A turnaround (TAR) is a scheduled event wherein an entire process unit of an industrial plant, such as a refinery, petrochemical plant, power plant, paper mill, is taken offstream for an extended period for work to be carried out. Turnaround is a blanket term that encompasses more specific terms such as I&Ts (inspection and testing), and maintenance. Turnaround can also be used as a synonym of downtime.
Related terms are shutdowns, and outages [1] sometimes written as Turnarounds, Shutdowns, and Outages (TSO). [2]
Turnarounds are expensive, both in terms of lost production while the process unit is offline and in terms of direct costs for the labour, tools, heavy equipment and materials used to execute the project. They are the most significant portion of an industrial plant's yearly maintenance budget and can affect the company's bottom line if mismanaged. [3] Turnarounds have unique project management characteristics. [4]
The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installations. Over time, this has come to include multiple wordings that describe various cost-effective practices to keep equipment operational; these activities occur either before or after a failure.
Nondestructive testing (NDT) is any of a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and technology industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage. The terms nondestructive examination (NDE), nondestructive inspection (NDI), and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) are also commonly used to describe this technology. Because NDT does not permanently alter the article being inspected, it is a highly valuable technique that can save both money and time in product evaluation, troubleshooting, and research. The six most frequently used NDT methods are eddy-current, magnetic-particle, liquid penetrant, radiographic, ultrasonic, and visual testing. NDT is commonly used in forensic engineering, mechanical engineering, petroleum engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, systems engineering, aeronautical engineering, medicine, and art. Innovations in the field of nondestructive testing have had a profound impact on medical imaging, including on echocardiography, medical ultrasonography, and digital radiography.
A mission critical factor of a system is any factor that is essential to business operation or to an organization. Failure or disruption of mission critical factors will result in serious impact on business operations or upon an organization, and even can cause social turmoil and catastrophes.
Continuous production is a flow production method used to manufacture, produce, or process materials without interruption. Continuous production is called a continuous process or a continuous flow process because the materials, either dry bulk or fluids that are being processed are continuously in motion, undergoing chemical reactions or subject to mechanical or heat treatment. Continuous processing is contrasted with batch production.
A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transformation and or separation of materials. Chemical plants use specialized equipment, units, and technology in the manufacturing process. Other kinds of plants, such as polymer, pharmaceutical, food, and some beverage production facilities, power plants, oil refineries or other refineries, natural gas processing and biochemical plants, water and wastewater treatment, and pollution control equipment use many technologies that have similarities to chemical plant technology such as fluid systems and chemical reactor systems. Some would consider an oil refinery or a pharmaceutical or polymer manufacturer to be effectively a chemical plant.
The Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station is an American nuclear power plant that is located 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Harrisburg in Peach Bottom Township, York County, Pennsylvania. Situated close to the Susquehanna River, it is three miles north of the Maryland border.
The Advanced CANDU reactor (ACR), or ACR-1000, was a proposed Generation III+ nuclear reactor design, developed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). It combined features of the existing CANDU pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) with features of light-water cooled pressurized water reactors (PWR). From CANDU, it took the heavy water moderator, which gave the design an improved neutron economy that allowed it to burn a variety of fuels. It replaced the heavy water cooling loop with one containing conventional light water, reducing costs. The name refers to its design power in the 1,000 MWe class, with the baseline around 1,200 MWe.
Condition monitoring is the process of monitoring a parameter of condition in machinery, in order to identify a significant change which is indicative of a developing fault. It is a major component of predictive maintenance. The use of condition monitoring allows maintenance to be scheduled, or other actions to be taken to prevent consequential damages and avoid its consequences. Condition monitoring has a unique benefit in that conditions that would shorten normal lifespan can be addressed before they develop into a major failure. Condition monitoring techniques are normally used on rotating equipment, auxiliary systems and other machinery like belt-driven equipment,, while periodic inspection using non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques and fit for service (FFS) evaluation are used for static plant equipment such as steam boilers, piping and heat exchangers.
Predictive maintenance techniques are designed to help determine the condition of in-service equipment in order to estimate when maintenance should be performed. This approach promises cost savings over routine or time-based preventive maintenance, because tasks are performed only when warranted. Thus, it is regarded as condition-based maintenance carried out as suggested by estimations of the degradation state of an item.
The availability factor of a power plant is the amount of time that it is able to produce electricity over a certain period, divided by the amount of the time in the period. Occasions where only partial capacity is available may or may not be deducted. Where they are deducted, the metric is titled equivalent availability factor (EAF). The availability factor should not be confused with the capacity factor. The capacity factor for a given period can never exceed the availability factor for the same period. The difference arises when the plant is run at less than full capacity, in which case the capacity factor is less than the availability factor.
Risk Based Inspection (RBI) is an Optimal maintenance business process used to examine equipment such as pressure vessels, (QOC) quick opening closure - doors, heat exchangers, and piping in industrial plants. RBI is a decision-making methodology for optimizing inspection plans. The RBI concept lies in that the risk of failure can be assessed in relation to a level that is acceptable, and inspection and repair used to ensure that the level of risk is below that acceptance limit. It examines the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) and business risk of ‘active’ and ‘potential’ Damage Mechanisms (DMs) to assess and rank failure probability and consequence. This ranking is used to optimize inspection intervals based on site-acceptable risk levels and operating limits, while mitigating risks as appropriate. RBI analysis can be qualitative, quantitative or semi-quantitative in nature.
National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking and the largest government-owned-Urea fertilizer-producer in India as of 2022. It is a Miniratna (Cat-1) company, with the Government of India owning a majority stake.
The term downtime is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable.
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) was constituted on 15 November 1983 by the President of India by exercising the powers conferred by Section 27 of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to carry out certain regulatory and safety functions under the Act. The regulatory authority of AERB is derived from the rules and notifications promulgated under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986. The headquarters is in Mumbai.
Altrad Babcock Ltd is part of Altrad.
Project commissioning is the process of assuring that all systems and components of a building or industrial plant are designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained according to the operational requirements of the owner or final client. A commissioning process may be applied not only to new projects but also to existing units and systems subject to expansion, renovation or revamping.
Technical Integrity Engineering is a term applied to the engineering disciplines associated with the design, assurance, and verification functions that ensure a product, process, or system meets its appropriate and intended requirements under stated operating conditions. Application of these disciplines minimizes the cost, schedule, technical, and legal risks of a program and improves the overall life cycle cost.
Sierra Army Depot (SIAD) is a United States Army post and military equipment storage facility located near the unincorporated community of Herlong, California. It was built in 1942 as one of several ammunition storage facilities located far enough inland to be safe from Japanese attack, yet close enough to western military posts and ports to facilitate shipment of supplies. The site also met the requirement that the depot be in a dry and isolated area.
A spare part, spare, service part, repair part, or replacement part, is an interchangeable part that is kept in an inventory and used for the repair or refurbishment of defective equipment/units. Spare parts are an important feature of logistics engineering and supply chain management, often comprising dedicated spare parts management systems.
SAFSTOR is a nuclear decommissioning method in which a nuclear power plant or facility governed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is "placed and maintained in a condition that allows the facility to be safely stored and subsequently decontaminated to levels that permit release for unrestricted use".