Maintenance and Reliability in Oil and Gas Archives for December 2009

What is it you want to know about Failures?

• What equipment is giving me the biggest losses and why?
• What component is failing the most and why?
• Where should you focus your RCA efforts?
• Frequency of a failure mode – decrease?

Through the years I have seen and heard so many excuses why Production Platforms produce "X" amount of capacity and no more. I would like to know what excuses you have heard. Here are my top 4.  If you do not agree with my excuses then challenge them.

Excuse #1.  Our equipment breaks down because no one performs proper PM on the equipment.

The question should be "How effective is your PM Program?" and are you using the most effective method for preventing or predicting a failure mode?

Excuse #2. You have to understand our environment.

Everyone uses this excuse from underground coal mines to oil refineries. The environment does impact equipment reliability however there are maintenance strategies which can mitigate the risk of a partial or total functional failure on most equipment. It is all about risk and the consequences of the risk you are willing to accept.

Excuse #3.  We do not need Reliability Engineers, our equipment is not that complicated.

A good reliability engineer is worth their weight in gold if they are trained and utilized properly.  Their goal is not just to increase equipment reliability but to stop failures from occuring in most cases. We call this the I-PF Curve. We want reliability engineer to focus on the "I" which is installation of new parts, equipment, etc along with ensuring the PM or Condition Monitoring Program allows the rig to meet the needs of the company.

Excuse #4. We are operating at full capacity.

I have found this to be not true in many cases. An example would be when a critical piece of equipment has a partical functional failure such as a generator not operating at full capacity because of problem with a couple of injectors.  No one seems to care but it is impacting flow rate from the rig.

Just think, if you could push 5% more production and how much more money would the company make. Tell the geologist to pack their bags and ask the reliability engineers to unpack their's.

Please tell me what you think. I would like to hear from you on this subject.