Predictive Maintenance (PdM) Integration For Electrical Distribution Safety And Reliability

Smith, Dale P. (Predictive Service)

OnePetro 

Introduction Electricity and its uninterrupted and clean distribution through our nation, facilities and lives are inescapable requirements and the backbone of progress in today's society. The resurgence of U.S. commerce is not possible without it. Safe and reliable electrical distribution systems typically start out as being well engineered with bright futures provided they receive regular, adequate maintenance and periodic testing. Over time, electrical infrastructure changes, facilities expand, load requirements increase and equipment becomes degraded with age or lack of maintenance. It's not uncommon to find functioning electrical distribution equipment that hasn't been maintained and tested, is obsolete, or is well beyond its design service life. Electrical systems that were appropriate for the loads and incoming power when they were installed may now expose employees to life-threatening hazards. Often, there is no indication of a potential problem until a fault occurs and the overcurrent protective device fails to operate, resulting in injury or damage to equipment and property. U.S., Canadian and EU authorities regularly track and report on hundreds of electrically caused facility fires, explosions, injuries and deaths all caused by poorly implemented and reactive "layers of protection." Safety, maintenance and reliability professionals can proactively change this scenario and enhance these protections and sustainability of their electrical systems by deploying an integrated condition monitoring strategy with predictive maintenance (PdM) technologies. The unlimited potential and stakeholder buy in for reliability-based safety programs is unleashed once this condition monitoring data is centralized and users have access to a dashboard of analysis tools highlighting safety, reliability and ROI information. The paper is broken down into the following sections:Just a Few Numbers Layers of Protection (LOP) Failure / Hazard Recognition Condition Monitoring with PdM Tool Box Facility Survey High Points The Big Close Just a Few Numbers Reviews of insurance/risk statistics and every day media headlines remind us of the extreme failures and unfortunate circumstances caused by the mismanagement of electrical distribution systems. For example:FM Global statistics identify that between 1992 and 2001 electricity was leading cause of fires and explosions causing nearly 1,400 insurance losses. Total gross loss caused due to electrical fires and explosions was approx $788MM.1 ($950MM in 2008) Zurich Insurance Risk Engineering reports that 25–30% of all large loss fires are caused by electrical failures. Using NFPA's 2007 Large Loss figures (properties), this is estimated to have had an impact of $127MM. Canada's Ministry of Labor (MOL) reviewed a decade of electrical incident records to find that 50% of the 1,200 electrocution deaths and critical and minor arc flash injuries came from performing basic maintenance and repair on or around energized equipment. An interesting statistic is that 79% of the fatalities involved occupations outside of traditional role of electricians. These included maintenance workers, millwrights, apprentices, laborers, heat, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technicians, equipment operators, supervisors and drivers."

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