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Article history: The Oil & Gas industry has continuously increased its requirements and together with the high
Received 13 January 2016 complexity of technological systems and the higher competitiveness of markets, has compelled
Received in revised form providers to implement adequate management strategies for these systems in order to improve
7 August 2016
their availability and productivity to meet those more demanding criteria.
Accepted 2 September 2016
In this context, the complex of RAM factors constitute a strategic approach for integrating reli-
ability, availability and maintainability, by using methods, tools and engineering techniques (Mean
Keywords:
Time to Failure, Equipment down Time and System Availability values) to identify and quantify
RAM
Reciprocating compressors
equipment and system failures that prevent the achievement of the productive objectives. The
Maintenance application of such methodologies requires a deep experience and know-how together with the
Oil & gas possibility of acquiring and processing data in operating conditions. This paper presents the most
relevant aspects and findings of a study conducted for assessing the operational performance of a
reciprocating compressor system package installed and used in the oil and gas' industries. The
study was based on the analysis of the behaviour of states defined for each individual parts and
component of reciprocating compressor and also aimed to identify and evaluate the effects of RAM-
type factors and was conducted in collaboration with a private company that, for privacy reasons,
will be named RC company. The Methodologies procedures used in this descriptive study were the
bibliographical research, documentary and content analysis of the main literature. Adopting the
most suitable maintenance strategy is one of the main challenges that maintenance managers face.
The main purpose of this work is to propose a new approach to evaluate maintenance strategies.
In this study, three criteria called reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM) have been
employed to compare to future maintenance strategies.
Copyright © 2016, Southwest Petroleum University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on
behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petlm.2016.09.002
2405-6561/Copyright © 2016, Southwest Petroleum University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
F. Corvaro et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 266e272 267
The evaluation of components reliability is a fundamental analysis helps the management in assessment of the RAM needs
aspect for proper maintenance execution; existing reliability of system [3] (Sharma and Kumar, 2008).
evaluation methods are based on the availability of knowledge In the Oil & Gas Industry risk-based maintenance programs to
about component states. However, component states are often improve safety, reliability and availability of the plants have been
uncertain or unknown, especially during the early stages of the applied for a log time now.
development of new systems. In such cases, it is important to RAM is one of the risk evaluation models that are applied in
understand how uncertainties will affect system reliability Maintenance and Safety Integrity Management System.
assessment. Reliability of systems often depends on their age, Eti et al. (2006) [4] demonstrated an approach for the inte-
intrinsic factors (dimensioning, quality of components, material, gration of RAMS and risk analysis as a guide in maintenance pol-
etc.) and conditions of use (environment, load rate, stress, etc.). icies to reduce the frequency of failures and maintenance costs.
In this context, RAM factors constitute a strategic approach Depending on the information delivered by different indica-
for integrating reliability, availability and maintainability, by tor decision-making models, managers who are in charge of
using methods, tools and engineering techniques (such as Mean maintenance can take measures to review operational manage-
Time to Failure, Equipment down Time and System Availability ment, maintenance management and safety management, so
values) to identify and quantify equipment and system failures that the indicators mentioned above can better satisfy manage-
that prevent the achievement of its objectives. ment needs. The decision-making model which is used to
The majority of industrial systems have a high level of improve equipment reliability, availability and maintainability
complexity, nevertheless, in many cases, they can be repaired. are called RAM procedure, and it is also a sustained and close-
Moreover historical and or benchmarking data, related to sys- loop management system. Dynamic risk rank indicator, predic-
tems failure and repair patterns, are difficult to obtain and often tive maintenance indicator and RAM indicator constitute the
they are not enough reliable due to various practical constraints. intelligent maintenance indicator decision-making system [5]
In such circumstances, it is evident that a good RAM analysis can (Qingfeng et al., 2011).
play a key role in the design phase and in any modification RAM is considered to be one of the two most significant areas
required for achieving the optimized performance of such sys- for profitability improvement (William, 2001). Moreover, RAM
tems. However, it is difficult to estimate the RAM parameters of modelling will contribute to an increased safety and environ-
these systems up to a desired degree of accuracy by utilizing mental performance, which is an important factor in maintain-
available information and uncertain data [2] (Komal et al., 2010). ing the license to operate, by providing real and up-to-date data
Reciprocating Compressor are very sophisticated systems that concerning the actual state of the plant. Herder at al. (2008) [6]
go beyond traditional RAM analysis due to specific capabilities described the feasibility and prerequisites for implementing
needed for performing a range of working operations that can RAM simulation modelling in industrial practice, by means of
ensure the required production efficiency and reliability in the developing, implementing and using a RAM simulation model
Oil and Gas industry. for the GE Plastics Lexan® plant in Bergen op Zoom, The
The main aim of this research work was to assess the avail- Netherlands.
ability of reciprocating compressors plant designed, configured, Lundteigen et al. (2009) [7] in their paper outline a new
and eventually compared against End User Site Project that approach to reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety
should be as minimum > of 96% during normal production. (RAMS) engineering and management. The new approach covers
Another important goal was the identification and ranking of the all phases of the new product development process and is aimed at
equipment and sub-systems which are major contributors to- producers of complex products like safety instrumented systems
wards unavailability. Ranking is based on the estimated equip- (SIS). The article discusses main RAMS requirements to a SIS and
ment and sub-system contribution towards unavailability. The presents these requirements in a holistic perspective. The approach
final objective was to propose and assess potential cost-effective is based on a new life cycle model for product development and
optimization options to ensure the achievement of the target integrates this model into the safety life cycle of IEC 61508.
availability, where appropriate, and perform Equipment Criti- Saraswat and Yadava (2008) [8] emphasised the role of reli-
cality Assessment for the systems and equipment assessed as ability, availability, maintainability and supportability (RAMS)
part of the RAM study. aspects for improving performance of engineering systems.
This work was carried out in collaboration with a company Rajiv and Poja (2012) [9] developed a methodology to permit
leader in the production of reciprocating compressors for the Oil the system reliability analysts/managers/engineers/practitioners
& Gas industry that for privacy reasons will be named RC com- to conduct RAM analysis of the system to model, analyse and
pany. RC company has established as one of its mission a predict the behaviour of industrial systems in a more realistic
continuous improvement of its products quality in terms of and consistent manner through a Markovian approach. They
availability and reliability in accordance with the standards of demonstrated that with RAM analysis of the system key perfor-
the specific sectors in which the produced systems are applied. mance metrics such as Mean Time between Failure (MTBF),
Mean time to Repair Time (MTTR) and System availability values
2. Literature review are ascertained.
Among various methods for systems performance modelling 3. Reciprocating process compressor in oil and gas industry
(Root Cause Analysis, RCA; Failure Mode and Effect Analysis,
FMEA; RAM; Quality Control Tools), RAM is an engineering tool The target duty of reciprocating process compressors is the
that evaluates the equipment performance at different stages in export of produced gas from a small oil/gas field into a common
design process. It addresses both operation and safety issues and manifold system.
aims to identify areas with in the system or process where The back pressure in the manifold varies depending on the
improvement actions can be initiated. With RAM analysis of the total gas rate.
system key performance metrics such as Mean Time to Failure The gas is a hydrocarbon mixture of variable molecular
(MTTF), Equipment down Time (EDT) and System Availability weight, including inert gases such as Nitrogen, and may contain
values (Asys) can be ascertained. The information obtained from corrosive/toxic components such as Hydrogen Sulphide.
268 F. Corvaro et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 266e272
In such system the gas is compressed in a series of discon- Reciprocating compressors are not normally variable speed as
tinuous steps by coaxing a fixed volume of gas into a chamber or there are a number of ways to modify the output from such
cylinder for compression. machines including:- reducing cylinder efficiency using clear-
Then the compression of the gas mechanically reduces the ance pockets, control on suction valve opening, and offloading
size of this cavity. At the end of the compression cycle the cylinders.
chamber opens and discharges the high-pressure gas. The safety of reciprocating compressors handling hazardous
Due to the compression process the temperature of the pro- materials is dominated by their piston rod sealing systems. These
cess gas increases; for this reason, in some cases separate stages require appropriate design, maintenance and operator attention
of compression with intercooling of the gas between them are [10].
applied for limiting the temperature and loads on the
compression cylinder. 3.1. Operating requirements
It is not rare that only one or two stages of this compression
process are needed. This kind of compressors do not allow an Reciprocating compressors are generally designed for long
open gas passage from delivery to suction, even do back flow is periods of steady operation, up to perhaps 3 years' service
possible by leakage through the clearances between moving without major overhaul. Valves and seals require service at
parts. perhaps 12/24 or more monthly intervals.
Reciprocating compressors can achieve high pressure ratios
per stage at low volume flows. Continuous Duty
With respect to centrifugal and screw compressors, the
reciprocating ones are used for smaller flow; they also allow a Selecting equipment for continuous operation, requires
greater flexibility of duty. steady, efficient and reliable operation. Reciprocating compres-
They are built with materials that can stand suitable me- sors cannot run continuously for more than a maximum of about
chanical loads and when in contact with the process gas are also 12/24 months before valve and seal wear becomes unacceptable,
chemically resistant. and the motion work may only be able to run for up to 3 years
Hydrocarbon compressors API 618 are generally horizontal between major overhauls. Sophisticated monitoring will give the
and designed with opposed pairs of cylinders, in order to meet best information to permit maintenance intervention to be well-
the mechanical balance and gas sealing requirements. planned and of the shortest possible duration. Chemical addi-
To achieve reasonably practical shaft alignment and permit tives may be used to control fouling. Materials are selected for
thermal expansion, flexible couplings are used between co-axial negligible corrosion in service.
shafts.
Horizontal reciprocating compressors require particularly Variable/Intermittent Load Duty
robust base-frames as the cylinders are supported separately
from the crankcase. This is particularly true offshore with the Reciprocating compressors are tolerant of duty changes, but,
baseplate having to provide the necessary stiffness for alignment being positive displacement ma-chines, recycle control is nor-
and dynamic stability on the offshore installation where the mally used to manage flow changes. Some machines are fitted
structure itself is too mobile. with unloading systems, these can be complex and may cause
Compressors require suitable piping, Interstage vessels and local high temperatures. Reciprocating compressors can be
coolers with associated control systems. Together with baseplate started up very quickly, provided that detailed checks are carried
and driver this forms the “Compressor System”. out and, above all, no liquid is present in the compressor or
A general scheme of the compressor main elements/compo- suction system.
nents is shown in Fig. 1.
The vast majority of compressors are shaft driven by a sepa- Emergency Duty
rate electric motor, gas turbine or diesel engine. A drive gearbox
may be required to match the compressor and driver speeds. Reciprocating compressors are not ideal for emergency duty
as they require operator checks and attention during starts. It is
practical to have a set running on full recycle at low power and
perhaps reduced speed, ready to pick up load in a few seconds.
Again, the potential presence of liquid in the suction line would
pose a major hazard.
The RAM methodology is presented in detail in the following 4.1. Reliability data collection
scheme (see Fig. 2).
The RAM study was based on failure rate and model data that The goal of RAMS is to create input data for the assessment of
are developed and compiled from a number of sources, including the suitability of a system in a life cycle. That is, to provide data
270 F. Corvaro et al. / Petroleum 3 (2017) 266e272
Fig. 3. Scheme of RAMS steps and Life Cycle assessment (scheme provided by RC
company).
1). Reliability data has more impact on the RAMS simulation
results than the RAMS simulation models themselves.
on failure rates of the system, possible failure modes, MDT,
maintenance operations, hazards and their consequences, etc. Step 2: RAMS simulation (system level)
This output of RAMS simulations enables the life cycle specialists
to calculate costs and to perform Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBA). In this step, the goal is to model the system in terms of
But before the RAMS simulation at system level, input on known reliability aspects. That is, from values of failure rate, MTBF,
component failure data must be provided. There are then 3 MDT, among others from individual components, be able to
different steps in the application of RAMS, all of which are compute values which refer to the same components but while
interlinked (see Fig. 3). interacting with each other in a system and a stated environ-
ment. The first methods developed to do so e like the Pre-
Step 1: RAMS data compilation (component level) liminary Hazard Analysis and the Failure Modes and Effects
Analysis e are of qualitative nature and are mainly intended to
Failure data compilation stands as the foundation of any identify failures at system level. Other methods which appeared
RAMS simulation or process. Whether it is made through testing later on are of quantitative nature and enabled the reliability
or through observed field operation and maintenance feedback, engineers to predict through mathematical formulations
the study of individual component failure provides data on several values for failure rate and related parameters in systems.
failure rate and all other reliability parameters. This data is used These simulation result values are termed design or expected
as input for step 2, RAMS simulation. reliability.
This is of utmost importance, for as stated above, a great
number of authors state that the use of more complex reliability Step 3: Life cycle assessment (system level)
models (in step 2) does not necessarily mean there is a better
result, for there is generally a lack of relevant reliability data (step In the life cycle step, the goal is to assess the benefits the
system will bring. In order to do so, costs and incomes must be
Table 1
Results of components criticality analysis.
Description Global rel Local rel Mean Abs loss MTBF Unique
loss % loss % failure mean % (years) ID
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and the other formulations that are exists in the literature, it is
[3] R.K. Sharma, S. Kumar, Performance modelling in critical engineering
necessary to work on real case studies. systems using RAM analysis, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf. 93 (2008) 891e897.
This would in turn require industry to share some of its [4] M.C. Eti, S.O.T. Ogaji, S.D. Probert, Reducing the cost of preventive main-
operational data with the academics. tenance (PM) through adopting a proactive reliability-focused culture,
Appl. Energy 83 (2006) 1235e1248.
These case studies would demonstrate the usefulness of the [5] W. Qingfeng, L. Wenbin, Z. Xin, Y. Jianfeng, Y. Qingbin, Development and
methods and could also be used by process engineers to learn application of equipment maintenance and safety integrity management
how to apply RAM principles in process design. system, J. Loss Prev. Process Ind. 24 (2011) 321e332.
[6] P.M. Herder, J.A. van Luijk, J. Bruijnooge, Industrial application of RAM
The importance of this study was the possibility to collaborate modeling Development and implementation of a RAM simulation model
with the company and to start a measurement campaign col- for the Lexans plant at GE Industrial, Plastics, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf. 93
lecting field data that will allow the prosecution of the research (2008) 501e508.
[7] M.A. Lundteigen, M. Rausand, I. Bouwer Utne, Integrating RAMS engi-
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Future research will be devoted to on-site measurements and Eng. Syst. Saf. 94 (2009) 1894e1903.
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duction systems, Adv. Prod. Eng. Manag. 7 (4) (2012) 245e254.
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