MechanicalIntegrityIntroductionAcementplanthasvariousstagesinitslifecycle.Whateverstageaplantisat,itcanbedemonstratedthatcompletingamechanicalintegrityandreliabilityauditcanhavesignificantbenefitswhenengagingwithanexperiencedauditorwhoprovidesfreshobservations.AtypicalassetlifecycleisdisplayedwithinFigure1,whichillustratesthat,whenconsideringtheconditionofanasset,decisionsarerequiredonacyclicbasisabouthowbesttomaintainandoperatethatasset.Equipmentcouldbepatched,repairedorreconditioned,orcomponentsmayneedtobechanged.Thiscanbelookedatintermsofminorormajoritems,dependingonthetimeandcosttomaketherepairs.Areasofequipmentthatarerepeatedlyfailingcanbedesignedoutornewtechnologycanbeintroducedtotrytostopdisruptionstoplannedkilncampaigns.Dependingontheavailabilityofrawmaterialsandmarketconditions,itisoftenpossibleforclinkerproductiontobeincreased–utilisingtheoriginalequipmentdesignasmuchaspossible–byundertakingade-bottleneckingstudy.Thescopetodothiscanalsobebasedonhowconservativetheoriginaldesignstandardswereandwhatsafetymarginswereincorporatedinorderfortheoriginalequipmenttomeetcontractualperformanceguarantees.Eventually,though,allcementplantswillendupatthedisposalstage,whichcanbeforavarietyofreasons.However,thereisaconsiderablemarketforsecondhandequipmentinthesector,soitwouldnotbeunusualtoseetheclosureofacementplant,withsomeequipmentbeingdismantledandinstalledatanotherlocationandcontinuingitsoperatinglifecyclethere.Whatisamechanicalintegrityandreliabilityaudit?Mechanicalintegritywithinthecementindustrycanbedefinedastheprocessofensuringthatequipmentisfabricatedfromtherightmaterialsandisproperlyinstalled,maintainedandreplacedtopreventunplannedfailures.Therefore,ifaplantmanagementteamistoachievetheabove,theentirelifecycleofanassethastobeassessed,which&ReliabilityAuditinvolvesunderstandingthedesignconceptsanddesignlifeoftheoriginalequipmentthatwasinstalled.Areliabilityauditwithinthecementindustrycanbedefinedasacomparisonbetweentheexistingcementplantreliabilityperformanceandthetargetedreliabilityrequirementsfromwithinthebusinessplan.Thereliabilityrequirementsarethestandardstobeusedinareliabilityaudittoassessacementplant’sperformance.Thedifferencebetweenexistingperformanceandthereliabilityrequirementsisthe‘gap’.Agoodreliabilityauditreportshowsacementplant’sgapsandprovidessolutionstobridgethosegaps.Areliabilityreviewwouldnotbeconsideredthesameasanaudit,themaindifferencebeingthatareliabilityaudithasastandardorsetofrequirementstomeasureexistingreliabilityperformanceagainst.ThetermauditstemsfromtheLatinword‘audire’,whichmeansto‘hear’.Thisisaveryimportantaspectofaskilledauditor’srole:toaskquestionsandthenlistentotheanswersandexplanationsforacementplant’sexistingreliabilityperformance.Whycombinemechanicalintegrityandreliabilitytogetheraspartofthesameaudit?Withoutfocusingandunderstandingthedesignstandardsacementplantwasoriginallybuilttoatthebeginningofitsoperatinglife,manyissuesareoverlookedlateronwhenreviewingaplant’sreliabilityperformanceandthedecisionstreeofwhethertorepairorreplacecomponents.Therefore,assessingthemechanicalintegrityofequipmentisanessentialfoundationforimprovingreliabilityperformance.Foritemssuchaspressurevessels,inspectionsaremandatory.However,formuchoftheequipmentthatmakesupacementplant,therearenosuchcompulsoryinspections.Aspartofareliabilityaudit,strategie...
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