Integrating Reliability, Availability
& Maintainability (RAM) in
Conceptual Process Design
An Optimization Approach
By Harish Goel
September 2004
Delft University Press
ISBN: 9040725020
144 pages, Illustrated, 6 ½" x 9 ½"
$59.50 Paper Original
This is a Ph.D. dissertation. In the present business environment, where profit margins are becoming slimmer and competition is increasing, the attention of the industry leaders has turned to the reliability engineering paradigm to find ways of saving costs savings and revenue improvement opportunities.
According to a recent market forecast, total hydrocarbon processing industry maintenance spending in 2003 is forecasted to reach $44.9 billion of which $11.4 in the United States alone, and the majority on the Gulf Coast. Spending for equipment and materials represents 40% of the maintenance budget and will reach almost $18 billion in 2003.
Labor costs account for the other 60% (almost $27 billion) of the maintenance budget. Although significant these figures do not include the cost of interruption due to unplanned failures. It is generally observed that the revenue lost due to unexpected shutdowns of plant can range from $500-$1,000,000 per hour. For refineries the cost of unplanned shutdowns could come to millions of dollars per day.
Contents include: Introduction, RAM in process design: a literature review, Integrating reliability optimization in process design/synthesis, Optimal reliable retrofit design of multiproduct batch plants, Reliability and maintainability in process design: multipurpose plants, Reliability and maintainability in process design: continuous plants, Conclusions.
Chemical Engineering
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