Page 175 - CW E-Magazine (2-7-2024)

Special Report

Asset integrity management in process industry

by corrosion monitoring

Introduction Invariably, they don’t get proper budget DR. S.K. CHAKRAVORTY
ncreased costs of raw materials, allocation to improve productivity and Consultant (Plant Engineering)
energy and labour are compelling profi tability.
Icompanies to focus on operational Email: chakravorty4410@gmail.com
effi ciencies and reliability of process For maximizing ROI on assets, mizing plant utilisation leads to 8%
plants. Single stream, large scale conti- the capacity utilisation has to be rise in profi t.
nuous process plants, installed for maximized at minimum cost. A survey  Cost of unnecessary asset mainte-

minimizing project cost and maximiz- conducted by National Productivity nance equals plant profi t.
ing capital productivity, have onerous Council indicated that capacity  60% of plant maintenance is unneces-

conditions of high speed, temperature utilisation of assets in process indus- sary.
and pressure, and are highly auto- try is about 70% only and the main  Energy cost can be reduced about

mated and complex in nature. There- reason for this is poor availability of 20% by optimal maintenance of
fore, asset integrity management is assets, which was found to be only process plants assets.
necessary. 75%, against the world benchmark
of 98%. Asset availability can be Signifi cance of corrosion control in
Asset integrity – a neglected optimised by increasing inherent asset integrity management
management function reliabi-lity at the design stage and Due to corrosion of assets, huge
Asset integrity has been, and still is increasing operational reliability. economic losses are encountered.
a neglected function. Today, in most in- These losses can be direct or indirect.
dustries, the maintenance department is Asset integrity management cost and
considered a cost centre than a founda- its effect on profi tability in process Direct losses are incurred due to
tion of manufacturing processes. Main- industry material loss (thinning) and localised
tenance people are rarely involved in The direct cost of asset manage- defects developed in assets (pin holes,
process improvement. Production ment in process industry is about 18% cracks, loosening of joints, etc.). The
people think they add value, whereas of total manufacturing costs and annual assets become useless and unsafe and
production targets are often not met due to asset maintenance expenditure as a per- can no longer productive. They need
poor maintenance/asset upkeep done by centage of annual capital investment in to be replaced or refurbished, incurring
maintenance crew. Maintenance/asset chemical industry is about 78%. Asset capital expenditure. Some studies
management is carried out only when maintenance cost as a percentage of reveal that direct expenditure due to
breakdown takes place, in a reactive Equipment Replacement Value (ERV) corrosion of assets is to the tune of
manner. Asset management policies are is about 4-5%. The downtime cost is about 4.2% of GDP. The signifi cance
made based on legislation/regulatory very high in single stream continuous of direct cost of corrosion of assets is
standards, vendor recommendation, or process plants – of the order of about evident from the following facts:
previous practices and inherited legacy. Rs. 1-crore per day.  One tonne of steel turns into rust
New technology and advanced mainte- every 90 seconds.
nance tools are not applied, due to lack The infl uence of asset management  On average 40% of steel produced

of data regarding return on investment on profi tability can be seen from the is used to replace rusted steel every
(ROI), lack of training about new tech- following: year.
nology and awareness about the cost/  Asset maintenance budget can be  Energy needed to make one tonne

benefi t ratios, etc. Proper asset mainte- typically 2/3rd of annual net profi t. of steel is equal to energy consumed
nance documentation and performance  About $400-bn is spent on asset by a family in three months.

evaluation systems are not established. maintenance annually.
People responsible for asset manage-  One plant shutdown can eliminate a It has been reported that 50% of
ment lack in knowledge of engineer- year’s profi tability. direct cost of corrosion can be reduced by
ing economics and cannot convince top  Reducing unscheduled downtime implementing asset integrity manage-

management regarding adoption of new increases production by 5%, lead- ment through corrosion control, moni-
technology and management systems. ing to 40% increase in profi t. Maxi- toring and management. And Re. 1

Chemical Weekly July 2, 2024 175

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