Exploring the condition-based maintenance opportunities for production-critical assets

Abstract

The optimum maintenance strategies for an installation on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) are seen as a combination of Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM), predetermined periodic Preventive Maintenance (PM) and runto- failure. CBM strategies are traditionally reserved for high safety-critical and high production-critical equipment. In recent years, however, there has been an increasing demand to maximize the use of CBM strategies on offshore installations. Arguments are presented in this paper to explore the opportunities where CBM strategies can be justifiable for other production-critical equipment. The justification presented is thus related to the cost-effectiveness of establishing a Condition Monitoring (CM) system, which would primarily be based on the use of process and equipment performance measures. The paper presents an intuitive explanation for the costeffective justification of CBM and also summarizes some general issues that influence the decision process for the different equipment criticality classes. A graphical representation is then presented. On the basis of analysis, a scenario is presented where CBM strategies and activities are justifiable for other production-critical equipment.