Managing Mechanical Integrity of Fixed Equipment with Methods Similar to Those Used to Manage Reliability of Rotating Equipment, 2010 TAPPI PEERS Conference

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Maintenance of fixed equipment in pulp and paper mills typically consumes 15 – 20% of the annual maintenance budget – costs include inspections with associated cleaning and scaffolding, repair of corrosion damage and, indirectly, lost production and cleanup costs from unplanned events. Managing the mechanical (containment) integrity of fixed equipment in a pulp and paper mill with a disciplined program that is similar to reliability-centered programs for maintaining rotating equipment substantially reduces these costs. The main concept involves combining knowledge of damage mechanisms, fitness-for-service methodology, risk-based prioritization and modern NDT technologies to systematically design a customized inspection scope for each piece of fixed equipment, basing the inspection interval on the monitored damage mechanism rates.

A major benefit of the systematic inspection design (SID) process is greater reliability of fixed equipment: fewer leaks and failures increase plant safety and minimize lost production. Significant cost savings come from eliminating senseless inspections, e.g., doing UT thickness testing where uniform corrosion is not possible, and from using modern NDT technology to remotely or externally monitor rates of known damage mechanisms wherever possible. The SID process automatically reveals where it is sensible to mitigate damage mechanisms to eliminate inspections, cleaning, scaffolding, etc. The SID process is completely scalable, producing similar engineering and economic benefits for a few tanks, a recovery boiler and an entire pulp mill.

A feedback review cycle for each inspection plan continuously improves its efficacy, steadily reducing maintenance costs and plant reliability. The transparent (SID) process readily adapts to mill process improvements and, by consistently generating similar inspection plans regardless of who does the planning, withstands inevitable changes in program coordinator and other key practitioners.