|
Reliability
Engineering Papers |
Recent technical papers presented
by Paul Barringer are available as a PDF file. If you need a PDF viewer, click
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Adobe Acrobat file reader site. Please note: If you download the papers BEFORE you
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42.
Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP) Houston Chapter-Special Interest Group
for the Oil, Gas, and Chemicals group in
Abstract: Five important tools were presented in the one-hour presentation and Webinar for the SMRP-SIG. These details are a small portion of the reliability tools available as a Problem Of The Month and included the What, Where, When, and Why questions associated with
1) Reliability,
2) Pareto,
3) Cost of Unreliability,
4) FMEA, and
5) Data.
Other reliability tools, in concise format, are located on this website.
41.
Society of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP) Houston Chapter’s in
Convert Maintenance & Reliability Issues To Business Issues
Abstract: This presentation shows how to cost out maintenance issues and put the details into the form of a business issue using process reliability plots. The analysis separates and categorizes special cause variation and common cause variations along with determining the reliability of the process. Details for this presentation are shown in the October 08 list of problems of the month..
40. Society
of Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP)
Houston Chapter’s 1-day conference in
Are You
Repair-Focused Or Reliability-Focused And How To Change?
Abstract: Two out of three companies claim their work is focused on avoiding failures (a reliability-focus) while one out of three can demonstrate their claim (most companies are repair-focused). Case studies are presented to show the evidence in Crow-AMSAA reliability growth plots with illustrations of how companies have changed their results. Parallels in safety, quality, and environmental programs are provided to show how cultures have change in the past 40 years.
39. Workshop 10 at the International Maintenance
Conference in Daytona Beach, FL, sponsored by ReliabilityWeb.Com will review some
of the Problems Of The Month. Specifically we will cover:
● Which Reliability Tool To Use?
● Reliability And Data
● Pump Seal Failures
● Corrosion
Problems And Inspection Data
● Forecast
Future System Failures
● The Best Student Problem
The workshop is scheduled for
38. The 4-day MARCON 2007 conference at the
The
following paper was presented on
Bridging The Different Worlds of Reliability: Defense, Industry, and
Academia.
Abstract: The different perspectives of reliability are discussed and examples given of their different viewpoints. The bridge between the three perspectives is simply money.
37. The 2-day Weibull Users
Conference is held once every two years.
The 2006 Conference is in
Corrosion
Problems Quantified With The Gumbel Lower Distribution
Abstract: Several case studies show how to separate general
corrosion from accelerated corrosion and how to predict end of useful life for
products.
Download a copy of the PowerPoint slides by clicking here.
Life
Cycle Cost and Weibull Distributions Go Together Like PB&J
Abstract: Weibull details are needed to predict end of life for components and systems. When the failures/replacements occur will drive costs during specific project interval. Thes cost details from Weibull analysis drive life cycle cost decisions for calculating a key performance indicator represented by a single number for net present value. (NPV).
Download a copy of the PowerPoint slides by clicking here.
Life
Cycle Cost and Weibull Distributions Got Together Like
PB&J-Short which includes three specific examples of life cycle cost
36. Use
Crow-AMSAA Reliability Growth Plots To Forecast Future System Failures—prepared
for the 2006 IMEC conference in
Abstract: Reliability growth plots forecast when future system failures will
occur. Trend line slopes, b, tell if failures are coming faster, slower,
or without much change. Long term trend
line slope b also tell if programs have a reliability-focus where b<1 or a repair-focus where b≥1. Repair-focused organizations do
not find failures intolerable, and they often reward faster repairs over
avoiding repairs with acceptance of failure risks beyond prudent money
limits. Reliability-focused organizations abhor failures, and they make
improvements to extend time to the next failure by rejecting risk of
failures. Examples are provided: 1) (repair+emergency)
work orders for
Download a copy of the
technical paper by clicking
here. Download a copy of the
PowerPoint slides by clicking
here.
35.
Defining Equipment Reliability—prepared
for the Maintenance & Reliability Technology Summit 2006 in
Abstract: Reliability conveys
different ideas to various groups. This presentation explores the definition of
reliability and all of the factors it entails.
The presentation advocates starting with a top-down viewpoint rather
than a bottom-up approach to match management expectations for controlling
money issues associated with reliability.
Before defining equipment reliability improvements the first emphasis
must be on improving people, second on improving processes and procedures, and
finally improving component reliability—if required. An example of a centrifugal pump is
illustrated to show how engineers want to attack components for improvement
whereas bigger gains are made by understanding the people issues, the
process/procedures used to control the best operating range, and how engineers
must know the grade of installation and use characteristics to get the system
installed and operating correctly for a reliability-focused viewpoint. The presentation emphases differences between
a: 1) repair-focused use of
information (which allows wide variability in details and thus achieves short
life); and 2) reliability-focused
understanding (which demands tight technical control of people/processes/procedures/equipment
to achieve long life) to achieve the inherent reliability of
equipment. Click
here to download a PDF file of slides presented at the MARTS conference
(118 K)
34. How To Justify Equipment Improvements
Using Life Cycle Cost and Reliability Principles—prepared for
the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufactures Conference 2005
in Miami, Florida,
Abstract: Improvement justifications are based on financial details and alternatives. The datum for all improvements begins with the cost of the status quo, i.e., no improvement as the launching point for alternatives. Improvement justifications require knowing: 1) when things fail, 2) how things fail, and 3) conversions of failures into money statements. Reliability engineering principles help define when and how things fail to provide facts for life cycle costs comparisons to help decide the lowest long-term cost of ownership driven by a single estimator called net present value (NPV) to converting hardware issues and alternatives into money issues. Initial first costs are often a bad decision tool for making improvement decisions (lacking details and alternatives from engineering—the first cost may become the only decision criteria). The Engineering Department is responsibility for providing life cycle costs over the project life and they must provide more than a single alternative. Knowledge about times to failure and failure modes are found by reliability technology. A short example illustrates the methodology.
Click here to down load a PDF file (116K). Click here to down load a PDF file of slides presented at the conference (227K)
33.
“Predict Failures: Crow-AMSAA 101
and Weibull 101”, prepared for presentation at International Mechanical
Engineering Conference,
Abstract: Reliability growth plots known as Crow-AMSAA plots
are powerful for predicting future failures for mixed failure modes. Weibull
probability plots are powerful single
failure mode tools for predicting the type of failure mode which guides
reliability centered maintenance strategies and forecasting future failures for
each failure mode. Both analytical tools
are minimum requirements for every reliability engineer’s tool box. Real data examples are shown to illustrate
the value for acquiring engineering/maintenance data and using these basic
tools to give the data a voice. Giving
data an unemotional voice is a rational for decisions and for corrective
action. Examples and illustrations
describe the basics of each tool. Click here to
download a PDF file (278 KB).
32.
“Introduction And Evaluation Of Reliability”,
prepared for presentation at International Mechanical Engineering Conference,
Abstract: Reliability is the probability that a device,
system, or processes will perform its prescribed duty, without failure, for a given
time, when operated correctly, in a specified environment. Reliability numbers, by themselves, lack
meaning for making improvements. For
business, the financial issue of reliability is controlling the cost of
unreliability from equipment and process failures which waste money. Reliability issues are understandable when
converted into monetary values by using actual plant data. Several reliability engineering tools are discussed. Click here to
download a PDF file (225 KB).
31.
“Process and Equipment Reliability”,
prepared for presentation at Maintenance & Reliability Technology Summit,
May 24-27, 2004, Rosemont (Chicago), IL at the
Abstract: Reliability for businesses
begins with management and how they communicate the need for a failure free
environment to mobilize actions to preserve operable systems and processes. The need for reliability considers cost of
alternatives to prevent or mitigate failures, which require knowledge about
times to failure, and failure modes which are found by reliability technology. Justifications for reliability improvements
require knowing: 1) when things fail, 2) how things fail, and 3)
conversions of failures into time and money.
Reliability engineering principles help define when and how things fail
to provide facts for life cycle costs comparisons. This helps decide the lowest long-term cost
of ownership driven by a single estimator called net present value for
converting hardware issues and alternatives into money issues. Several short examples illustrate the
methodology. Click
here to download a PDF file (180K) of the paper. Click
here to download a PDF file (180K) of the slides.
30. “Life Cycle Cost Analysis—Who Does What?”, prepared for presentation at NPRA Maintenance Conference, May 25-28, 2004, San Antonio Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas
Abstract:
Life cycle cost (LCC) analysis works toward finding the lowest long
term cost of ownership (usually the view point of the investor) rather than
simply cheapest first cost (usually the view point of project management). Roles and responsibilities for preparing the
LCC details are described for petrochemical and refining applications. Practical tips for effective analysis and
presentation are given. Click here
to download a PDF file (113K) of the paper.
Click
here to download a PDF file (94K) of the slides. This is NPRA paper MC-04-97
29. Analyzer
Reliability—prepared for the International Forum Process Analytical
Chemistry Conference (IFPAC) in
Abstract:
Fundamentals of analyzer reliability issues are discussed using failure
criteria required for documenting both actual failure data and censored
data. An existing data set of end user
supplied information is examined using Weibull analysis which is the tool of
choice for most reliability studies.
Recommendations are provided for obtaining better data to enhance future
Weibull analysis of analyzer data.
Click here to download a PDF file (216 KB) of this paper.
28. The
Evolution of Reliability—prepared for the International Maintenance
Conference (
Abstract: Key issues describe how to put reliability into equipment
and processes based on personal experiences.
The steps along the way include both hardware and people so that we
simply operate for reliability. A path
for progress outlines how to ensure reliability considerations along with
alternatives for the cost of unreliability driven by the concept for a
reliability policy.
Click here to
download a PDF
file (131 KB) of this paper.
27. A Life Cycle Cost Summary—prepared for
the International Conference of Maintenance Societies (ICOMS®-2003) in Perth, Western Australia,
Abstract: Life cycle costs (LCC) are cradle to grave costs summarized as an economics model of evaluating alternatives for equipment and projects. Engineering details drive LCC cost numbers for the economic calculations. The economics of proposals drives the scenario selection process. Good engineering proposals without economic justification are often uneconomical. Good engineering with good economics provide business successes. The LCC economic model provides better assessment of long-term cost effectiveness of projects than can be obtained with only first costs decisions.
Click here to download a PDF file (252
KB) of this paper.
26. Predict Future Failures From
Your Maintenance Records—prepared for
the Maintenance Engineering Society (MESA)
of Australia Speaker’s Tour May 13-16, 2003,
Abstract: Crow/AMSAA reliability growth plots use
failure information from maintenance systems to provide a visual tool, with
straight-line graphs, for predicting the next failure in systems where humans
can influence the results. C/A plots
work well with single failure or mixed failure modes. The simple log-log plots have easily
calculated statistics to show if failures are increasing, decreasing, or
exhibiting no-change in failure rates.
The straight-line plots are helpful for forecasting future failures—the
“fearless forecast” of future events
catches the interest of people who can change the system to prevent the
forecasted events. When implementing
system improvements calculate and track the savings in failures between the old
and new methods to convert maintenance situations into time and money for easy
selection of alternatives. The case
studies include: 1) Pump failures, 2) Maintenance department costs, 3) Plant
safety incidents, 4) Environmental spills, and 5) Co-generation failures.
Click here to download a PDF file
(308 KB) of this paper.
Click here to download a PDF-Slide
file (170 KB) used for presentation.
Click here to download an Excel Learning
Curve Calculator file used for Figure 1 of Predict Future Failures From Your Maintenance
Records.
25. Process Reliability: Do You Have It?—What’s It Worth To Your Plant
To Get It?—prepared for the AIChE National Spring Meeting, March 10-14, 2002, New
Orleans, LA
Abstract: Process reliability
combines new techniques from the field of reliability and six-sigma methodology
to help identify areas for improvement and reduce variability in production
output. Process reliability is this
paper is addressed from a management perspective. Weibull probability plots are used to
summarize issues and problems on one side of one sheet of paper to help
prioritize corrective action for the organization. Some criteria are presented to show how to
quantify issues. A contrast is made with
world class operation to reduce the production problems to time and money using
production output data.
Click here to download a PDF
file (286 KB) of this paper or click here to download the slide presentation as
a PDF
file (215 KB).
24. Small Sample Size Datasets: Help or
Hindrance?—prepared for the Society
of Automotive Engineers Weibull Users Group,
Abstract: Some common sense issues will be presented concerning the size and effectiveness of small datasets for Weibull analysis. A few examples will illustrate the issues for aiding common sense evaluation of the data. Some guides lines will be listed from a management perspective.
Click here to download a PDF
file ( 286 KB) of this short article or here for a PDF
file of the PowerPoint
slides (144 KB).
23.
Heat Exchanger IRIS Wall Thickness and Gumbel Smallest Distribution—prepared
for the Northwest Houston Subsection
of ASME, Houston, TX,
Abstract: This is a presentation to the Northwest Houston Subsection of ASME to show how a small amount of data can be used to answer the question: Should we retube the heat exchanger during our turnaround outage or can we wait until the next turnaround? Comparisons are made between the Weibull distribution and the Gumbel smallest distribution using WinSMITH Weibull software for the calculations—the Gumbel smallest distribution has a Weibull Y-axis and a linear X-axis while the Weibull curves have logarithmic X-axis and both distributions magnify the smaller wall thickness measurements which are of major concern. A bonus set of plots illustrates the use of the Gumbel largest distribution and how it magnifies the large data values such as occur with wind gusts and floods.
Click here
to download a PDF file (238 KB) of the PowerPoint slides.
22. Reliability Policy-Do You Have One?-Why Not?—prepared
for the Society Of Reliability Engineers Lambda Notes, December 2001
Abstract: Reliability for business starts with management. Management uses policy statements to address major issues. As the reliability professional in your organization, can you give a 60 second sound bite to state your view of a reliability policy? Effective reliability professionals must help management communicate reliability to the organization with a clear reliability policy statement. Reliability professionals—it’s your job to sell a reliability policy to your organization. If it’s not your job, whose job is it?
Click here to download a PDF
file (123 KB) of this short article.
Also visit the reliability
policy page on this site.
21. Process Reliability—prepared for the ASQ Reliability Review, December 2001
Abstract: Daily production data from a
production plant is used as a top down model in a Weibull probability plot to
identify the reliability of a production process. Failures of the process are defined,
identified, and quantified. Production
losses for different categories are calculated.
Lack of process performance is related to six-sigma concepts and the
details are quantified in financial values for top management attention about
the cost of unreliability.
Click here to download a PDF
file (140 KB) of this short article—also see below, on this page, for more
publications on the same subject.
Additional items concerning Process Reliability are also addressed at other locations on this website.
20. Reliability Issues From A Management Perspective—prepared
for the 52nd
Abstract: Reliability for
businesses begins with management.
Management must communicate with a clear reliability policy
statement. The policy can mobilize
actions for considering cost of alternatives to prevent or mitigate failures,
which require knowledge about times to failure, and failure modes, found by
reliability technology. Justifications
for reliability improvements require knowing: 1) when things fail, 2) how
things fail, and 3) conversions of failures into time and money
statements. Reliability engineering
principles help define when and how things fail to provide facts for life cycle
costs comparisons. This helps decide the
lowest long-term cost of ownership driven by a single estimator called net
present value for converting hardware issues and alternatives into money
issues. Several short examples
illustrate the methodology.
Click
here to down load a PDF file (353K).
Click
here to down load a PDF file (256K) for slides used for presentation—these
will be available until the end of May 2001.
19. How To
Justify Equipment Improvements Using Life Cycle Cost and Reliability Principles—prepared
for the Power Machinery And Compression Conference 2001 in Galveston, Texas,
March 20-21, 2001
Abstract: Improvement justifications are based on financial details and alternatives. The datum for all improvements begins with the cost of the status quo, i.e., no improvement as the launching point for alternatives. Improvement justifications require knowing: 1) when things fail, 2) how things fail, and 3) conversions of failures into money statements. Reliability engineering principles help define when and how things fail to provide facts for life cycle costs comparisons to help decide the lowest long-term cost of ownership driven by a single estimator called net present value (NPV) to converting hardware issues and alternatives into money issues. Initial first costs are often a bad decision tool for making improvement decisions (lacking details and alternatives from engineering—the first cost may become the only decision criteria). The Engineering Department is responsibility for providing life cycle costs over the project life and they must provide more than a single alternative. Knowledge about times to failure and failure modes are found by reliability technology. A short example illustrates the methodology.
Click here to down load a PDF file (196K).
18. New Reliability Tool for the Millennium:
Weibull Analysis of Production Data—prepared for the 9th
International Process Plant Reliability Conference and Exhibition in
This paper (with a few modifications) was published in Hydrocarbon Processing magazine, October 2001, Vol. 80, No. 10, pages 73-82, and you can request a reprint copy by use of Hydrocarbon Processing’s automated form service or you can download the Hydrocarbon Process paper as a PDF file (364KB) from this site.
Abstract: The authors will demonstrate how a major Chemical
Process company has successfully utilized this new technique to answer
questions such as:
1.
Do I have a reliability problem or a production problem?
2.
What is the demonstrated capacity of my plant?
3.
What are efficiency/utilization losses costing me?
4.
What is the reliability of my process plant?
The Weibull technique described has helped the company define a strategic course of action based on quantification of process reliability. This tool when added to its reliability improvement arsenal will help any company optimize availability of its products to its customers and maximize profits to its stakeholders. Click here to down load a PDF file (120K).
(Note: This paper was co-authored by
17.
“Why You Need Practical Reliability Details To Define Life Cycle Costs
For Your Products and Competitors Products!”
–prepared for presentation at the 16th International Titanium Annual
Conference & Exhibition in
Abstract: High-grade products are difficult to sell because of price resistance—particularly when the high-grade products have much longer life and require less maintenance than lower grade products. Life cycle costs comparisons help decide the lowest long-term cost of ownership driven by a single estimator called net present value. The initial low sales price item usually forms a datum for procurement decisions, and the higher sales price item must be compared over the entire life of the project. The net present values require decisions about when and how much maintenance/replacement costs will be incurred which is driven by the time and modes for component failures found by using reliability technology developed during the past 60 years. Click here to down load a PDF file (55K).
16. “Process Reliability and Six-Sigma”,
prepared for presentation at the National Manufacturing Week Conference 20000
in
Abstract: Reliability of manufacturing processes can be obtained from daily production data when process failure criteria are established. Results of the analysis are displayed on Weibull probability plots. Losses are categorized and identified for corrective action based on a demonstrated production criterion, which gives a point estimate for the daily production value. Concepts from six-sigma methodology are used to establish the effective nameplate capacity rating for the process. The differences between the nameplate rating and the demonstrated production are labeled as efficiency and utilization losses. Click here to download a PDF file (132K) of Process Reliability and Six-Sigma. Click here to download the WinSMITH Weibull files used in the paper—you can import these into the demonstration version of WinSMITH Weibull Demo A reference listed in the paper is called “Asset Utilization: A Metric for Focusing Reliability Efforts” by Richard Ellis, click here to download a PDF file (136K) of the reference document.
15.
“Process Reliability Concepts”, prepared for presentation at
the SAE 2000 Weibull Users’ Conference in
Abstract: Weibull
analysis, using daily production output data, is used on a production process
to find the process reliability. Output
from multiple production lines is combined into a
14.
“Mechanical Integrity And Risk Based Decisions Using Weibull Analysis
With Small Datasets”, prepared for presentation at the Improving Safety
and Reducing Operating Costs through Risk Based Inspection Conference sponsored
by
Abstract: Mechanical integrity problems often involve few failures and large quantities of potential future failures. The questions are: When will mechanical integrity be lost as the next failure occurs, or, will the equipment survive with no/few failures until the next scheduled turnaround? A factual dataset, with few failures, is used to illustrate how Weibull analysis can forecast the risk of failures based on a small dataset. Three perspectives are described: 1) the statistical view, 2) the engineering view, and 3) the management view. Click here to down load a PDF file (61K).
13. "How to Justify Machinery Improvements Using Reliability Engineering Principles", prepared for presentation at the 1999 Pump Symposium sponsored by Texas A&M Turbo Lab on March 1-4, 1999.
Abstract: For the typical machinery engineer, the difficulties
encountered with making reliability improvements lie not with the
"mechanics" of improvements, but with justifying the cost of
improvements. It’s difficult to translate sound engineering principles into
terms that the accounting community can understand. The purpose of this paper is to equip machinery
engineers with reliability engineering principles that translate "best
practices" into net present value financial terms. Using the concepts of
life cycle costs, the effects of off-design conditions and poor installation
practices will be shown to reduce the expected life of a pump by as much as
60%. A
(Note: This paper was co-authored by Todd R. Monroe, P.E. at the Equistar
Chemical LP plant in
12. "How
To Use Reliability Engineering Principles For Business Issues",
prepared for presentation at the
Abstract: Failures of equipment and processes waste money on unreliability problems. Unreliability is the costly part of the economic equation. The business issue of reliability is control and prevention of failures to reduce costs and improve operations by enhancing business performance with affordable levels of reliability. Reliability numbers by themselves will not motivate improvements. Money values resulting from unreliability will cause reliability numbers to spring into life and guide actions for making cost effective changes using actual plant data for costs and failures. Reliability engineering tools and principles are discussed which assist plant improvement programs for reducing the high cost of unreliability. Click here to down load a PDF file (202K).
11. "Life Cycle Cost And Good
Practices", prepared for presentation at the National
Petroleum Refiners Association Maintenance Conference,
Abstract: Life cycle costs (LCC) concepts are merged with installation and operating practices for a pumping system to form a reliability model. Reliability models show how inherent component life is reduced by various practices. As failed components are replaced, changes occur in the LCC values. The outcome of several installation/use alternatives and several grades of pumps are described in net present value format. Click here to download a PDF file (142K).
10. "Pipe Wall Thickness Decisions Using
Weibull Analysis", prepared for presentation at the
Equipment Inspection For Mechanical Integrity seminar sponsored by McNeese
State University Engineering Partnership and Lake Area Industries, Lake
Charles, LA,
Abstract: Weibull analysis is used on the data from pipe wall thickness inspections to set inspection intervals and assign risks for exceeding the minimum wall thickness. A small data-set of actual pipe thickness readings, obtained from an actual operating loop, are used to illustrate the method and rationale.--Note: also refer to the June '97 problem of the month for more details. Click here to download a PDF file (58K).
9. "Availability,
Reliability, Maintainability, and Capability", prepared for
presentation at the Triplex Chapter Of The Vibrations Institute,
Abstract: Availability, reliability, maintainability, and capability are components of the effectiveness equation. The effectiveness equation is a figure of merit which is helpful for deciding which component(s) detract from performance measures. In many continuous process plants, the reliability component is the largest detractor from better performance. Calculation of the components are illustrated by use of a small data set. Click here to download a PDF file (43K).
8. "Life Cycle Cost & Reliability
for Process Equipment", prepared for the 8th
Annual Energy Week Conference & Exhibition organized by American Petroleum
Institute, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and PennWell
Publishing in
Abstract: Life cycle costs (LCC) are cradle-to-grave costs
summarizing all ownership costs. Reliability plays an important role in
selection of equipment for lowest long term cost of ownership. Results of a
7. " Life Cycle Cost Tutorial",
prepared for presentation at the Fifth International Conference on Process
Plant Reliability organized by Gulf Publishing Company and HYDROCARBONS PROCESS
Magazine in
Abstract: Life cycle costs (LCC) are cradle to grave costs summarized in
a three section, three hour tutorial:
1. LCC concepts and applications are described as an overview. Details are
provided about how costs are gathered and merged to develop a LCC number usable
as a figure of merit. References are provided for additional study--some
accounting math is used in this 1.5 hour long section.
2. Failure rate data is used for LCC. Examples show how detailed calculations
are prepared and evaluated for developing engineering estimates of LCC in
hydrocarbons processing industries--some engineering math is used in this 1.0
hour long section.
3. Uncertainties are considered in preparing LCC values. Direction is provided
for use of inexpensive software solutions using DOS and Windows based software
programs--some statistics are used in this 0.5 hour long section.
(Note: This article was co-authored with 
David P. Weber , a reliability expert
and author of papers in fuzzy logic for solving reliability problems.) Click here to download
a PDF file (165K).
6. " Reliability Of Critical
Turbo/Compressor Equipment", prepared for presentation at
the Firfth International Conference on Process Plant
Reliability organized by Gulf Publishing Company and HYDROCARBONS PROCESS
Magazine in
Abstract: A methodology is presented to evaluate and determine the
necessary level of reliability for process equipment such as large centrifugal
compressors and turbines in a refinery environment using Weibull analysis.
(Note: This paper was co-authored by Michael Kotlyar, Senior Machinery Engineer
at the ARCO Los Angeles Refinery.) Click here to
download a PDF file (69K).
5. "Practical Reliability Tools For
Refineries and Chemical Plants", prepared for the National
Petroleum Refiners Association, presented at the NPRA Maintenance Conference in
Abstract: Reliability is the probability of equipment or
processes to function without failure, when operated correctly, for a given
interval of time, under stated conditions. Reliability numbers, by themselves,
lack meaning for making improvements. For business, the financial issue of
reliability is controlling the cost of unreliability from equipment and
process failures which waste money. Reliability issues are understandable when
converted into monetary values by using actual plant data. Several reliability
engineering tools are discussed. Click here
to download a PDF file (43K).
4. “Optimizing equipment reliability data for
end-users and equipment suppliers", prepared for the Center
for Excellence in the Chemical Industry (CECI) first annual forum for
Partnerships For Automated Life Cycle Care at the
Abstract: The need for using a planned acquisition of age-to-failure
data is discussed along with rules for acquiring the data. The data is
connected to the cost of unreliability and how this influences
life-cycle costs (LCC). Click
here to download a PDF file (15K)
3.
"An Overview of Reliability Engineering Principles",
presented at Energy Week conference sponsored by PennWell,
ASME, and
Abstract: Reliability is the probability of equipment or processes to
function without failure when operate correctly for a given interval of time
under stated conditions. Equipment and processes failures waste money on
unreliability problems. The business issue of reliability is control of
failures to reduce costs and improve operations by enhancing business
performance with affordable levels of reliability. Reliability numbers by
themselves lack motivation for improvements. However, converting unreliability
into monetary values, causes numbers to spring to life and guides actions for
making cost effective changes, by using actual plant data for costs and
failures. Reliability engineering tools are discussed which assist plant
improvement programs for reducing the high cost of unreliability. Click here to download a
PDF file (33K).
2. "Where
Is My Data For Making Reliability Improvements", presented
at The 4th International Conference For Process Industry Reliability, sponsored
by Gulf Publishing Company and ASME on
Abstract: All failure data for plant equipment and processes contains
problems with definition of failure, data accuracy, data recording ambiguities,
data accessibility, and lack of currency values. These are not reasons for
ignoring data. Data banks of plant maintenance and cost records are a gold mine
for starting a chain reaction of improvements. Data analysis puts facts into an
action oriented format involving age-to-failures, along with suspended data
from successes, to focus on making improvements to reduce the cost of
unreliability. Five data sets are analyzed to show how data is used.
Understanding data is helpful, but making cost effective improvements by use of
the data is the business objective!
(Note: This article was co-authored with
David P. Weber , a reliability expert
and author of papers in fuzzy logic for solving reliability problems.) Click here to
download a PDF file (75K).
1. "Cost
Effective Calibration Intervals Using Weibull Analysis",
presented at the ASQC 49th Annual Quality Congress on
Abstract: Calibration intervals are found from actual or forecasted
time-to-failure along with both planned recalibration costs and unplanned
failure costs by means of Weibull analysis using commercially available WeibullSMITH™ software. Calibration intervals are found for
several examples. Click here
to download a PDF file (131K).
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