Hosted By: Inspectioneering and Becht
Dates: January 22, 2025
Maintenance is the practice of protecting or restoring equipment in order to maintain function and integrity. As a critical component of an asset integrity management (AIM) program, maintenance engineers and technicians dedicate time to developing and implementing maintenance strategies that optimize production and use cost-effective maintenance techniques.
Typical maintenance techniques include cleaning, inspection, lubrication, testing, replacing, and/or repairing components. Furthermore, the responsibilities of a maintenance engineer may be predictive or preventive. The fundamental difference between predictive and preventive maintenance is that predictive maintenance is a continuous process based on the current condition of equipment whereas preventive maintenance is performed in scheduled intervals based on the age and remaining life of a piece of equipment.
Preventive maintenance depends on the probability of failure and the consequences of a potential failure. The frequency of inspection and maintenance is based on the probability and consequences of failure.
Typically, preventive maintenance is planned and requires engineers and technicians to review past and current inspection and maintenance data in order to predict damage that may result in failure. The purpose is to eliminate unnecessary inspection and repair tasks and reduce maintenance costs. Examples of preventive maintenance may include simple tasks such as cleaning, tightening bolts, changing oil, or lubricating equipment or added parts such as filters to separate dirt and other impurities from contaminating products.
The purpose of predictive maintenance is to prevent unscheduled shutdowns by predicting damage and failures before they occur. This can be done through inspection methods or utilizing sensors to collect data and measure the current condition of equipment during operation. For this reason, predictive maintenance is sometimes called condition-based monitoring. Although installing predictive maintenance measures can be costly, the result of such an investment shows an overall reduction in maintenance costs and facility downtime.
Corrective maintenance is performed on equipment in order to restore a failing piece of equipment back to its operating conditions. Here, it’s important that if maintenance technicians need to replace a component, that they follow specifications and if possible, replace components with original equipment manufacturers. Example of corrective maintenance repairs include welding, sealing, adjusting fixtures, etc.
Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) is a framework that ensures that preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance tasks are practiced in an efficient, reliable, and safe manner. The benefits of a well organized RCM framework include maintaining the integrity of components, extending the life of equipment, and eliminating unplanned shutdowns.
RCM programs are unique to every company. However, there are several critical factors to consider.
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Bharat Petroleum Corp plans to restart a 200,000 barrels per day crude unit at its 310,000 bpd Kochi refinery in southern India by end of this month after a three-week maintenance shutdown, its head of refineries said.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc stopped a leak on Tuesday in the shut gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 318,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) joint venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.
U.S. refineries have sustained fewer mechanical outages as production has fallen because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, according to data from energy intelligence service Industrial Info Resources.
Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex in western Gujarat, will shut one of its crude refining units at its export-focused plant in the fourth week of July for 3-4 weeks of maintenance.
Marathon Petroleum Corp plans to finish a multi-unit overhaul in late July at its 585,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, said sources familiar with plant operations.
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U.S. refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp is delaying all maintenance projects at its 102,000 barrel-per-day St. Paul Park, Minnesota, refinery for 2020, a source familiar with the matter said, amid concerns related to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The cost of overhauling a long-idled Caribbean oil refinery has nearly doubled to about $2.7 billion, said people familiar with the matter, as it prepares to start commercial operations amid an oversupplied fuel market.
Marathon Petroleum Corp has shut the hydrocracker and alkylation unit at its 585,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas as part of a multi-unit overhaul, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has begun a gradual restart of its Ruwais oil refinery complex after a scheduled maintenance shutdown.
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Kuibyshev oil refinery, owned by Russian energy giant Rosneft, has halted operations for maintenance from April 15 until June 1, according to Refinitiv Eikon data citing the energy ministry.
Shell plans to start large-scale maintenance of its Pernis refinery in the Netherlands in mid-April, more than two weeks earlier than previously planned.
Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp plans to operate its refinery at a reduced rate after completing maintenance at some units later this month amid weak margins, its company spokesman said on Monday.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Husky Energy has elected to suspend rebuilding its oil refinery in Superior, Wisconsin, that was damaged by an explosion and fire two years ago, the company announced Tuesday.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and the related exceptional and extensive measures, the implementation of the major turnaround 2020 of the Porvoo refinery as originally planned has been delayed.
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Lyondell Basell Industries said maintenance operations were staffed at its Houston refinery to assure safety and reliability.
Shell has shut a coker at the company's 225,300 bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery for planned maintenance on the unit’s furnaces, according to sources familiar with plant operations.
Shell has restarted a catalytic reformer at its 211,270 bpd refinery in Convent, Louisiana after repairing damage caused by a fire on February 16th.
Lyondell Basell Industries restarted a large crude distillation unit at its 263,776 barrel-per-day (bpd) Houston refinery last Thursday after the unit had been shut the week prior for maintenance.
Motiva Enterprises plans to finish shutting down the gasoline-producing unit at its 607,000 barrel-perday (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday to begin a planned overhaul of the unit, sources familiar with plant operations said.
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On Monday, Exxon Mobil Corp began restarting the large crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 369,024 barrel-per-day (bpd) Beaumont, Texas, refinery.
Vietnam’s $9 billion Nghi Son refinery will be fully operational this week following a shutdown in late October for major maintenance work.
Saudi refiner SASREF, owned by state oil giant Saudi Aramco, said two contractors had died and two more were injured in “an incident” during maintenance work on Sunday, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
Husky Energy has received the required permit approvals to begin reconstruction activities at its damaged Superior Refinery. The rebuild will take place over the next two years with an expected return to full operations in 2021.
BP Plc began a planned overhaul on Wednesday of the small gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) at its 430,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery
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Total plans to return the 66,000 bpd Diesel Hydrotreater 3, which was shut on Aug. 20, to production later on Monday, sources said. Total has repeatedly pushed back the restart date as repairs have taken longer than expected to complete.
Dow recently announced it will retrofit proprietary fluidized catalytic dehydrogenation (FCDh) technology into one of its mixed-feed crackers in Plaquemine, Louisiana, to produce on-purpose propylene.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc will begin restarting units at its Norco, Louisiana chemical and refining facilities this week following overhauls.
Motiva Enterprises returned two crude distillation units (CDUs) back to normal operations at its 607,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery over the weekend.
Motiva Enterprises plans to shut the big crude distillation unit (CDU) at its 607,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, the nation’s largest, by Sept. 5 for a 60-day overhaul, said sources familiar with plant operations.
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Valero Energy Corp shut a hydrocracking unit (HCU) and sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at its 335,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery on Monday.
The government of Aruba said on Monday it will form an advisory committee to decide the future of a 209,000-barrel-per-day refinery that remains idled amid sanctions on operator Citgo Petroleum’s parent company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
United Rentals' charity sporting clays tournament raises $20,000 for local veterans organization Fisher House.
U.S. oil refiners are planning a heavy slate of plant overhauls in the second quarter, with total production this month off 8.5 percent compared with the start of the year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
India’s Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd plans to shut a 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude unit and some secondary units for maintenance from mid-April for about a month, a company source said.
Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp will raise the throughput at its crude oil refinery from the second-half of April after finishing maintenance at a crude unit, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.
Ecuador will launch an international bidding round for the construction of a new 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery and making upgrades to the 110,000 bpd Esmeraldas Refinery.
Aruba will resume a refurbishment project at a 209,000 barrel-per-day refinery operated by a unit of Citgo Petroleum Corp, the island’s prime minister said on Sunday, after a change to U.S. sanctions on Citgo parent PDVSA last week.
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A planned overhaul of the second-largest crude distillation unit at Exxon Mobil Corp’s 502,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery is expected to continue for at least five weeks.
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The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released an animation detailing the events leading up to the February 8, 2017 explosion at the Packaging Corporation of America's DeRidder, Louisiana, pulp and paper mill. The incident killed three contract...
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released its annual list of the 10 most frequently cited safety and health violations. In 2017 Fall Protection, Hazard Communication, and Scaffolding once again...
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a new 8-minute safety video describing the events leading to the November 22, 2016 fire at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery, which severely burned four workers. The video, entitled "Fire in Baton...
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board has released a new safety bulletin covering the November 22, 2016 fire that severely burned four workers at the ExxonMobil refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a 3-minute animation describing the events leading to the November 22, 2016 fire at ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge refinery, which severely burned four workers.
Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Judith G. Garber has issued Presidential permits for three NuStar Logistics, L.P. pipelines.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released its findings and a safety bulletin entitled "Key Lessons for Preventing Incidents when Preparing Process Equipment for Maintenance" resulting from the 2015 hydrocarbon release and fire that injured...
Federal investigators found multiple safety violations at a South Dakota ethanol refinery expansion project after a pipefitter suffered fatal burns when ethanol spilled from a process pipe and was ignited by flames from nearby welding operations.
An investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of an incident that injured seven workers – including three critically – that occurred Friday August 12 at the Sunoco Logistics Partners, a terminal...
The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released its draft investigation report into the 2009 massive explosion at the Caribbean Petroleum, or CAPECO, terminal facility near San Juan, Puerto Rico.