Reliability engineering management in the petrochemical environment : the air separation unit

Abstract: The key processing unit, the “cold box", is fundamentally responsible for air extraction and separation. The cold box is critical in the Sasol Chemical Industries (SCI) environment, due to the importance of oxygen in several processes. Due to the criticality of the equipment, it became necessary to streamline the maintenance process utilized on the cold box. Irregular and unplanned maintenance can lead to unforeseen events and may have safety and environmental implications. The maintenance philosophy that is followed to maintain the equipment is of utmost importance. Sasol conducts maintenance on their cold box with a black box approach, which makes it difficult for the maintenance team to predict failures, resulting in significant losses. The study investigates the potential benefits of an alternative maintenance strategy. The key focus of the research includes an evaluation on the impact of an alternative maintenance approach has on the reliability and stability of the equipment. The research approach includes a global literature study providing potential options for improvements. The viability of these options was tested via a questionnaire conducted with plant personnel with current plant personnel. The questionnaire consists of 28 questions, which are formulated to determine certain data relating to the research question. The questions are divided into six categories, as it is extracted from the relevant sections. See details in Appendix A The categories are: 1. Challenges in the different air separation processes 2. Maintenance management 3. Maintenance planning 4. Maintenance strategy 5. Reliability management 6. Quality management and the reliability centred maintenance (RCM) process On completion of the data collection, the data was thoroughly validated to verify that the information is relevant to the research topic. Each maintenance management division’s data was tabulated based on the response of the individuals and analyzed thoroughly to extract the conclusions of the collected data (Maxwell, 2002). The results of the respondents indicated that proactive maintenance and all aspects thereof is the key to success for improving the reliability of the cold box. Reliability engineering management is essential for the stability of the cold box.M.Phil. (Engineering Management