Page 267 - Improving Machinery Reliability

238 Improving Machinery Reliability

Attendance at well-defined known-to-be-relevant outside seminars or symposia is
the next step. Again, the audit team must be fully familiar with the content and rele-
vance of these training opportunities in order to properly assess their applicability to
the needs of a given plant.

Machinery Reliability Audits Have Wide Application
It has been said that a properly executed machinery reliability audit compares a
given plant with the best of competition. Audits can be performed on virtually any
process plant with heavy dependence on machinery. Refineries and large chemical
plants are obviously among the most likely beneficiaries of well-structured audits;
however, utilities, paper and pulp, mining, and other industries will find machinery
reliability audits a suitable means for appraising vulnerabilities.
An experienced audit team should be careful to keep the focus on existing as well
as potential reliability-related observations and recommendations. Machinery obser-
vations that are only cost-related, e.g., periodic lube oil replacement vs. periodic on-
stream purification of turbomachinery lube oil would become an issue only if it were
uncovered that periodic replacement is not practiced, or if lube oil contamination
were found to exist.
The machinery reliability audit process is clearly a means for the transfer of
knowledge and technology. It has been the author’s experience that this type of audit
differs from other, more generalized plant reliability assessments by being far more
specific. Properly manned and structured, machinery reliability audits very often
offer solutions on the spot, making their value both tangible and immediate. Equally
important, machinery reliability audits provide state-of-the-art updates, technology
transfer, and a greatly reduced risk of unexpected plant outages attributable to
machinery distress.

References
1. Cook, C. P., “Shop vs. Field Corrections to Equipment,” 14th Turbomachinery
Symposium, Texas A&M University, 1985.
2. ASME Compressor Engineering Seminar, South Texas Section, Houston, Texas,
Proceedings of Session 8, March 25, 1981.
3. McHugh, J. D., “Principles of Turbomachinery Bearings,” 8th Turbomachinery
Symposium, Texas A&M University, 1979.
4. Shapiro, W. and Colsher, R., “Dynamic Characteristics of Fluid-Film Bearings,”
6th Turbomachinery Symposium, Texas A&M University, 1977.
5. Salamone, D. J., “Journal Bearing Design Types and Their Applications to Tur-
bomachinery,” 13th Turbomachinery Symposium, Texas A&M University,
1984.
6. Salisbury, R. J., Stack, R., and Sassos, M. J., “Lubrication and Seal Oil Sys-
tems,” 13th Turbomachinery Symposium, Texas A&M University, 1984.