Optimizing rotating equipment maintenance management in Nigerian refineries

Abstract

Nigeria ranks among notable global exporters of crude oil. However, the refineries positioned for providing finished petroleum products have not met this obligation. Plant reliability is a major crisis amidst rising demands for petroleum products. Rotating equipment availability, a critical constituent of a petrochemical plant, is vital to ensuring refinery reliability. The aim of this research is to: 1. Investigate and identify the causes of rotating equipment failures in Nigerian refineries while also identifying shortcomings in the implementation of current maintenance procedures. 2. Propose a procedure to Manage Rotating Equipment Maintenance Strategy (MREMS) in the Nigerian refineries. 3. Develop a new Internal Job Card system for the rotating equipment maintenance departments of the Nigerian refineries. 4. Propose a model Framework and Approach for Training and People Development (FATPD) amongst other recommendations to optimize rotating equipment maintenance management in the Nigerian refineries. The research evolved around a case study of four (4) petrochemical industries. This was embarked upon to present empirical data on rotating equipment maintenance management practices. Also, survey questionnaires and interviews were adopted to complement data gathering. The research presents five (5) core empirical findings. Firstly, minimal maintenance activity takes place outside scheduled turn around maintenance leading to excessive corrective maintenance actions in Nigerian refineries. Secondly, job card system in the rotating departments of the Nigerian refineries is not efficient. Thirdly, core skill and competence of bottom level maintenance workforce was discovered to be inadequate. Fourthly, computer maintenance management system or computer support structures to optimize rotating equipment maintenance in Nigerian refineries have little or zero presence. Lastly, rotating equipment maintenance management practices in Sasol proves rewarding with the integration of condition monitoring into maintenance program. Computer supports have also been vital to achieving commendable equipment availability. Management commitment, driven by customer focus, ensures that plant reliability is restored on schedule. A procedure to Manage Rotating Equipment Maintenance Strategy (MREMS) was developed for the Nigerian refineries. This is expected to tackle the issue of low availability of rotating equipment maintenance and also assist maintenance personnel to review or evolve a more specific equipment maintenance strategy based on reliability-centred maintenance principle of condition-based maintenance. A new Internal Job card is also presented in this dissertation. It would also serve to support the MREMS procedure. The proposed Framework and Approach for Training and People Development (FATDP) have a huge potential to address skills and competency deficiencies, particularly, for bottom level maintenance personnel at the Nigerian refineries. Recommendations on the adoption and implementation of MREMS procedure, Internal Job card and FATDP were also presented in this dissertation.