Design and optimised operation with reliability centred maintenance

Equipment selection and location on offshore platforms is in accordance with the hazardous area classification and the need to have a safe, reliable and secure installation requiring minimum maintenance. Maintenance is complex and costly and operators are employing various methodologies for reducing the operating costs while maintaining a high standard of maintenance as unscheduled interruptions to production, caused by equipment failure, are very costly. One of these methodologies, reliability centred maintenance (RCM), is increasingly being used to optimise maintenance activities. The author discusses power system design and equipment selection with reference to the maintenance requirements. The author then describes RCM and its application