In this case, the organization was seeking to reduce costs whilst maintaining performance and managing risks by optimizing its maintenance strategy. Intervals for intrusive planned maintenance had been extended, with increased use being made of condition monitoring techniques to target activities where they are needed. There was a long-established practice of annual trip test operation of circuit breakers but the organization wanted to ascertain whether this was a worthwhile exercise and to determine the optimum frequency that such testing should be carried out.
Electrical distribution utilities use medium voltage networks for the distribution of electricity from primary substations to local distribution substations close to the point of load. In many parts of the world, distribution utilities use 10-13kV levels as the final step down before final low voltage delivery connections. At each of these voltage step-downs and network connecting points, circuit breakers are used for protection and switching purposes. These breakers can use a variety of technologies, such as oil or sulphur hexafluoride gas as an arcing suppression medium. There are many circuit breakers in service in a typical network; they are highly reliable and, in a protection/isolation role, normally remain passive until called upon to operate under fault conditions. It is clearly essential that they operate correctly and rapidly when called upon to operate to disconnect a fault. failure to do so can result in transformer overloading (potential explosion) and other hazards to people and network equipment.
We were called in to support a multi-disciplined team study of the optimal testing strategy using the SALVO Process. This provides a structured navigation and evaluation discipline to ensure all factors, stakeholder interests, uncertainties, and scenarios were explored, quantified, and evaluated on a consistent and auditable basis. This process was supported by real-time cost/risk modeling and ‘what if?’ calculations using the DST Inspection Evaluator™ tool.
This case involved a small team comprising process safety personnel. It needed just 2 hours to build the basic scenario, using the SALVO storyboard for inspection decision-making, and DST Inspection Evaluator™ to model the risks and costs, and operational options available, and identify the optimal strategy. The team also developed a number of alternative scenarios and explored their impact on the optimum strategy. The study, including analysis of sensitivity to all sources of data uncertainty, revealed that the optimal strategy was to carry out functional testing every 48 months. The major factor in determining the optimum interval proved to be the direct cost of the labor for carrying out the test. The marginal increase in risk as a result of extending the test interval was carefully explored, considered acceptable, and did not impact safety. Finally, a formal decision-recording stage ensured the capture of the optimal strategy, the implementation actions, and the audit trail so that the proposed change is fully documented and future revisions can easily understand why the strategy was set to 48-monthly.
To perform the complex reliability, risk and financial ’what if?’ calculations, this study used decision-support software called DST Inspection Evaluator™. This tool was developed as part of the international SALVO project to support the analysis of asset inspection and condition monitoring decisions. Like other modules in the DST Asset Strategy Evaluator™ suite, the tool provides:
The cost/risk calculations revealed that the optimal interval for testing was at 48 months, rather than the existing 12 monthly cycles. This extension of testing interval yields a c.75% reduction of overall business impact (costs and risks). For the population of 4,000 such circuit breakers, this represents a potential saving of £156,000 per year. These values take account of the risks of switchgear functional failure due to ‘hidden’ failure modes, the cumulative deterioration risks between tests, switching, and other costs of the trip-test itself. And it also incorporates any beneficial effects (e.g. grease redistribution reduces ‘stiction’) or failure risks introduced by the testing activity.
The Woodhouse Partnership would be delighted to show you how the SALVO process and Decision Support Tools™ can be implemented to benefit your business, contact us now for a free initial consultation. We look forward to hearing from you.
Mutual Energy has been recognised for effective asset management of critical infrastructure by achieving ISO 55001 certification.
This study was commissioned to ascertain the business case for re-tubing and to evaluate the life cycle cost benefits of alternative materials.
David Curtis, Director, Engineering Talent Management at Hydro One talks us through their experience with the Woodhouse Partnership and benefits of refining their asset management practices.
Over his 28 plus year span in the industrial sectors with working technical backgrounds in Project & Construction Management, Asset Operations and Maintenance Reliability Management, and being certified in various courses of study; Damien has gained the knowledge and experience and has had proven successes throughout his tenure in the Oil, Gas, Petro-Chemical and Construction sectors. Establishing his-self in the various sectors, Damien’s first experience and success started in the Construction Sector in estimating engineering. This was the stepping stone for Damien and has paved the way for his passion and continued success in supporting People, Process, and Systems in an organization.
Damien has held positions in local, international and multi-national corporations and comes from a working background in the fields of environmental, operations, project and construction management, operations maintenance and reliability management, planning, supervisory management, and has proven his abilities to succeed in each field.
Rich was an Engineer and Project Manager professional at the New York Power Authority for over 30-years. In addition to being the first Project Manager for the Niagara Project Upgrade, Rich rose to be the Vice President of Engineering having started in Operations Engineering decades earlier. Rich went on to be Vice President, Transmission and Substation at AECOM responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in design and construction. Rich joined Woodhouse Partnership, North America and participates in aligning organization towards ISO 55000 and many reliability studies supporting DST.
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Our Asset Management Academy is pleased to announce 2023 dates for our Masterclass – the benchmark for personal development and competency recognition for Asset Management Professionals
Executive in Operational Excellence, Asset Management and Best Practices in Projects, Operations and Maintenance in the Energy and Industrial Sector.
Consultant, Instructor and International Lecturer on issues related to project management (risk management), operational reliability, strategic management of operations, maintenance, Asset Management in the energy sector (ISO 55001) and Applied Data Analytics.
PMP, CMRP, IAM and CAMA certifications, being recognized by the SMRP in 2019 as CMRP of the Year https://smrp.org/2019-CMRP-Winners.
George has over twenty-five years of experience as a consulting engineer providing design, planning, program and project management, and strategic asset management services for asset-intensive organizations in the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East. His primary focus has been in the public infrastructure sector; as a result, he has intimate knowledge of the assets, processes, and resources necessary to deliver and sustain safe, reliable services to the customers of public asset-owning organizations.
George has assisted organizations with the development of PAS 55, ISO 55000, and GFMAM AM Landscape aligned asset management systems (AMS), has performed gap analyses of their AMS against industry standards and best practices, and has guided them through the creation of strategic asset management plans (SAMPs), asset management plans (AMPs), AM policy and supporting documents. He has undertaken asset risk modelling to ascertain organizations’ capability to sustain their desired levels of service. George has performed asset health-informed lifecycle cost modelling and forecasting capital and operational expenditures over near and long-term planning horizons.
With 30 years’ experience in utilities, oil & gas, transport and other sectors, John is one of the most widely known experts in integrated asset management projects for some of the largest companies in the world.
John is a Founder and Life Fellow of the IAM; he has written 4 books, chaired the development of BSI PAS55 and represents the UK on the ISO55000 committee.
He also led the international MACRO and SALVO collaboration projects in optimised asset management decision-making.
