, according to their consequences, causes, frequency, and other important factors. A failure analysis of the water distribution system is considered in this study, as well as a method for establishing a failure susceptibility index and evaluating the risk of failures within a defined area, based on categories and zonal characteristics. A risk scale, such as tolerable, controlled, and unacceptable, will be used to assess the risk of failure. The methodology is provided to help in the performance and risk assessments of water distribution systems, as well as decision-making.