M. Aughenbaugh, Swagelok, Aurora, Ohio (U.S.)
Facility operators who work in chemical plants or refineries must occasionally perform a plant turnaround. Often, these major undertakings involve using hundreds of technicians from multiple vendors and require juggling multiple aspects of plant management at once. Most turnarounds require the maintenance of some systems, the revamping of others, and sometimes a complete renewal of the plant’s industrial fluid systems (FIG. 1).
Plant turnarounds cannot occur without taking some systems offline for periods of time, so ensuring turnarounds are conducted efficiently is critical to the overall financial health of the facility. The longer a turnaround takes, the longer contractors will be onsite, and the resulting costs and risks of having non-employees in the facility for extended periods are not optimal. Planning for an effective turnaround sometimes takes years and consumes significant resources from the organization. If these plant turnarounds are not managed properly, they can cause significant damage to a facility’s profitability.
However, seven best practices that should be kept in mind for successful plant turnaround management are discussed in the following sections.
#1. Onboard your trusted suppliers as early as possible. As discussed, most turnarounds are years in the making, and for good reason. It is important that your suppliers understand your objectives from the beginning and can support you throughout the process.
At various times during your turnaround, you will need vital parts to be available. Provide your critical parts and service suppliers with an overall timeline and ensure they can meet the deadlines. Industrial fluid systems are often complex and need well-built parts, as well as a provider who can offer proper services and solutions to keep the system operating at peak performance. Sometimes, system conditions demand highly specific alloys. Account for lead times for highly engineered components because they are often more challenging to obtain on short notice. Adequate preparation can be the difference between turnaround success or failure.
#2. Streamline and upgrade your systems. Although not the priority during a turnaround, it is an excellent time to evaluate whether your systems work efficiently and effectively. Not only can you restore existing systems to optimal working condition, but you can also use the time to improve system reliability.
Plant operators must plan these improvements beforehand because they typically need approval before the engineering drawings are finalized, and well in advance due to management of change (MoC) requirements. Once again, it can be advantageous to discuss these improvements with crucial component suppliers because they often can provide expert analysis of your challenges and make recommendations about how best to address them.
For example, it may make sense to use pre-engineered and preassembled grab sampling panels to replace older sampling elements in the system. Making this change does not fundamentally alter the system’s design, but makes it easier to draw proper samples for evaluation.
#3. Anticipate potential challenges. Entering a turnaround with an understanding that variables and contingencies will occur throughout the process can provide for a more efficient project.
Since turnarounds often involve multiple systems at a time, knowing exactly which parts you will need at any given time is practically impossible. It would take extraordinary foresight to know how many hoses, valves and adapters are necessary at the beginning of the project. That is why savvy operators stock a variety of those components before the project starts. Having the basics on hand can save time by preventing unnecessary delays. Waiting until you need a part to place the order can quickly derail even the most well-planned turnaround.
However, a balance must be found. Ordering too many basic components can leave you with stranded assets and unused inventory. Working with the right suppliers will allow you to stock some parts on a temporary or consignment basis during facility turnarounds. This ensures the right parts are always available while only paying for the parts that are used (FIG. 2).
#4. Identify suppliers that offer support in your region. In instances when even your best planning goes awry and you need a part you do not have on hand, your supplier should be able to provide those parts in a timely manner with localized support and delivery. Keeping your project on track when the unexpected happens means using suppliers with global reach and local expertise.
#5. Ensure proper installation of critical parts. Hundreds of workers from different companies may be onsite at any given time, which can make quality control for component installations haphazard. There is no room for inconsistency during a turnaround. Less-experienced technicians may adhere to the current system layout, even if it does not make sense practically. For example, poorly routed tubes may risk vibration fatigue.
Where an experienced technician may recognize routing is a problem and reroute the tubes to avoid unnecessary vibration, a less-experienced technician may simply replace the parts in the current configuration. Inexperienced technicians may also inadvertently use the wrong tools during installation, which risks damaging components and prevents the systems from operating at peak performance later on.
It is nearly impossible to ensure all technicians have the same level of expertise, but there are steps you can take to mitigate the effects of those knowledge gaps. Consider requiring training and certifications for all companies helping with the turnaround. Setting specific standards ensures everyone working in your facility has some baseline understanding of how to recognize problems and install components correctly (FIG. 3).
#6. Consider prefabricated assemblies. Industrial fluid systems in chemical plants and refineries are complex, and any steps you can take to simplify installation will ensure they work as promised. Finding prefabricated, preassembled and pretested assemblies will allow contractors to install them quickly and efficiently.
For example, modern prefabricated gas panels optimize design and can relieve maintenance concerns. Find panels on which critical components are easily seen and labeled. In particular, regulators and pressure valves must be visible to ensure they are easily serviceable. Prefabricated, modular gas panels enable technicians to fix them easier because the entire panel is replaced rather than individual components. Work with your gas panel supplier to determine which prefabricated assemblies work best for your specific application.
Another advantage of prefabricated assemblies is they can avoid problems created by knowledge gaps among the installers and reduce installation times. For example, it may make sense to use prefabricated grab sampling panels, which provide safe, efficient sample capture while still functioning, as well as traditional sampling systems. Additionally, using prefabricated mechanical seal supports will improve the longevity of your mechanical seals, while using prefabricated analytical systems brings efficiency to the overall performance of the system. This includes fast loops, field stations, calibration and switching modules, sample probes and fluid distribution headers. The simplified design footprints of these assemblies make them easier to install and service.
Prefabricated assemblies are generally easier to maintain and reassemble than traditional threaded connections, which helps prevent small leaks from occurring during and after maintenance. By using robust tube fittings, small, undetected leaks will no longer cost facilities time and money to detect and repair. High-quality fittings—such as those found in prefabricated gas panels—offer leak-tight performance over the long haul. It is important to find component suppliers who can evaluate your current systems and advise you on where preassembled panels make the most sense.
#7. Maintain tight quality control. It is in an operator’s best interest to maintain strict control of the quality and consistency of the parts being installed during a turnaround. Specifications that allow too much flexibility may lead some contractors to source less-expensive and lower-quality components. Inconsistent parts quality across different systems can lead to varying performance, premature maintenance needs or downtime later. Keeping a tight, up-to-date specification that allows only for the use of high-quality components in your critical fluid systems is one more way to make your turnaround effective. In addition, the more consistent an operator is with not intermixing parts from different suppliers and not interchanging for different parts, the easier it will be to maintain systems consistently in the future.
For example, choosing the proper valves for your system is vital. Poorly engineered valves or valves that are not specifically designed for particular applications can cause significant problems such as poor performance, increased downtime and safety protocol violations. During a facility turnaround, you should evaluate the quality of the valves to decide whether your valve systems need an upgrade or not. Typically, technicians will replace valves with the same one that is already there because it is what was originally specified. Plant turnarounds present the perfect opportunity to determine if technology has evolved or a better quality valve is available (FIG. 4).
Takeaway. As you begin planning for your facility’s next plant turnaround, these tips should help make the process faster and more efficient, while also upgrading your fluid systems and making them more reliable. Working with trusted suppliers to provide helpful guidance in choosing the right components for your fluid system is essential. With proper support, your chemical plant or refinery turnaround will be less stressful and more successful. HP
MIKE AUGHENBAUGH is a Target Market Associate Manager for Swagelok.