Maintenance and effectiveness

Retrospective validation invariably involves the verification of any existing documentation, and the generation of missing information/documentation. As the plant/process is existing, some of the documentation involved with the original site installation can be ignored, provided it does not contain information needed for operation or maintenance. Maintenance and effective records are the main considerations when deciding on whether a particular document is or is not required. 

First of all, an internal audit on one s own management system needs to be a solid and comprehensive approach in order to determine the effectiveness of management systems. Currently, the development shows an increased mismatch between the maturity of management systems and the stagnation of audit programs put in place to verify the system implementation, maintenance and effectiveness, thus not leading to any value-added auditing and even worse not to be able to address potential nonconformances. 

The XV ATCM (1989, Paris) represented a real turning point for the protection of the Antarctic environment. The parties, in Recommendation XV. 1 prompted their governments to undertake as a priority objective the further elaboration, maintenance and effective implementation of a comprehensive system for the protection of the Antarctic environment and its dependent and associated ecosystems aimed at ensuring that human activity does not have an adverse impact on the Antarctic environment and its dependent or associated ecosystems or compromise the scientific, aesthetic or wilderness values of Antarctica . The parties asked that a Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting be held in 1990 to explore and discuss proposals relating to the comprehensive protection of the Antarctic environment. 

Reevaluate the maintenance and effectiveness of the relevant engineering controls ... 

A) Periodicaiiy reassess The employee s work practices and personal hygiene the employee s respirator use, if any the employee s smoking history and status the respiratory protection program the hygiene facilities the maintenance and effectiveness of the relevant engineering controls and take all reasonable steps to correct the deficiencies found in the reassessment that may be responsible for the employee s excess exposure to cadmium. 

Portable fire-extinguishers are commonly found in workrooms, with a variety of types, colours, sizes and operating mechanisms. Selection of the most appropriate type of extinguisher is dictated largely by the type of fire anticipated, but other factors, such as ease of maintenance and effectiveness together with the general environmental conditions, need careful consideration. Whatever type of extinguisher is finally selected, conformation with the appropriate British Standard specification (e.g. BS 5423) is a further requirement. 

By analysing the scans, different types of tube characteristics, wastage patterns or profiles can be documented and effectively used to make immediate decisions during shut downs and in planning maintenance programs. 

TOF mass spectrometers are very robust and usable with a wide variety of ion sources and inlet systems. Having only simple electrostatic and no magnetic fields, their construction, maintenance, and calibration are usually straightforward. There is no upper theoretical mass limitation all ions can be made to proceed from source to detector. In practice, there is a mass limitation in that it becomes increasingly difficult to discriminate between times of arrival at the detector as the m/z value becomes large. This effect, coupled with the spread in arrival times for any one m/z value, means that discrimination between unit masses becomes difficult at about m/z 3000. At m/z 50,000, overlap of 50 mass units is more typical i.e., mass accuracy is no better than about 50-100 mass... 

If a faciHty is large enough to support an in-house maintenance department, management of such a department has the responsibiHty to assure that its maintenance and operation s program is at all times cost effective. The greatest benefit of an in-house maintenance department must be its spirit of ownership. Workers should be trained to have pride of ownership, and must be given the tools to maintain this pride. 

A.ccessibility. AccessibiUty means having sufficient working space around a component to diagnose, troubleshoot, and complete maintenance activities safely and effectively. 

Monitoring by Electromechanical Instrumentation. According to basic engineering principles, no process can be conducted safely and effectively unless instantaneous information is available about its conditions. AH sterilizers are equipped with gauges, sensors (qv), and timers for the measurement of the various critical process parameters. More and more sterilizers are equipped with computerized control to eliminate the possibiUty of human error. However, electromechanical instmmentation is subject to random breakdowns or drifts from caUbrated settings and requires regular preventive maintenance procedures. 

The freezing point of the coolant should be monitored for coolants in all types of service. Additionally, maintenance of the corrosion inhibitor levels is requited of the heavy-duty service coolants and the stationary engine coolants. Because corrosion inhibitors and combinations of corrosion inhibitors work most effectively at given concentrations and specific ratios to the other inhibitors, appropriate concentrations must be maintained to maximize corrosion protection. Many manufacturers of coolants for stationary engines, and manufacturers of SCAs, provide an analytical service to monitor the effective inhibitor concentrations in the system periodically. Recommendations can then be made for proper maintenance and inhibitor replenishment. 

In some liquid-phase processes, catalyst components are slowly leached from the catalyst bed and eventually the catalyst must be replaced. The feasibility of this type of process involves economics, ie, the costs of catalyst maintenance and keeping a unit out of service for catalyst replacement, and product quality and safety, ie, the effects of having catalyst components in the product and their ease of removal. 

Electrical heating is accomplished with resistance bauds or ribbons which must be electrically insulated from the machine body but in good thermal contact with it. The heaters must be carefully spaced to avoid a succession of hot and cold areas. Sometimes they are mounted in aluminum blocks shaped to conform to the container walls. Their effective temperature range is 150 to 500°C (about 300 to 930°F). Temperature control is precise, maintenance and supervision costs are low, and conversion of electrical energy to useful heat is almost 100 percent. The cost of electrical energy is usually large, however, and may be prohibitive. 

Running unbal- Preventive maintenance and operator checklist anced, vibration inspections due to worn bear-, effective vibration monitor/shutdown device ings or other mechanical problem such as product accumulation behind filter screen. ... 

Gas turbines, like other mechanical devices, require inspection, maintenance, and service. Maintenance costs include the combustion system, hot-gas path, and major inspections. (See Chapter 21.) The effect of fuel type on maintenance costs is shown in Table 12-8. A cost factor is shown using natural gas as unity. The cost of maintenance is subject to great variations. Recognizing the great difficulty in establishing expected maintenance costs... 

Combining the practice of preventive maintenance and total quality control and total employee involvement results in an innovative system for equipment maintenance that optimizes effectiveness, eliminates breakdowns, and promotes autonomous operator maintenance through day-to-day activities. This concept known as Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) was conceived by Seiichi Nakajima and is well-documented in his book Introduction of TPM and is highly recommended reading for all involved in the maintenance area. 

These six major steps require consideration of a) the occurrence frequency of fires, b) the physical effects of fires, and c) the response of the plant. Crucial is the plant response as it is affected by components damaged by fire, and by components unavailable for other re isons u-.e., random failures, maintenance, and fire-fighting activities). 

It is essential to practice good design of all open systems by adhering to set guidelines. A well-planned and effective maintenance program is of prime importance. 

Maintenance of records to demonstrate compliance with the prescribed regulations and effective operation of the management system... 

The standard requires suitable maintenance of equipment to ensure continuing process capability and to identity keg processes and provide appropriate resources for machine/equipment maintenance and develop an effective planned total preventive maintenance system. 

Simulation models aim to replicate the workings and logic of a real system by using statistical descriptions of the activities involved. For example, a line may run at an average rate of 1000 units per hour. If we assume that this is always the case, we lose the understanding of what happens when, say, there is a breakdown or a halt for routine maintenance. The effect of such a delay may be amplified (or absorbed) when we consider the effect on downstream units. 

The plates are grouped into passes with each fluid being directed evenly between the paralleled passages in each pass. Whenever the thermal duty permits, it is desirable to use single-pass, counterflow (Figure 26.1) for an extremely efficient performance. Since the flow is purely counterflow, correction factors required on the LMTD approach unity. With all connections on the head of the unit, the follower is free for very quick access to cleaning and maintenance. The effect of multi-pass operation will be discussed later in this chapter. 

In this method each year s savings need to take account of the fact that, as the equipment gets older, the cost of maintenance and repairs is likely to increase. The effect of inflation can also be allowed for in assuming the annual cash flows through the life of the equipment. 

This chapter should be sufficient to guide the engineer or manager through the initial stages of introducing a sound and effective planned maintenance system. However, as in any establishment - production, administration or (as in this case) engineering - without the commitment and... 

Recent surveys of maintenance management effectiveness indicate that one-third, 33 cents out of every dollar, of all maintenance costs is wasted as the result of unnecessary or improperly carried out maintenance. When you consider that US industry spends more than 200 billion dollars each year on maintenance of plant equipment and facilities, the impact on productivity and profit that is represented by the maintenance operation become clear. 

On the other hand, the Hoar Committee s estimate for the UK did not include some significant factors, and some costs that were considered have increased in real terms since the estimates were made. Larger plants and structures are more common, and even when there is no increase in size more intensive use of equipment is demanded. As a result, the real cost of downtime or unavailability, and of dislocation to users of, for example, motorway viaducts while repairs are made, have increased appreciably. Moreover, maintenance and rectification are labour intensive activities, and hence particularly susceptible to the effects of inflation. The increases probably outweigh the savings mentioned, and the current cost of corrosion in the UK is probably around 4% of GNP. As future savings depend on the improvement being maintained despite pressures to reduce first costs, a sound economic approach to corrosion is no less important than it was in 1970. 

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