When equipment is first selected the buyer has the choice to buy for quality and long trouble-free operating life or to buy based on least cost. The least cost choice will result in high maintenance and operating expense for the life of the equipment.

When net present value cost of maintenance for cheap equipment is calculated in today’s dollars investors will discover that a large part of their capital will never earn them income but will be spent on maintenance and repair.

Keywords: replacement asset value, internal rate of return, opportunity cost [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini 4 Comments

Flange Bolting-up Practices

What readers will learn in this article:

Bolts and studs behave like springs when loads are applied.
Gaskets behave like springs when loads are applied
Introduced to the use of force diagrams to explain and analyze bolt and gasket behavior.
Bolt torque-up issues and considerations.
The effects of thread surface finish on friction.
Proper bolting practices, sequence, and methods.

[Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini 3 Comments

Protecting Bearings from Dust

What readers will learn in this article:

Bearings in dusty environments require added protection against dust ingress.
The use of shaft seals and how they protect bearings.
Eight dust ingress control methods for bearings.
Good contamination reduction practices when assembling bearings
and parts.

Dusty surroundings are one of the most difficult environments for bearings.

In equipment handling powders or in processes generating dust the protection of bearings against contamination by fine particles requires special consideration. [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Open Trickle Chutes for Damp Bulk Product

What readers will learn in this article:

The flow of bulk materials through chutes is affected by internal properties of the bulk product.
Friction exists between the chute walls and a moving product.
Momentum and velocity must be maintained when running bulk
materials through chutes.
Bulk materials chute design and use considerations.

For the effective flow of a cohesive (sticks to itself) product, a chute must be designed to maintain momentum & velocity. [Read more…]

by Mike Sondalini 2 Comments

Changing the Service Duty of a Pump

What readers will learn in this article.

Centrifugal pumps can be moved to a new service.
The impeller size, impeller speed, and motor power need to match the new service.
That Similarity Law formula is used in calculating the new impeller size, speed, and motor power.
Introduction to centrifugal pump curves and their use.

When there is a need to determine a new service duty for a centrifugal pump, and no performance curves are available, the recommended method is to use the Similarity Laws. These laws are derived by the use of [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic 2 Comments

What Can You Do to Improve Reliability?

Part 5 of 5

A Question & Answer Period with Fred Schenkelberg on the what can be done to improve the reliability of your operation.

So far in this series, we have had the opportunity to discuss the role of reliability engineering in today’s maintenance environments. In this final post of the series, I (James) had the opportunity to ask Fred Schenkelberg some questions related to this very topic. Fred, with his years of experience, was able to provide some great insights to the role of reliability engineering, and what those in the maintenance department can do to improve reliability. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Life Cycle Costs

How building reliability into the equipment design will dramatically improve your profitability.

Part 4 of 5

Does your team procure, setup and put into operation equipment with a single focus on reducing the initial capital expenditure?

Do you work with your equipment suppliers to fully specify the equipment’s functions, performance, and reliability? Maybe not the reliability? [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

Where Does Maintenance Fit Into Reliability?

Maintenance Provides the Key Function of Preserving

Part 3 of 5

With the design FMEA complete, the equipment should have high inherent reliability. The equipment can then be installed in the plant, and provide a high level of performance to the business, at least initially. This is where Maintenance comes in. Maintenance can enable a low Life Cycle Cost, by preserving the reliability of the equipment. [Read more…]

by Fred Schenkelberg Leave a Comment

Using a Design FMEA

How building reliability into the equipment design will dramatically improve your profitability.

Part 2 of 5

Products and equipment start with a design. The functions and performance occur or do not occur according to the capabilities designed into the system.

I learned early in my career, as a manufacturing engineer, that some products were much easier to manufacture (less yield loss) than others, and it was often the design of the product that made the difference. [Read more…]

by James Kovacevic Leave a Comment

Incorporating Reliability into Your Future

How building reliability into the equipment design will dramatically improve your profitability.

Part 1 of 5

Often time’s equipment is procured, setup and put into operation with a single focus on reducing the initial capital expenditure. This can be a fatal mistake as the reliability of the equipment is built into the design of the equipment. This called the inherent reliability. Once the equipment is designed and installed, there is little the maintenance department can do to improve the inherent reliability. [Read more…]