BY ENGR. MUHAMMAD HAFEEZ-UR-RAHMAN
Royal Commission
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT
This paper highlights the significance of maintenance of electrical equipment and machinery, which plays a vital role to improve their efficiency, extend their useable life and retain their functionality intact. It defines various types of maintenance and discusses the ways to perform these types regularly and meticulously. It emphasizes that all electrical installations should be regularly inspected, maintained and tested in order to keep them safe, secure and sturdy. Visual and precise inspections of all running equipment should be made and the external conditions should be recorded. If damage is identified or if the degree of protection is found impaired or if an abnormality is expected, then the situation should be carefully assessed and remedial actions should be taken, either immediately as forced maintenance or gradually during scheduled preventive maintenance. Simultaneously predictive maintenance should also be carried out to foresee an impending failure and to adopt a corrective action plan ahead of it. This is achieved through condition monitoring of important parameters of the equipment or plant during its on-going operation. The paper gives some practical maintenance and operation checklists and guidelines. An exhibit shows in the form of flow charts, what should be done at what time and at which locations to avoid undesired results of unwanted environmental or operational features. Cost benefit ratio of maintenance has also been discussed, explaining how maintenance offsets the loss of equipment and the resulting loss of revenue, in the long run.