Page 356 - Reciprocating Compressors Operation Maintenance

Preventive Maintenance for Reciprocating Compressors 34 1

reliability, efficiency, run-time, housekeeping and environmental/regula-
tory compliance. The final product cost will be materially decreased by
this program. When increased production adds substantially to the profits
of a plant, the minor expense of a well-structured maintenance program
is insignificant. Dependability is a vital factor in any operation. The
degree of dependability attained is in direct proportion to the effective-
ness of the preventive maintenance program.

INTRODUCTION

Preventive maintenance encompasses periodic inspection and the
implementation of remedial steps to avoid unanticipated breakdowns,
production stoppages, or detrimental machine, component, and control
functions. Preventive maintenance is the rapid detection and treatment of
equipment abnormalities before they cause defects or losses. Without
strong emphasis and an implemented preventive maintenance program,
plant effectiveness and reliable operations are greatly diminished. Plants
must minimize compressor failures.
In many process plants or organizations, the maintenance function
does not receive proper attention. The naive perception is that mainte-
nance does not add value to a product, and thus, the best maintenance is
the least-cost maintenance. Armed with this false perception, traditional
process and industrial plants have underemphasized preventive, correc-
tive, routine maintenance, not properly developed maintenance depart-
ments, not properly trained maintenance personnel, and not optimized
predictive maintenance. Excessive unforeseen equipment failures have
been the result.
Maintenance is not an insurance policy or a security blanket. It is a
requirement for success. Without effective preventive maintenance,
equipment is certain to fail during operation.

Five levels of maintenance exist. They are:

1. Reactive or breakdown maintenance. This type of maintenance
includes the repair of equipment after it has failed, in other words,
"run-to-failure." It is unplanned, undesirable, expensive, and, if the
other types of maintenance are performed, usually unavoidable.