Neil Wragg, GL Noble Denton
Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) studies are typically used to assess production capabilities of process systems under stable conditions, such as constant failure rates, continuous operation, with failure data often excluding “catastrophic” type events. However, as with all aspects of the oil & gas industry, these boundaries need to pushed, and the “edge effects” need to be explored.
This paper describes how GL Noble Denton have used their OPTAGONTM software to consider the implications of early life type failures which display a decelerating failure rate, the impacts of running short cycle times on underground gas storage facilities, and the problems associated with certain high impact, low probability failures, which extend beyond a single injection or withdrawal cycle.
The paper details the pros & cons of various sparing & spares holding philosophies, and gives insight into the areas that will benefit most broadly from de-bottlenecking programmes.
A case study, from GL Noble Denton’s RAM portfolio, will be explored to demonstrate the benefits of using the OPTAGON software package for such a RAM study. The case study will be based on an underground gas storage facility, using a salt cavern to store nitrogen for seasonal ballasting into a natural gas distribution network.
Order your copy of the The GPSA Engineering Databook. The 14th edition is almost 1,000 pages of technical information and is the worldwide authoritative resource for technical and design information.
Talk to us about our Advertising options. We publish our bi-annual magazine and send out regular newsletters too.
Our conferences provide a direct marketing channel to Directors and Process Engineers within the natural gas processing industry. You can meet and engage with around 100-member companies, all in one place. Click here to view our Sponsorship Opportunities.
