FAILURE ANALYSIS
POWER-GEN International 2011, Las Vegas, U.S.A.
Failure analysis of rotating equipment using root cause analysis methods
Graeme Keith, Lloyd's Register ODS1
Philippe Loustau, Lloyd's Register Energy Americas2
Magnus Melin, Lloyd's Register3
Increasing demand on equipment up-time in power sector
With the rapid development of technology and ever rising demand for energy consumption, more and bigger power plant projects are being designed, built and operated around the world. Increased portion of renewable energy in the energy system gives increasing pressure on conventional thermal power plants to reduce emissions by adopting new technologies, for example co-firing with biomass, but also to operate more flexibly with short windows of operation to cope with peak loads. All of this brings additional complexity to power plants and equipment
(especially critical machinery), which can provide higher output and efficiencies, but also brings greater technical and financial risks in case of failure and problems during the asset lifecycle.
Consequences of equipment failure range from short unexpected downtime to total stop of production for an extended period. Despite the best intentions and precautions, failures do occur.
Whenever equipment fails to meet expectations or fails altogether, we must understand what went wrong so that we can safeguard against it ever happening again. A good explanation not only helps you prevent a failure from reoccurring; it can help identify systematic weaknesses that might result in other failures.
To give a good explanation is to give a full account of the relevant causes of a failure. There are a wide variety of root cause analysis (RCA) methods and procedures for analyzing the causes of failure, including the widely used Fishbone or
Ishikawa diagram, the appealingly simple Five Whys, the versatile Fault Tree
Analysis and its close cousin the causal map. Each method has its particular advantages and drawbacks.
Failure analysis of rotating equipment using root cause analysis methods
Graeme Keith, Lloyd's Register ODS1
Philippe Loustau, Lloyd's Register Energy Americas2
Magnus Melin, Lloyd's Register3
Increasing demand on equipment up-time in power sector
With the rapid development of technology and ever rising demand for energy consumption, more and bigger power plant projects are being designed, built and operated around the world. Increased portion of renewable energy in the energy system gives increasing pressure on conventional thermal power plants to reduce emissions by adopting new technologies, for example co-firing with biomass, but also to operate more flexibly with short windows of operation to cope with peak loads. All of this brings additional complexity to power plants and equipment
(especially critical machinery), which can provide higher output and efficiencies, but also brings greater technical and financial risks in case of failure and problems during the asset lifecycle.
Consequences of equipment failure range from short unexpected downtime to total stop of production for an extended period. Despite the best intentions and precautions, failures do occur.
Whenever equipment fails to meet expectations or fails altogether, we must understand what went wrong so that we can safeguard against it ever happening again. A good explanation not only helps you prevent a failure from reoccurring; it can help identify systematic weaknesses that might result in other failures.
To give a good explanation is to give a full account of the relevant causes of a failure. There are a wide variety of root cause analysis (RCA) methods and procedures for analyzing the causes of failure, including the widely used Fishbone or
Ishikawa diagram, the appealingly simple Five Whys, the versatile Fault Tree
Analysis and its close cousin the causal map. Each method has its particular advantages and drawbacks.