Substation Reliability Centered Maintenance

Conference · Sun Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:10136644

Purucker, S L

Substation Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) is a technique that is used to develop maintenance plans and criteria so the operational capability of substation equipment is achieved, restored, or maintained. The objective of the RCM process is to focus attention on system equipment in a manner that leads to the formulation of an optimal maintenance plan. The RCM concept originated in the airline industry in the 1970s and has been used since 1985 to establish maintenance requirements for nuclear power plants. The RCM process is initially applied during the design and development phase of equipment or systems on the premise that reliability is a design characteristic. It is then reapplied, as necessary, during the operational phase to sustain a more optimal maintenance program based on actual field experiences. The purpose of the RCM process is to develop a maintenance program that provides desired or specified levels of operational safety and reliability at the lowest possible overall cost. The objectives are to predict or detect and correct incipient failures before they occur or before they develop into major defects, reduce the probability of failure, detect hidden problems, and improve the cost-effectiveness of the maintenance program. RCM accomplishes two basic purposes: (1) It identifies in real-time incipient equipment problems, averting potentially expensive catastrophic failures by communicating potential problems to appropriate system operators and maintenance personnel. (2) It provides decision support by recommending, identifying, and scheduling preventive maintenance. Recommendations are based on maintenance criteria, maintenance history, experience with similar equipment, real-time field data, and resource constraints. Hardware and software are used to accomplish these two purposes. The RCM system includes instrumentation that monitors critical substation equipment as well as computer software that helps analyze equipment data.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 10136644
• Report Number(s): CONF-9211102--2; ON: DE93007918
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
240200
DECISION MAKING
FAILURE MODE ANALYSIS
MAINTENANCE
PLANNING
POWER SUBSTATIONS
POWER SYSTEM NETWORKS
TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
RELIABILITY
SPECIFICATIONS