|
Most major assets are operated over many years punctuated by periodic and ad-hoc maintenance activities. The operate and maintain phase of the asset life cycle represents, in most cases, the major time component of the asset life.
In addition, a mid-life upgrade or major overhaul may also be part of effectively managing the asset over its life cycle. This cycle of operate and maintain must be optimised to maximise the useful operating time of the asset throughout its life while minimising the undesirable consequences of failing to maintain the asset in good condition. Finding this balance is one of the principal aims of AM systems and maintenance systems in particular.
The underlying aim of the Asset Management engineer in this instance is to achieve the 'Maximum Sustainable Capacity’ (MSC) over the asset life cycle as this is usually synonymous with maximum utilisation and maximum through life output. An important secondary aim is to achieve this MSC at the lowest cost, zero injuries and zero (or minimum) environmental impact.
The aim of achieving and operating stably at MSC is based on the view that the capacity of the plant (measured as output, up-time, support services etc.) is its ‘reason for being’ and therefore anything that we can do to maximise the output from a plant for a given investment will maximise the return on that investment.
In practice, there are operating points other than MSC with the ‘Current Achievable Capacity’ (CAC) being the operating mode for all plants. If the CAC differs significantly from the MSC (usually lower) the maximum utilisation of the plant is not achieved.
The capacity gap between the CAC and the MSC is an indication of the potential untapped capacity that is achievable if the plant is operated and maintained using ‘Worlds Best Practice’ (WBP) systems. In this case WBP results in the MSC achievable from the existing or proposed plant or at least in closing the gap between CAC and MASC. As improvements in Asset Management and maintenance approach WBP, MSC will also improve creating a dynamic target for the Asset Management engineer.
|
