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MEP 283: PLANT TECH. AND MAINTENANCE PROCEDURE I

Module-I
Maintenance-Introduction and meaning, Objectives of maintenance, Types of maintenance,
Challenges in Maintenance, Breakdown maintenance, Causes of Breakdown, Advantages
and Disadvantages of Breakdown maintenance, Preventive maintenance, Advantages and
Disadvantages of Preventive Maintenance, Predictive maintenance, Advantages and
Disadvantages of Predictive Maintenance. Factors affecting Choice of maintenance type,
Functions of Maintenance (team), Maintenance Cost Balance, Reliability Centered
Maintenance (RCM), Benefits of Implementing RCM, Misconceptions of RCM, Challenges/
Pitfalls in Implementing RCM, Advantages and Disadvantages of RCM, Maintenance
Planning, Maintenance Scheduling, Benefits of effective Maintenance Planning and
Scheduling

Module-II

Lubrication, Classification of lubricants, Characteristics of good lubricants, Purpose of

lubrication, Lubrication Methods, Role of lubricants, Mechanism of lubrication, Properties of
lubricants, Essential requirements of good lubricants, Additives. Permit to Work System,
Factory Act.

Module-III

Power Transmission Devices, Centrifugal Pumps, Cavitation, Maintenance of Centrifugal

pumps, Couplings, Electrical Maintenance Safety, and Refrigeration System Preventive
Maintenance Checklist.

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MAINTENANCE-Introduction and Meaning

Past and current maintenance practices in both the private and Government sectors would
imply that maintenance is the actions associated with equipment repair after it is broken.
The dictionary defines maintenance as “the work of keeping something in proper condition,
upkeep.” This would imply that maintenance should be actions taken to prevent a device or
component from failing or to repair normal equipment degradation experienced with the
operation of the device to keep it in proper working order. Data obtained in many studies
over the past decade indicates that most private and Government facilities do not expend
the necessary resources to maintain equipment in proper working order. They wait for
equipment failure to occur and then take whatever actions are necessary to repair or replace
the equipment. Nothing lasts forever, and all equipment has associated with it some
predefined life expectancy or operational life.

Maintenance is the set of activities carried out on an equipment in order to increase

its uptime, minimize breakdowns, and to ensure the equipment is available to
function at its maximum efficiency when needed.

OBJECTIVES OF MAINTENANCE
Equipment are an important resource which is constantly used for adding value to products.
So, it must be kept at the best operating condition. Otherwise, there will be excessive
downtime and also interruption of production if it is used in a mass production line. Poor
working of equipment will lead to quality related problems. Hence, it is an absolute necessity
to maintain the equipment in good operating conditions with economical cost. Hence, we
need an integrated approach to minimize the cost of maintenance. In certain cases, the
equipment will be obsolete over a period of time. If a firm wants to be in the same business
competitively, it has to take decision on whether to replace the equipment or to retain the old
equipment by taking the cost of maintenance and operation into account.
The main objectives of plant maintenance are:
 To maximize the availability of plant, equipment and machinery for productivity
through planned maintenance.

 To extend the life span of the plant, equipment, machinery etc., by minimizing their
wear and tear and deterioration.

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 To reduce the cost of production due to plant breakdown as a result of improper plant
maintenance.

 To help the production department to go ahead with their production plans without
any problem.

 To ensure operational readiness of all production facilities for emergency use at all
times, such as firefighting equipment, first aid facilities, alternative method of
production and packing etc.

 To provide management with proper information on the cost and effectiveness of

maintenance.

 To ensure safety of staff through regular inspection and maintenance of facilities such
as boilers, compressors, elevations, material handling system, conveyors, dangerous
heavy machineries etc.

TYPES OF MAINTENANCE
The design life of most equipment requires periodic maintenance. Belts need adjustment,
alignment needs to be maintained, proper lubrication on rotating equipment is required, and
so on. In some cases, certain components need replacement, e.g., a wheel bearing on a
motor vehicle, to ensure the main piece of equipment (in this case a car) last for its design
life. Different approaches have been developed to know how maintenance can be performed
to ensure equipment reaches or exceeds its design life. In addition to waiting for a piece of
equipment to fail (reactive maintenance) the other approaches are preventive maintenance,
predictive maintenance, or reliability centered maintenance.

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Maintenance can thus be broadly categorized into two main kinds; (Unplanned) Reactive
and (planned) Preventive/Proactive maintenance.

Fig 1. Classification of Maintenance

Planned Maintenance: “The maintenance organized and carried out with forethought,
control and the use of records to a predetermined plan.”
Preventive Maintenance: “The maintenance carried at predetermined intervals or
corresponding to prescribed criteria and intended to reduce the probability of failure or the
performance degradation of an item.”
Breakdown Maintenance: – Repair is undertaken only after failure of system. Equipment is
allowed to run till it fails. Lubricating and minor adjustments are done during the period.
- Small factories where equipment are very small and doesn’t use special tools

- Isn’t suitable for big industries

Opportunistic Maintenance: – In multi component system, several failing components,

often it is advantageous to follow opportunistic maintenance. When an equipment or system

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is taken down for maintenance of one or few worn out component, the opportunistic
maintenance can utilize for maintaining or changing other wear out components, even
though they are not failed.
-It is actually not a specific maintenance system, but it’s a system of utilizing an opportunity
which may come up any time.
Corrective Maintenance – Maintaining action for correcting or restoring failed unit.
Very vast scope for small actions like adjustment, minor repairs to redesign of equipment.
Generally, once taken and completed fully and usually carried out in four steps:

1st step: collection of data, information and Analysis

2nd step: identifying the causes

3rd step: find out the best possible solution to illuminate likely causes

4th step: Implement those solutions

Emergency maintenance: It is carried out as fast as possible in order to bring a failed

machine or facility to a safe and operationally efficient condition.
Routine maintenance which includes those maintenance activities that are repetitive and
periodic in nature such as lubrication, cleaning, and small adjustment.
Running maintenance which includes those maintenance activities that are carried out
while the machine or equipment is running and they represent those activities that are
performed before the actual preventive maintenance activities take place.
Opportunity maintenance which is a set of maintenance activities that are performed on a
machine or a facility when an unplanned opportunity exists during the period of performing
planned maintenance activities to other machines or facilities.
Window maintenance which is a set of activities that are carried out when a machine or
equipment is not required for a definite period of time.
Shutdown preventive maintenance which is a set of preventive maintenance activities that
are carried out when the production line is in total stoppage situation.

Remedial maintenance which is a set of activities that are performed to eliminate the
source of failure without interrupting the continuity of the production process.

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Deferred maintenance which is a set of corrective maintenance activities that are not
immediately initiated after the occurrence of a failure but are delayed in such a way that will
not affect the production process.
Shutdown corrective maintenance which is a set of corrective maintenance activities that
are performed when the production line is in total stoppage situation.
Design-out maintenance which is a set of activities that are used to eliminate the cause of
maintenance, simplify maintenance tasks, or raise machine performance from the
maintenance point of view by redesigning those machines and facilities which are vulnerable
to frequent occurrence of failure and their long term repair or replacement cost is very
expensive.
Engineering services which includes construction and construction modification, removal
and installation, and rearrangement of facilities.
Shutdown improvement maintenance which is a set of improvement maintenance
activities that are performed while the production line is in a complete stoppage situation.
Challenges in Maintenance
The maintenance function of a modern industry faces a number of challenges attributable to:

 Rapid growth of technology resulting in current technology becoming obsolete. Such

a challenge is a frequent one in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
industry where computers and computers based system (hardware and Software) is
the main component.
 Advent of new advanced diagnostic tools, rapid repair systems, etc.
 Advance store management techniques to incorporate modular technologies.
 Requirements of keeping both outdated and modern machines in service. For
example, many industrial organizations have a combination of the old machines
working on obsolete technology and new systems utilizing the latest technology and
equipment.
The effective management of maintenance aspects under such challenging
circumstances is often a difficult job. Besides the rectification of the faults in the
equipment, the activities of the maintenance department include:

 Up gradation of the existing plants and equipment and training maintenance

personnel to attend the required technical skills.
 Effective maintenance of the old equipment for higher availability

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 Cost optimization of all maintenance functions

 Improvement of maintenance activities in the areas of tribology and
terotechnology.
 Reconditioning of used /unserviceable spare parts.
 Development of indigenous sources for parts for import substitution
 Setting up of an effective maintenance information management systems
(MIMS).
 Effective utilization of the maintenance workforce
 Setting up of in house R&D activities for effecting improvements in
maintenance practices.

Breakdown (Reactive) Maintenance

Breakdown maintenance is basically the ‘run it till it breaks’ maintenance mode. No actions
or efforts are taken to maintain the equipment as the designer originally intended to ensure
design life is reached. Studies as recent indicate that, this is still the predominant mode of
maintenance.
Advantages to breakdown maintenance can be viewed as a double-edged sword. If we are
dealing with new equipment, we can expect minimal incidents of failure. If our maintenance
program is purely reactive, we will not expend manpower or incur capital cost until
something breaks. Since we do not see any associated maintenance cost, we could view
this period as saving money. In reality, during the time we believe we are saving
maintenance and capital cost, we are really spending more money than we would have
under a different maintenance approach. We are spending more money associated with
capital cost because, while waiting for the equipment to break, we are shortening the life of
the equipment resulting in more frequent replacement. We may incur cost upon failure of the
primary device associated with its failure causing the failure of a secondary device. This is
an increased cost we would not have experienced if our maintenance program was more
proactive.
Our labour cost associated with repair will probably be higher than normal because the
failure will most likely require more extensive repairs than would have been required if the
piece of equipment had not been run to failure. Chances are that, the piece of equipment will
fail during off hours or close to the end of the normal workday. If it is a critical piece of
equipment that needs to be back on-line quickly, we will have to pay maintenance overtime

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cost. Since we expect to run equipment to failure, we will require a large material inventory
of repair parts. This is a cost we could minimize under a different maintenance strategy.
Causes of Breakdown
 Failure to replace the worn-out parts
 Non application of lubricants
 Neglected cooling system
 Carelessness towards minor repairs

Advantages of Breakdown Maintenance

 Involves low cost investment for maintenance.
 Less staff is required.

Disadvantages of Breakdown Maintenance

 Increased cost due to unplanned downtime of equipment.
 Increased labour cost, especially if overtime is needed.
 Cost involved with repair or replacement of equipment.
 Possible secondary equipment or process damage from equipment failure.
 Inefficient use of staff resources.
 Production is affected (Delayed or Stopped)
 Leads to hurried maintenance -which in turn leads to poor quality maintenance
 The plant depreciates very fast
 Plant life is very much reduced
 Increase cost due to overtime payment
 Cost of maintenance is high – as down time cost and replacement cost will be high
 Leads to direct loss of profit
 Leads to increased accidents
 More wastage of material
 Not suitable for equipment like cranes, boilers, lifts, hoists etc
However, this type of maintenance is used for ordinary equipment like vises, bench
grinders etc.

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Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance can be defined as, “Actions performed on a time or machine-run-
based schedule that detect, preclude, or mitigate degradation of a component or system
with the aim of sustaining or extending its useful life through controlling degradation to an
acceptable level.”
Preventive maintenance is a means to increase the reliability of their equipment. By simply
expending the necessary resources to conduct maintenance activities intended by the
equipment designer, equipment life is extended and its reliability is increased. In addition to
an increase in reliability, lot of amount will be saved over that of a program just using
reactive maintenance. Studies indicate that this savings can amount to as much as 12% to
18% on the average.

Advantages of Preventive Maintenance

 Cost effective in many capital intensive processes.
 Flexibility allows for the adjustment of maintenance periodicity.
 Increased component life cycle.
 Energy savings.
 Reduced equipment or process failure.
 Estimated 12% to 18% cost savings over reactive maintenance program.

Disadvantages of Preventive Maintenance

 Catastrophic failures still likely to occur.
 Labour intensive.
 Includes performance of unneeded maintenance.
 Potential for incidental damage to components in conducting unneeded maintenance.

Depending on the facilities current maintenance practices, present equipment reliability, and
facility downtime, there is little doubt that many facilities purely reliant on reactive
maintenance could save much more than 18% by instituting a proper preventive
maintenance program.

While preventive maintenance is not the optimum maintenance program, it does have
several advantages over that of a purely reactive program. By performing the preventive
maintenance as the equipment designer envisioned, we will extend the life of the equipment

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closer to design. This translates into dollar savings. Preventive maintenance (lubrication,
filter change, etc.) will generally run the equipment more efficiently resulting
in dollar savings. While we will not prevent equipment catastrophic failures, we will decrease
the number of failures. Minimizing failures translate into maintenance and capital cost
savings.

Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance can be defined as “Measurements that detect the onset of a
degradation mechanism, thereby allowing causal stressors to be eliminated or controlled
prior to any significant deterioration in the component physical state. Results indicate current
and future functional capability”.
Basically, predictive maintenance differs from preventive maintenance by basing
maintenance need on the actual condition of the machine rather than on some preset
schedule. Preventive maintenance is time-based. Activities such as changing lubricant are
based on time, like calendar time or equipment run time. For example, most people change
the oil in their vehicles every 3,000 to 5,000 miles travelled. This is effectively basing the oil
change needs on equipment run time. No concern is given to the actual condition and
performance capability of the oil. It is changed because it is time. This methodology would
be analogous to a preventive maintenance task. If, on the other hand, the operator of the car
discounted the vehicle run time and had the oil analyzed at some periodicity to determine its
actual condition and lubrication properties, he may be able to extend the oil change until the
vehicle had travelled 10,000 miles. This is the fundamental difference between predictive
maintenance and preventive maintenance, whereby predictive maintenance is used to
define needed maintenance task based on quantified material/equipment condition.
There are many advantages of predictive maintenance. A well-orchestrated predictive
maintenance program will eliminate catastrophic equipment failures. Schedule of
maintenance activities can be made to minimize or delete overtime cost. It is possible to
minimize inventory and order parts, as required, well ahead of time to support the
downstream maintenance needs and optimize the operation of the equipment, saving
energy cost and increasing plant reliability. Past studies have estimated that a properly
functioning predictive maintenance program can provide a savings of 8% to 12% over a
program utilizing preventive maintenance alone. Depending on a facility’s reliance on
reactive maintenance and material condition, it could easily recognize savings opportunities
exceeding 30% to 40%.

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Predictive maintenance is thus a set of activities that detect changes in the physical
condition of equipment (signs of failure) in order to carry out the appropriate maintenance
work for maximising the service life of equipment without increasing the risk of failure.

It is classified into two kinds according to the methods of detecting the signs of failure:

– Condition-based predictive maintenance

– Statistical-based predictive maintenance

Condition-based predictive maintenance depends on continuous or periodic condition

monitoring equipment to detect the signs of failure.
Statistical-based predictive maintenance depends on statistical data from the meticulous
recording of the stoppages of the in-plant items and components in order to develop models
for predicting failures.

The main difference between preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance is that
predictive maintenance uses monitoring the condition of machines or equipment to
determine the actual mean time to failure whereas preventive maintenance depends on
industrial average life statistics.
Independent surveys indicate the following industrial average savings resultant from
initiation of a functional predictive maintenance program:
 Return on investment—10 times
 Reduction in maintenance costs—25% to 30%
 Elimination of breakdowns—70% to 75%
 Reduction in downtime—35% to 45%
 Increase in production—20% to 25%.

Advantages of Predictive Maintenance

 Increased component operational life/availability.
 Allows for pre-emptive corrective actions.
 Decrease in equipment or process downtime.
 Decrease in costs for parts and labour.

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 Better product quality.

 Improved worker and environmental safety.
 Improved worker morale.
 Energy savings.
 Estimated 8% to 12% cost savings over preventive maintenance program.

Disadvantages of Predictive Maintenance

 Increased investment in diagnostic equipment.
 Increased investment in staff training.
 Savings potential not readily seen by management.
 It depends heavily on information and the correct interpretation of the information

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN MAKING A PARTICULAR MAINTENANCE DECISION

 Availability of competitor products

 Spares availability
 Equipment condition and Warranty details
 Market demand of products
 Products warehouse storage size and conditions
 Equipment maintenance requirements and labour availability

FUNCTIONS OF PLANT MAINTENANCE

The basic function of any maintenance activity is to maintain the facility and its equipment in
a condition to meet normal operating requirements. The basic functions of maintenance are
Inspection, Repair, Overhaul, Lubrication, and Salvage/Scrap.

Inspection
Inspection involves periodic checking of machines and equipment to ensure safe and
efficient operation, making certain that equipment requiring work at specified periods
receives proper attention, determination of repair feasibility and control of the quality of work
accompanied by maintenance group, Inspection implies detection of faults before they
develop in to breakdown of the equipment. This can be done effectively by increasing our
ability to identify the initial symptoms of machine trouble as early as possible. The initial

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symptoms of the machine trouble may be revealed through noise, vibration, dirtiness, leak or
heat of the machine.

Repair
When any item or components fails or breakdown, then the process of repairing the
component or replacing the item or part by another item to restore the item in working order
is known as repair.
Overhaul
This is another routine and regular maintenance function falling under preventive
maintenance. The frequency of overhauling is for less than lubrication and inspection. In
overhauling, the machine is stripped and the various parts are cleaned and oiled and
components are replaced.

Lubrication
Proper lubrication plays a vital role in maintaining the machine accuracy and increasing its
life. Lubrication of machinery should be considered as important as blood circulation in the
human body. The cleaning and lubrication of the machine is normally done by the operator
itself. From the suppliers document, lubricating instructions showing the daily/
weekly/fortnightly/monthly/ Yearly lubricating.
Salvage
Any equipment is said to be salvage when it cannot be repaired or cannot be brought to
desired level of performance. In that case the item is to be replaced by new one to bring
back the system into operation.

MAINTENANCE COST BALANCE

Breakdown of equipment makes the workers and machine idle resulting in loss of
production, delay in schedules and expensive repairs. These downtime costs usually exceed
the preventive maintenance costs of inspection, service and scheduled repairs up to the
certain. Beyond this optimal point, an increasingly higher level of preventive maintenance is
not economically justified and it is economical to adopt breakdown maintenance policy.
The cost associated with maintenance are
 Down time cost- This is the loss of profit due to stoppage in production
 Cost of material wasted
 Wages paid to workers when they are idle due to breakdown

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 Cost due to idleness of machine

 Cost of spares and other materials used for repair
 Wages paid to maintenance people
 Losses due to inefficient operation of machines
 Capital requirements required for replacement of machines
 Cost due to unneeded maintenance
RELIABILITY CENTERED MAINTENANCE
RCM is a method for developing and selecting maintenance design alternatives based on
safety, operational and economic criteria. It employs a system perspective in its analysis of
system functions, failure of functions and prevention of these failures.
It is used to identify the maintenance requirements of equipment. The RCM establishes the
functional requirements and the desired performances standards of equipment and these
are then related to design and inherent reliability parameters of the machine.
For each function, the associated functional failure is defined, and the failure modes and the
consequences of the functional failures are analyzed.
The consequences of each failure are established, which fall in one of the four categories:
hidden, safety or environmental, operational, and no operational. Following the RCM logic,
preemptive maintenance tasks which will prevent these consequences are selected,
provided the applicability and effectiveness criteria for preventive maintenance are satisfied.
The applicability requirements refer to the technical characteristics and effectiveness criteria
for preventive maintenance tasks and the frequency at which these should be carried out.
Effectiveness criteria depend on the consequences of the failure; probabilities of the multiple
failures for hidden failure consequences, acceptable low risk of failure for safety
consequences, and nonoperational consequences. When the requirements for planned
maintenance (PM) are not fulfilled, default tasks include failure finding (for hidden failure,
possible redesign of equipment, procedures and training processes) and no-schedule
maintenance.
Thus RCM has four unique features:
1. Preserve functions
2. Identify failure modes that can affect functions
3. Prioritize function needs via failure modes
4. Select only applicable and effective tasks

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RCM METHODOLOGY
The concept of RCM was developed in the early 1970s by the maintenance steering group
of commercial airline industry in order to reduce maintenance downtime, maintenance cost
and improve flight safety. It has also been successfully employed in grain terminals, coal
mining, oil refinery, gas plants and paper industry. The methodology of the RCM is
presented in the flow chart as shown fig 2 below.

Fig 2 Flow diagram of RCM methodology

BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTING RCM

RCM focus is on system function approach. Complex redundant systems have reliability
directly engineered into their design. The reliability of a system is reduced if maintenance
tasks and frequencies are not its integral component. Over maintenance reduces the system
reliability on account of maintenance induced failures. For highly reliable system, reliability
very often is reduced due to human intervention under the pretext of PM. Therefore, RCM

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methodology has been successful in building up highly reliable systems. RCM methodology
helps in achieving the following:

 High quality, cost effective maintenance plans in less time

 Assurance that all maintenance important parts and their failure mode are critically
considered in the development of maintenance programs
 Increased probability that the level and content of the maintenance requirement is
optimally specified
 Provides the basis for routine, on-line information sharing among engineering,
operations and maintenance staff
 Longer useful life of expensive assets
 Improved safety of equipment and plant personnel
 Better environment protection
 Improved operating performance in terms of output, quality and customer service

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT RCM

 RCM will eliminate breakdown: RCM can only help in reducing the number of
breakdowns and their severity and consequences.
 RCM is a way of replacing/attending a part before it breaks: RCM is much bigger than
that. It is an integrated approach to budgeting, failure analysis, eliminating excessive
resource use and permanent correction of problem area.
 All the RCM systems are same and can be copied: RCM systems are tailor made,
designed to keeping in view the type of equipment, age of equipment, product
manufactured, type of service, severity of usage, skills of the operator etc.

 RCM increases the workload and expenses: RCM increases uptime, reduces energy
usage, reduces unplanned events etc. Only in the beginning a good planning is
required.

CHALLENGES/PITFALLS IN IMPLEMENTING RCM

Most of the organizations try a small project in one place or another, but they have no real
organized or structured approach to RCM. The common problems leading to the lack of
success with RCM can be summarized as follows:
1. Insufficient Equipment Failure Data

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Historical data about equipment failure is required for the RCM program to be effective.
Without the data about the failure, frequency of failure and root cause of the failures, the
RCM programs are based on guesswork. RCM is an advanced technique that is used only
when effective preventive and predictive programs are in place.
2. Poor Training in the RCM Methodology
RCM has a structured and logical approach. It doesn’t allow an individual to do things in
unplanned way. RCM consists of many methodologies, some have flexibility, whereas
others are more rigid. Some require lot of data, others less. Some approaches are more
successful in one industry than other. Thus after selection of the appropriate approach, all
the employees involved in RCM efforts should be trained to a high degree of proficiency in
the appropriate RCM techniques. Without the training, the RCM efforts will never achieve
maximum benefits for the organization.
3. Poor Results in the Preventive Maintenance and Predictive Maintenance Efforts
The PM programs have the goal of reducing the reactive maintenance activities to less than
20 percent of all the maintenance work. The PDM programs have the goal of eliminating all
unplanned breakdowns. If these two programs are not producing results, the company
should not attempt to RCM.
4. Lack of Understanding at Top Management Level
The lack of understanding about the benefits that can be achieved from a successful RCM
program results in poor support from top management. While presenting the concept of
RCM to upper management, present the case in terms of cost benefit analysis or return on
investment, instead of MTBF and MTTR. Also present the opportunities by highlighting the
current losses, amount of losses that can be reduced and cost of RCM program etc.
5. Insufficient Staffing for the Program
RCM task is in addition to maintenance activities and thus required additional funding for
tools and personnel. Company should provide the required staff for the success of and
getting full benefits of RCM program.
6. Short Term RCM Efforts
RCM is a valuable tool, especially when coupled with a disciplined maintenance
improvement program. It has the capacity to take the organization from reactive to world
class maintenance. The journey takes 5-10 years with no successful short cuts.
7. Lack of Focus on the Part of Both Management and Personnel
The organization need to be focused on its vision, the improvement plan and the
implementation methodology needed to achieve the goals.

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8. Short Term Equipment Focus

The understanding of the true life cycle of the equipment and related components.

In summary, RCM is a methodology aimed at mitigating the impact of equipment failures by

having an enhanced understanding of how the asset works, what it can and cannot
achieve. By knowing the failure mode and root causes, the efforts of maintenance are rightly
focused to solve the fundamental problems and thereby enhancing the reliability of
equipment or process.

Advantages of RCM
 Can be the most efficient maintenance program.
 Lower costs by eliminating unnecessary maintenance or overhauls.
 Minimize frequency of overhauls.
 Reduced probability of sudden equipment failures.
 Able to focus maintenance activities on critical components.
 Increased component/equipment reliability.
 Incorporates root cause analysis.

Disadvantages of RCM
o Can have significant startup cost, training, equipment, etc. o
Savings potential not readily seen by management.

MAINTENANCE PLANNING
Planning is the process by which the elements required to perform a task are determined in
advance of the job start.
Planning of maintenance jobs basically deals with answering two questions, ‘what’ and
‘How’ of the job; ‘what activities are to be done?’ and ‘how those jobs and activities are to be
done?’ While answering these two questions, other supplementary questions are to be
answered, e.g., ‘where the jobs is to be done?’ and ‘why the job is to be done?’ etc., but all
these will be helping in developing ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the job. It is very essential that
engineering knowledge must be applied extensively to maintenance jobs for development of
appropriate job plans using most suited techniques, tools materials and special facilities etc.

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As the job planning forms the basic foundations, over which the efficiency and cost of
actions depends, persons responsible for job planning should have adequate capabilities,
such as, knowledge about jobs and available techniques, facilities and resources, analytical
ability, conceptual logical ability and judgmental courage etc.

The planner must decide the following: -

The crafts required, the time required, the materials required, and whether outside help in
the form specialists, contractors, or special rental equipment is required.
The main steps to be followed for proper job planning are:

(i) Knowledge base: It includes knowledge about equipment, job, available

techniques, materials and facilities. Thus the job content needs to be determined.
(ii) Job investigation at site: It gives a clear perception of the total jobs.
(iii) Identify and document the work: Knowing the earlier two steps and knowing the
needs of preventive, predictive and other maintenance jobs.
(iv) Development of repair plan: Preparation of step by step procedures which would
accomplish the work with the most economical use of time, manpower, material and safety.
(v) Review safety procedures

(vi) Preparation tools and facilities list indicating the needs of special tools, tackles
and facilities needed.
(vii) Establish crew size for the job.
(viii) Plan and order parts and material.
(ix) Assign workers with appropriate skills.
(x) Set priorities for all maintenance work.
(xi) Assign cost accounts.
(xii) Review the backlog and develop plans for controlling it.
(xiii) Predict the maintenance load using effective forecasting technique.
(xiv) Estimation of time required to do the job with work measurement technique and
critical path analysis.
MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING
It is the process by which jobs are matched with resources and sequenced to be
executed at a certain point in time.

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Scheduling is the function of coordinating all of the logistical issue around the issues
regarding the execution phase of the work. Scheduled of maintenance jobs basically deals
with answering two questions— ‘Who’ and ‘When’ of job, i.e., “who would do the job” and
“when the job would be started and done”.
Effective scheduling essentially needs realistic thinking, based on substantial data and
records. Majority of scheduling work needs to occur in areas such as overhead labour hours
safety and toolbox meetings, break times and training times etc. Addition of corrective and
approved improvement actions as dictated by the prioritization system and operations plan
etc.
Scheduling deals with the specific time and phasing of planned jobs together with the orders
to perform the work, monitoring the work, controlling it, and reporting on job progress.
Successful planning needs a feedback from scheduling.

Reliable Schedule Must Take Into Consideration:

 A job priority ranking reflecting the criticality of the job.
 The availability of all materials needed for the work order in the plant.
 The production master schedule.
 Realistic estimates and what is likely to happen.
 Flexibility in the schedule.

Requirements for Schedulers

A scheduler should also have knowledge about job, techniques, facilities, analytical ability
and judgmental courage. The scheduler must obtain knowledge/information about following
ability and judgmental courage. The scheduler must obtain information about following facts,
before starting his job:
(1) Manpower availability by trade, location, shift, crew arrangement and permissible
overtime limit etc.
(2) Man hour back log on current or unfinished jobs.
(3) Availability of the equipment or area where the work has to be performed.
(4) Availability of proper tools, tackles, spares, consumables, structural and other
required materials.
(5) Availability of external manpower and their capabilities; these may be from other
shops/ departments of the plant or from contractors (local, nearby, ancillary etc).

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(6) Availability of special equipment, jigs/fixtures, special lifting and handling facilities and
cranes etc. This should also include labour and time saving devices like pneumatic
hammers and excavators etc.
(7) Starting date of the job; also often completion time of total job is predetermined and,
in that case, resources are to be arranged accordingly.
(8) Past schedules and charts (updated) if the same job has been done earlier, etc.

SCHEDULING TECHNIQUES
Different types of schedules are made suiting the respective job plans and different
techniques are used for making and following those schedules. The first step of all
scheduling is to break the job into small measurable elements, called activities and to
arrange them in logical sequences considering the preceding, concurrent and succeeding
activities so that a succeeding activity should follow preceding activities and concurrent
activities can start together.
Objective of Scheduling Techniques
The objective of the scheduling techniques is to construct a time chart showing:
(1) The start and finish for each job.
(2) The interdependencies among jobs.
(3) The critical jobs that require special attention and effective monitoring.

Examples of such techniques are:

 Gantt charts are used to represent the timings of tasks required to complete a project.
 CPM-Critical Path Method and PERT-Program Evaluation Review Technique are
two methods used to find the time required for completion of the job and helps in the
allocation of resources.
 Integer and stochastic programming
 Bar charts used for technical analysis which represents the relative magnitude of the
values.
 Weekly general schedule is made to provide weeks’ worth of work for each employee
in an area.
 Daily schedule is developed to provide a day’s work for each maintenance employee
of the area.
BENEFITS OF EFFECTIVE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING
Effective planning and scheduling contribute significantly to the following:

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 Reduced maintenance cost.

 Improved utilization of the maintenance workforce by reducing delays and
interruptions.
 Improved quality of maintenance work by adopting the best methods and procedures
and assigning the most qualified workers for the job.

LUBRICATION
In machine, the friction between metal to metal parts arises due to moving surfaces and
machine experienced a resistance which retards their movement. Due to friction large
amount of energy is liberated in the form of heat which reduces the efficiency of machine.

“Substances which apply between two moving and sliding surface to reduce
friction between them are known as Lubricants” and the process by which friction
between sliding surface is reduce, known as Lubrication.

Thus lubrication can be defined as the application of some materials between two objects
moving relative to each other to allow smooth operation as much as necessary. Either oil
or grease is used for rolling bearings to prevent noise, wear and tear, and heat from being
generated from their rolling and sliding movements, and in some special cases, solid
lubricants are occasionally used.

Classification of Lubricants

Liquid Lubricants:
It includes animal oils, vegetable oils, petroleum oils, synthetic lubricants. Animal oils:
tallow oil, whale oil etc. Vegetable oils: castor oil, palm oil etc. Petroleum oils: petroleum
fractions.

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Synthetic lubricants: polyglycol, silicones etc.

Liquid lubricants are further classified into three categories; (i) Animal and Vegetables
oils, (ii) Mineral or Petroleum oils and (iii) blended oils.
Animal and Vegetables oils: Animal oils are extracted from the crude fat and vegetables
oils such as cotton seed oil and caster oils. These oils possess good oiliness and hence
they can stick on metal surfaces effectively even under elevated temperatures and heavy
loads. But they suffer from the disadvantages that they are costly, undergo easy oxidation
to give gummy products and hydrolyze easily on contact with moist air or water. Hence
they are only rarely used these days for lubrication. But they are still used as blending
agents in petroleum based lubricants to get improved oiliness.

Mineral or Petroleum oils: These are basically lower molecular weight hydrocarbons
with about 12 to 50 carbon atoms. As they are cheap, available in abundance and stable
under service conditions, hence they are widely used. But the oiliness of mineral oils is
less, so the addition of higher molecular weight compounds like oleic acid and stearic acid
increases the oiliness of mineral oil.

Blended oils: No single oil possesses all the properties required for a good lubricant and
hence addition of proper additives is essential to make them perform well. Such additives
added lubricating oils are called blended oils. Examples: The addition of higher molecular
weight compounds like oleic acid, stearic acid, palmetic acid, etc or vegetables oil like
coconut oil, castor oil, etc increases the oiliness of mineral oil.

Semi-solid Lubricants (Grease):

Semi-solid Lubricants are formed by emulsifying oil and fat with thickening agents like soap
of sodium, calcium, lithium, aluminum at higher temperature. They may be classified as:
 Soda based: In this case sodium soaps are used as a thickening agent in mineral
or petroleum oil. They are slightly soluble in water. They can be used up to 175oC.
 Lithium based: In this case lithium soaps are emulsifying with petroleum oil. They
are water resistance and used up to 15oC.

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 Calcium based: In this case calcium soaps are emulsifying with petroleum oil. They
are also water resistant and used up to 80oC. At higher temperature soap and petroleum oil
are separate from each other.

Solid Lubricants:
Graphite, molybdenum disulphide (MoS2), boron nitride (BN)x are predominantly used as a
solid lubricant. They are used under high temperature and high load (pressure).
Graphite:
It is most widely used as a solid lubricant. Graphite has layer structure; layers are held
together with the help of weak Vander Waals’ forces which facilitate the easy sliding of
one layer on the other layer. It is very soapy to touch, non-inflammable. It is used at
higher temperature (around 450oC) condition. They are either used as powder form or
mixed with oil or water.

Situations where Solid lubricants are Preferred

They are preferred where;
 the operating conditions are such that a lubricating film cannot be secured by the use
of lubricating oils or grease
 contamination (by the entry of dust particles) of lubricating oils or grease is
unacceptable
 the operating temperature or load is too high, even for grease to remain in position
and

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 combustible lubricants must be avoided. They are used either in the dry powder form
or with binders to make them stick firmly to the metal surfaces while in use.

They are available as dispersions in nonvolatile carriers like soaps, fats, waxes, etc and
as soft metal films. The most common solid lubricants are graphite, molybdenum
disulphide, tungsten disulphide and zinc oxide. They can withstand temperature up to
650° C and can be applied in continuously operating situations. They are also used as
additives to mineral oils and greases in order to increase the load carrying capacity of the
lubricant. Other solid lubricants in use are soapstone (talc) and mica.

Characteristic of good lubricants

 high boiling point
 low freezing point,
 adequate viscosity for proper functioning in service,
 high resistance to oxidation and heat,
 non-corrosive properties and
 stability to decomposition at the operating temperatures

Purpose of Lubrication
The main purposes of lubrication are as follows:
 To prevent wear and premature fatigue by forming the lubrication film on the
surface of load transferring parts to prevent contacts between metals.
 To enhance the favorable driving characteristics, such as low noise or friction.
 To prevent overheating of bearings and to prevent lubricants deterioration by
radiating the generated heat to outside. It works particularly well if the circulation lubrication
method is adopted.
 To prevent foreign material penetration, rust, and corrosion.

LUBRICATION METHODS
For bearing lubrications, either grease or oil is used. It is important to choose the
appropriate lubrication method that suits bearing operating conditions and purpose for the
bearing to perform well.

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Oil lubrication is generally better than grease lubrication in many respects, but grease
lubrication is also widely used, because they have merits in that bearings have the
available inside spaces for grease and that it is comparatively quite simple to use them.
(a) Grease Lubrication

Grease can be defined as the lubricant of solid or semi-solid state that contains the
thickener and some grease contain various special ingredients. Because various kinds of
greases have their own distinct characteristics, and sometimes even the same kind of
greases produce quite different performance results, one has to be careful when selecting
the greases. Grease is made up of three parts. (1) Base Oil, (2) Thickener and (3)
Additives.
Worked penetration is used to represent the hardness of grease, and it is shown as the
penetrated depth(1/10mm) to grease by the pendulum of specified weight, and the
greater the value is, the softer the grease is.

(b) Oil Lubrication

Lubricants can be largely divided into two groups, namely mineral oil base lubricants and
synthetic lubricants.
Oil Lubrication Methods
(1) Oil Sump Lubrication
It is the most generally used lubrication method, especially for low or medium speed
operations. Oil surface should be, in principle, placed at the center of lowest rolling
element, and it is better to be able to confirm the location of oil surface by using the oil
gauge.
(2) Drip Feed Lubrication
This method is widely used for small bearings that operate at a relatively high speed, and
oil supply is controlled by adjusting the volume of oil drip.
(3) Throwaway Lubrication
This is a method that utilizes gear or circulation ring to supply oil to bearings. It is widely
used for automotive transmissions or gears.
(4) Circulation Lubrication
It is widely used when it is necessary to cool the bearing parts that revolve at a high
speed or that with high surrounding temperature. Oil is fed through feed pipe and
recovered through recovery pipe, which is cooled down and re-fed again. The diameter of

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recovery pipe should be bigger than that of feed pipe, so as to prevent back pressure
from occurring to the oil inside a bearing.
(5) Jet lubrication
It is widely used for high speed revolution bearings and oil is jet-sprayed through one or
several nozzles under constant pressure into the inside of a bearing. In general, jet
stream speed should be faster than 1/5 of circumferential speed of inner ring outer
surface because air wall formed by surrounding air revolving with bearing tends to
weaken the jet stream. Provided that total volume of lubricant is same, the more the
number of nozzles are, the smoother and the greater the cooling effect is.
(6) Spray Lubrication
Spray lubrication is a method that vaporizes the lubricant by blowing in the air to be
sprayed into bearing.
It has following merits.

 Due to small volume of lubricant required, its churning resistance gets smaller,
which in return makes it suitable for high speed revolution bearings.

 Because it minimizes volume of discharged lubricant, the pollution to the

equipment can be also kept to the minimum.

 Because fresh lubricant is fed all the time, bearing life can be extended. Therefore,
it is widely used for various machining.

The Role of a Lubricant

The primary functions of a lubricant are to:
 Lubricants are primarily used to reduce the friction between two moving surface.
 Prevent wear
 Protect the equipment from rust and corrosion
 Control temperature (dissipate heat)
 Control contamination (carry contaminants to a filter or sump)
 Transmit power (hydraulics)
 Provide a fluid seal
 Used in the soap and paint industries.
 Liquid lubricants are used in medicines

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 Lubricants are also used as cutting fluid in cutting, grinding, drilling of metals.
 Used as anti-wear, antioxidants, and antifoaming agents.
 It reduces expansion of metal due to frictional heat and destruction of material
 It acts as coolant of metal due to heat transfer media
 It avoids unsmooth relative motion
 It reduces maintenance cost
 It also reduces power loss in internal combustion engines

Sometimes the functions of reducing friction and preventing wear are used
interchangeably. However, friction is the resistance to motion, and wear is the loss of
material as a result of friction, contact fatigue and corrosion. There is a significant
difference. In fact, not all that causes friction (e.g., fluid friction) causes wear, and not all
that causes wear (e.g., cavitation erosion) causes friction.

Reducing friction is a key objective of lubrication, but there are many other benefits of this
process. Lubricating films can help prevent corrosion by protecting the surface from water
and other corrosive substances. In addition, they play an important role in controlling
contamination within systems.

The lubricant works as a conduit in which it transports contaminants to filters to be

removed. These fluids also aid in temperature control by absorbing heat from surfaces
and transferring it to a point of lower temperature where it can be dissipated.

Mechanism of Lubrication
There are four different types of lubrication: boundary, mixed, full film and extreme
pressure (or temperature) lubrication. Each type is different, but they all rely on a lubricant
and the additives within the oils to protect against wear.

 Thick film, Fluid film or Full-film lubrication can be broken down into two forms:
hydrodynamic and elastohydrodynamic. Hydrodynamic lubrication occurs when two
surfaces in sliding motion (relative to each other) are fully separated by a film of fluid.
Elastohydrodynamic lubrication is similar but occurs when the surfaces are in a rolling
motion (relative to each other). The film layer in elastohydrodynamic conditions is much
thinner than that of hydrodynamic lubrication, and the pressure on the film is greater. It is

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called elastohydrodynamic because the film elastically deforms the rolling surface to
lubricate it.

 Thin Film or Boundary lubrication is found where there are frequent starts and
stops, and where shock-loading conditions are present. Some oils have extreme-pressure
(EP) or anti-wear (AW) additives to help protect surfaces in the event that full films cannot
be achieved due to speed, load or other factors.

Mixed lubrication: Mixed lubrication is a cross between boundary and hydrodynamic

lubrication. While the bulk of the surfaces are separated by a lubricating layer, the asperities
still make contact with each other. This is where the additives again come into play.
In Extreme Pressure or Temperature lubrication mechanism, moving or sliding
surfaces are under high pressure and speed, therefore this is known as Extreme
Pressure lubrication. In such a case high temperatures generated due to friction, under
these condition liquid lubricants are fail to stick and decompose or vaporize. These problems
are minimized by special additives are added to mineral oils. These additives form durable
films on metal surfaces which can withstand high loads and high temperatures.

Properties of Lubricants:
(1) Viscosity (2) Flash Point and Fire Point (3) Cloud Point and Pour Point (4) Aniline
Point and (5) Corrosion Stability

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 Viscosity: It is the property of liquid by virtue of which it offers resistance to its own
flow (the resistance to flow of liquid is known as viscosity). The unit of viscosity is poise. It is
the most important single property of any lubricating oil, because it is the main determinant
of the operating characteristics of the lubricant. If the viscosity of the oil is too low, a liquid oil
film cannot be maintained between two moving/sliding surfaces. On the other hand, if the
viscosity of the oil is too high, excessive friction will result. Effect of temperature on viscosity:
Viscosity of liquids decreases with increasing temperature and, consequently, the lubricating
oil becomes thinner as the operating temperature increases. Hence, viscosity of good
lubricating oil should not change much with change in temperature, so that it can be used
continuously, under varying conditions of temperature. The rate at which the viscosity of
lubricating oil changes with temperature is measured by an arbitrary scale, known as
Viscosity Index (V. I). If the viscosity of lubricating oil falls rapidly as the temperature is
raised, it has a low viscosity index. On the other hand, if the viscosity of lubricating oil is only
slightly affected on raising the temperature, its viscosity index is high. The variation of
viscosity of a liquid with temperature is called viscosity index. A relatively small change in
viscosity with temperature is indicated by high viscosity index whereas, a low viscosity index
shows, a relatively large change in viscosity with temperature

 Flash Point and Fire Point: Flash point is the lowest temperature at which the
lubricant oil gives off enough vapours that ignite for a moment, when a tiny flame is brought
near it; while Fire point is the lowest temperature at which the vapours of the lubricant oil
burn continuously for at least five seconds, when a tiny flame is brought near it. In most
cases, the fire points are 5° C to 40° C higher than the flash points. The flash and fire do not
have any bearing with lubricating property of the oil, but these are important when oil is
exposed to high temperature service. A good lubricant should have flash point at least
above the temperature at which it is to be used. This safeguards against risk if fire, during
the use of lubricant.

 Cloud Point and Pour Point: When the lubricant oil is cooled slowly, the
temperature at which it becomes cloudy or hazy in appearance, is called its cloud point;
while the temperature at which the lubricant oil cease to flow or pour, is called its pour
point. Cloud and pour points indicate the suitability of lubricant oil in cold conditions.
Lubricant oil used in a machine working at low temperatures should possess low pour

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point; otherwise solidification of lubricant oil will cause jamming of machine. It has been
found that presence of waxes in the lubricant oil raise pour point.

 Aniline Point: Aniline point of the lubricant oil is defined as the minimum
equilibrium solution temperature for equal volumes of aniline and lubricant oil samples. It
gives an indication of the possible deterioration of the lubricant oil in contact with rubber
sealing; packing, etc. Aromatic hydrocarbons have a tendency to dissolve natural rubber
and certain types of synthetic rubbers. Consequently, low aromatic content in the lubricant
oil is desirable. A higher aniline point means a higher percentage of paraffinic hydrocarbons
and hence, a lower percentage of aromatic hydrocarbons. Aniline point is determined by
mixing mechanically equal volumes of the lubricant oil samples and aniline in a test tube.
The mixture is heated, till homogenous solution is obtained. Then, the tube is allowed to cool
at a controlled rate. The temperature at which the two phases (the lubricant oil and aniline)
separate out is recorded at the aniline point.

 Corrosion Stability: Corrosion stability of the lubricant oil is estimated by carrying

out corrosion test. A polished copper strip is placed in the lubricant oil for a specified time at
a particular temperature. After the stipulated time, the strip is taken out and examined for
corrosion effects. If the copper strip has tarnished, it shows that the lubricant oil contains any
chemically active substances which cause the corrosion of the copper strip. Good lubricating
oil should not affect the copper strip. To retard corrosion effects of the lubricant oil, certain
inhibitors are added to them. Commonly used inhibitors are organic compounds containing
P, As, Cr, Bi or Pb.

 Fire point: The fire point of a fuel is the lowest temperature at which the vapour of
that fuel will continue to burn for at least 5 seconds when an ignition source brought near to
it. Fire point is around 10oC higher than flash point.

Essential requirements or characteristics of a good lubricant are as follows:

 It should have a high viscosity index.
 It should have flash and fire points higher than the operating temperature of the
machine.
 It should have high oiliness.

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 The cloud and pour points of a good lubricant should always be lower than the
operating temperature of the machine.
 The volatility of the lubricating oil should be low.
 It should deposit least amount of carbon during use.
 It should have higher aniline point.
 It should possess a higher resistance towards oxidation and corrosion.
 It should have good detergent quality.

Additives or Function Additives

The additive content in lubricating oils ranges from just a few parts per million to several
percentage points and, depending on the function that these products have to carry out,
they may be classed as:
 Substances intended to improve the intrinsic characteristics of the base oils
(viscosity index modifiers and pour point improvers).
 Lubricant protective substances (antioxidants).
 Substances giving new properties and protecting the metal surfaces of engines
(detergents, dispersants, friction modifiers, anti-wear/Extreme Pressure (EP)
additives, rust and corrosion inhibitors).

The additives added to improve lubricating oils include;

1. Viscosity index modifiers
2. Pour point improvers
3. Antioxidants
4. Detergents and Dispersants

Detergents are classified as neutral (BN_25) or supra basic (BN_25) according to their
neutralizing ability. For heavy-duty vehicles, detergents having a base of alkaline-earth
metals are used, above all those with a calcium base.

Dispersants: These additives are fundamental for purposes of performance as they control
the state of aggregation of sludge and, in diesel engines, of soot; in the lubricant they
account for more than 50% of the quantity of additives.
5. Friction modifiers

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These additives are chemical species able to influence the friction coefficient under
boundary lubrication conditions. They may consist of very long amphiphilic organic
molecules or of metal-organic compounds (generally with a molybdenum base). The
reduction of the friction coefficient of the surfaces takes place by means of the formation
of an extremely smooth film of molecules over them.
6. Anti-wear/EP additives
7. Anti-corrosives/rust-inhibitors
These protect the metal surfaces of the engine against corrosion and against the
aggressive agents generated during combustion (water, acid products, oxidants, etc.) or
act as protection during transport and storage. They act by reacting a physical barrier on
the metal surface, which prevents the corrosive agents from attacking it.

PERMIT TO WORK SYSTEM

Permit to work (PTW) refers to management systems used to ensure that work is done
safely and efficiently. There are used in hazardous industries and involve procedures to
request, review, authorize, document and most importantly, de-conflict tasks to be carried
out by front line workers.

Information included on a permit-to-work form/document

 Permit title.
 Permit number.
 Reference to other relevant permits or isolation certificates.
 Job location.
 Plant identification.
 Description of work to be done and its limitations.
 Hazard identification, including residual hazards and hazards introduced by the
work.
 Precautions necessary – details of all precautions to be taken.
 Protective equipment necessary when undertaking the work.
 Authorization – signature of the manager releasing the plant for the job and
confirming that isolations have been made/ precautions taken.
 Date and time duration of the permit.

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Typical jobs/works, that require a permit to work

The types of hazardous situations, in which permit-to-work systems should be used,

include:
1. Hot Work.
2. Work on Electrical Systems.
3. Machinery Maintenance.
4. Work on operation pipelines.
5. Confined Spaces.
6. Excavation near buried services.
7. Work at height.

Limitations of a permit-to-work system

 Permit-to-work not issued only for the authorized person.

 Permit-to-work issuer not familiarized with the hazards.
 Precaution not checked before the permit was issued.
 Permit-to-work does not represent the task to be performed.
 Staff not properly trained.
 The system not monitored to check if effective.
 No sufficient time to issue the permit.

FACTORIES, OFFICES AND SHOPS ACT

1970 (ACT 328)

Steam Boilers and Receivers

Every steam boiler or steam receiver and all its fittings and attachments shall be of
good construction, sound material, adequate strength and free from patent defect,
and shall be properly maintained.
No work shall be permitted in any boiler-furnace or boiler-flue until it has been
sufficiently cooled by ventilation or otherwise to make work safe for the persons
employed.
Dangerous fumes and lack of oxygen

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No person shall enter or remain in any chamber, tank, vat, pit, pipe, flue or other
confined space, or in any confined space in which dangerous fumes are likely to be
present or the proportion of oxygen in the air is liable to have been substantially
reduced, for any purpose unless he has been authorised to enter by a responsible
person and either he is wearing a suitable breathing apparatus, or he is ensured of a
supply of air adequate for respiration and to render harmless any fumes.

Machine Guarding.
Every dangerous part of any machinery shall be securely fenced, unless it is in such a
position or of such construction as to be as safe to every person employed or working in the
premises as it would be if securely fenced.

Cleaning of Machinery
No woman or young person shall clean any part of a machine if such cleaning would expose
the woman or young person to risk of injury from any moving part of that or any adjacent
machinery.
No woman or young person shall clean any part of a prime mover or of any transmission
machinery while the prime mover or transmission machinery is in motion.
Fencing of Dangerous Machinery
Every dangerous part of any machinery shall be securely fenced unless it is in such a
position or of such construction as to be as safe to every person employed or working in the
premises as it would be if securely fenced.
In so far as the safety of a dangerous part of any machinery cannot by reason of the nature
of the operation be secured by means of a fixed guard, the requirements of this section shall
be deemed to have been complied with if a device is provided which in the opinion of an
Inspector satisfactorily prevents the operator from coming into contact with that part.

Cranes and other lifting machines/mechanisms.

All rails on which a travelling crane moves and every track on which the carriage
of a transporter or runway moves shall be of proper size and adequate strength,
and have an even running surface, and any such rails or track shall be properly
laid, adequately supported or suspended, and properly maintained.
No lifting machine shall, except for the purpose of a test, be loaded beyond the safe
working load.

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If any person is employed or working on or near the wheel track of an overhead

travelling crane in any place where he would be liable to be struck by the crane,
effective measures shall be taken to ensure that the crane does not approach within
twenty feet of that place.
Vessels Containing Dangerous Liquids
Every fixed vessel, structure, sump or pit of which the edge is level with or less than three
feet above the adjoining ground or platform shall, if it contains any scalding, corrosive or
poisonous liquid.
A warning notice, indicating the nature of the danger and in a form readily understood by
the persons employed, shall be marked on or attached to any plant to which this section
applies or, if this is not reasonably practicable, be posted nearby.
Self-acting Machines
No traversing part of any self-acting machine and no material carried thereon shall, if the
space over which it runs is a space over which any person is liable to pass, whether in the
course of his employment or otherwise, be allowed on its outward traverse to run within a
distance of eighteen inches from any fixed structure not being part of the machine.

Cranes and Other Lifting Machines

All parts and working gear whether fixed or movable, including and anchoring and fixing
appliances, of every lifting machine shall be of good construction, sound material, adequate
strength and free from patent defect, and shall be properly maintained.

A lifting machine shall not be operated except by a person trained and competent
to operate that machine, except that it shall be permissible for such machine to be operated
by a person who is under the direct supervision of a qualified person for the purpose of
training; and no person under the age of eighteen shall be employed to operate any lifting
machine driven by mechanical power or to give signals to its operator.

Asset register
A register containing all prescribed particulars shall be kept in every factory in respect of
all chains, ropes, or lifting tackle (except fibre rope slings).

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POWER TRANSMISSION DEVICES

The power is transmitted from one shaft to the other by means of belts, chains and gears.
The belts and ropes are flexible members which are used where distance between the
two shafts is large. The chains also have flexibility but they are preferred for intermediate
distances. The gears are used when the shafts are very close with each other. This type
of drive is also called positive drive because there is no slip. If the distance is slightly
larger, chain drive can be used for making it a positive drive. Belts and ropes transmit
power due to the friction between the belt or rope and the pulley.

There is a possibility of slip and creep and that is why, this drive is not a positive drive.
A gear train is a combination of gears which are used for transmitting motion from one
shaft to another.
Power transmission devices are very commonly used to transmit power from one shaft to
another. Belts, chains and gears are used for this purpose. When the distance between
the shafts is large, belts or ropes are used and for intermediate distance chains can be
used. For belt drive distance can be maximum but this should not be more than ten
metres for good results. Gear drive is used for short distances.

Examples of power transmission devices include gears, shafts, clutches and

brakes, pulleys, belts, chains, and sprockets.

Belts

In case of belts, friction between the belt and pulley is used to transmit power. In practice,
there is always some amount of slip between belt and pulleys, therefore, exact velocity
ratio cannot be obtained. That is why, belt drive is not a positive drive.

The belt drives are of the following types:

(a) open belt drive, and

(b) cross belt drive.

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Open Belt Drive

Open belt drive is used when sense of rotation of both the pulleys is same. It is desirable
to keep the tight side of the belt on the lower side and slack side at the top to increase the
angle of contact on the pulleys. This type of drive is shown in the figure below:

Cross Belt Drive

In case of cross belt drive, the pulleys rotate in the opposite direction. The angle of
contact of belt on both the pulleys is equal. This drive is shown in Figure 3.3. As shown in
the figure, the belt has to bend in two different planes. As a result of this, belt wears very
fast and therefore, this type of drive is not preferred for power transmission. This can be
used for transmission of speed at low power.

Since power transmitted by a belt drive is due to the friction, belt drive is subjected to slip
and creep.

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CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS

A pump is a hydraulic machine which converts mechanical energy of prime mover

(Motors, I.C. Engine) into pressure energy.

A centrifugal pump device in which the mechanical energy of motor is converted into
pressure energy by means of centrifugal force acting on the fluid.

Purpose: To lift the liquid to the required height.

Industrial Application of pumps:

1. Agriculture & Irrigation, 2. Petroleum. 3. Steam and diesel Power plant. 4. Hydraulic
control system, 5. Pumping water in buildings. 6. Fire Fighting. 7. Transferring process
liquids.
HOW CENTRIFUGAL PUMP WORKS

In its simplest form, a centrifugal pump is made from a housing with an inlet and outlet.
There is an impeller that is located inside the housing, and a motor or drive that is
responsible for rotating the impeller. The pumps casing (outer shell) is designed to create

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a gradually widening channel which is known as the volute. When the motor (or drive)
rotates the impeller it is creating centrifugal force.

THIS FORCE THROWS THE FLUID OUTWARD TO THE VOLUTE AND CAUSES
TWO THINGS TO HAPPEN:

● It creates a reduced pressure area at the eye of the impeller, which acts like a vacuum.
This provides a flow of liquid to the pump impeller.

● On the other side, the volute causes the fluid to slow down and the pressure inside the
pump’s housing begins to increase. This increase in pressure forces the liquid out the
discharge (outlet) of the pump and then on to the piping systems of the process.

MAIN PARTS THAT MAKE UP A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP

 Casing (Volute) – As we learned earlier, this acts as a pressure containment

vessel. It directs the flow of liquid in and out of the centrifugal pump. It slows down
the speed of the fluid while increasing the pressure within the casing.

 Impeller – This is a rotor that is used to increase the kinetic energy of the flow.

 Motor (drive) – Power source of the pump. It is responsible for driving the shaft.
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 Shaft (rotor) – The impeller is mounted on a shaft. This component uses torque
from the motor to transfer energy to the impeller.
 Shaft Seals – These are packing rings or mechanical seals which help prevent
any leakage of the pumped fluid.
 Bearings – work to reduce friction between the rotating shaft and the pump and
keep the impeller spinning in place.

 The delivery valve is closed and pump is primed i.e. suction pipe,
casing and portion of delivery pipe up to the delivery valve are completely filled with
water so that no air pocket is left.
 Keeping the delivery valve is closed the impeller is rotated by motor,
strong suction is created at the eye.
 Speed enough to pump a liquid when is attained delivery valve is
opened. Liquid enter the impeller vane from the eye, come out to casing.
 Impeller action develops pressure energy as well as velocity energy.
 Water is lifted through delivery pipe up to the required height.
 When pump is stopped, delivery valve should be closed to prevent
back flow from reservoir.

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Various head of centrifugal Pump

The heads of a centrifugal pump are as follows:

(1) Suction head (2) delivery head

(3)Static head (4) Manometric head

1. Suction head (hs): It is vertical distance between level of sump and eye of an
impeller. It is also called suction lift.
2. Delivery head (hd): It is the vertical distance between eye of an impeller and the
level at which water is delivered.
3. Static head (Hs): It is sum of suction head and delivery head. It is given by
4. Manometric head (Hm): The head against which the centrifugal Pump has to
work. It is the sum of the actual lift (static head) plus the fictional losses in the
pipes plus the discharge velocity head.

Cavitation
Whenever the pressure in the pipe falls below the vapour pressure corresponding to the
existing temperature of the liquid, the liquid will vaporize and bubbles are formed
collapse and this process is continued rapidly and creates high pressure which can

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damage the impeller very easily. This phenomenon is known as cavitation and it is
highly undesirable.

Thus cavitation is the collapse of vapor bubbles in areas where the pressure
locally drops to the fluid vapor pressure.

Cavitation generally occurs in centrifugal pumps near the inlet of the

impeller. Effects of cavitation

It is undesirable as it has following disadvantages.

1. The large number of vapour bubbles formed are carried with liquid a high pressure
region is reached, where these bubbles suddenly collapse. This includes the rush
of surrounding liquid and produces shock and noise. This phenomenon is known
as water hammer.
2. The surface of blades and impeller are worn out because of bursting of bubbles.

3. The water hammer phenomenon is fatigue for the metal parts and it reduces the
life by blow action.

The cavitation in the pump can be avoided by:

 reducing the velocity in the suction pipe, and avoiding the bends
 reducing frictional loss in suction pipe by using smooth pipe.
 reducing the suction head/or reducing liquid level in suction vessel,
 Selecting the pump whose specific speed is low or reducing motor speed, and
 By increasing the diameter of the eye of the impeller.
A liquid’s boiling point corresponds to the temperature at which its vapour pressure is the
same as the pressure of its environment. If water, for example, is subjected to a sufficient
drop in pressure at room temperature, it will boil.
Across any pumping system there is a complex pressure profile. This arises from many
properties of the system: the throughput rate, head pressure, friction losses both inside
the pump and across the system as a whole. In a centrifugal pump, for example, there is
a large drop in pressure at the impeller and an increase again within its vanes (see

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diagram below). In a positive displacement pump, the fluid’s pressure drops when it is
drawn, essentially from rest, into the cylinder. The fluid’s pressure increases again when it
is expelled.

If the pressure of the fluid at any point in the pump is lower than its vapour pressure, it will
literally boil, forming vapour bubbles within the pump. The formation of bubbles leads to a
loss in throughput and increased vibration and noise but the big danger is when the
bubbles pass on into a section of the pump at higher pressure. The vapour condenses

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and the bubbles implode, releasing, locally, huge amounts of energy. This can be very
damaging, causing severe erosion of the pump’s components.
To avoid cavitation, you need to match your pump to the fluid, system and application.
Net Positive suction head (NPSH)

NPSH stands for Net Positive Suction Head, and it is a measure of the pressure
experienced by a fluid on the suction side of a centrifugal pump. It is thus the
difference between inlet pressure and the lowest pressure level inside the
pump. NPSH is therefore an expression of the pressure loss that takes place
inside the first part of the pump housing.

 The NPSH is also defined as the net head required to make the liquid flow
through suction pipe from sump to impeller.

 NPSH term is also used to check cavitation in pump

Understanding NPSH
To avoid cavitation, the pressure of the fluid must be maintained above its vapour
pressure at all points as it passes through the pump. Manufacturers specify a property
referred to as the Net Positive Suction Head Required or NPSH-R – this is their minimum
recommended fluid inlet pressure, expressed in metres. The documentation supplied with
your pump may contain charts showing how NPSH-R varies with flow.
In fact, NPSH-R is defined as the suction-side pressure at which cavitation reduces the
discharge pressure by 3%. So, in designing the suction-side pipework for your system,
you must ensure that it exceeds the manufacturer’s NPSH-R rating for the operating
conditions. Your calculated value is termed the NPSH-Available (NPSH-A).
Remember, a manufacturer’s NPSH-R rating is the minimum recommended inlet head
pressure: a pump is already experiencing cavitation at this pressure. Consequently, it is
important to build in a safety margin of 0.5 to 1m to take account of this and other factors
such as:
The pump’s operating environment – is the temperature constant?
Changes in the weather (changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure).
Any increases in friction losses that may occur occasionally or gradually during the
lifetime of the system.

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Priming of centrifugal Pumps:

The priming of centrifugal pump is the process of filling the suction pipe, casing of the
pump and portion of the delivery pipe from outside source of the fluid to be raised.

This removes the air, gas or vapour from these parts. Priming is done before the starting
the pump.

It is necessary to avoid discontinuity of flow or dry running of pump. The dry running of
pump may result in rubbing and seizing of the wearing rings and cause severe damage.

In addition, when the pump is running with air instead of water, the head generated is in
terms of meters of air. But as the density of air very low, the generated head of air in
terms of equivalent meter of water head is negligible and hence water may not be
sucked from the pump.

For all above reason priming is necessary.

The following are the some of the methods for priming the centrifugal pump.

i. Priming of small pumps: It is done by pouring the fluid into the funnel provided
for priming. During this the air vent valve is kept open and priming is
continued till all the air is removed.

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ii. Priming of large Pumps: It is done by removing the air from casing and
suction pipe with the help of vacuum pump or by an ejector. This helps in
drawing the liquid from sump and fill the pump with liquid.

There are some pumps having internal constructions for supply of liquid in suction
pipe known as self-priming pumps

Installation of Centrifugal Pumps

The following steps are used for efficient installation of the centrifugal Pump.

i. Location of Pump

ii. Suction piping

iii. Delivery piping
iv. Foundation
v. Grouting
vi. Alignment
i. Location

 The pump unit should be located close to the water surface to minimize the
vertical suction lift. The suction lift of length more than 5 m must be avoided.
ii. Suction piping:
 Suction pipe must be continuously flooded have length of 3 times diameter
for straight run and it can accommodate a strainer.
 Entire suction piping should be inclined slightly and all the flanged joints
should be fitted with gasket and be airtight.
iii. Deliver piping
 The discharge valve must be of butterfly or ball or globe type if it is used as
flow or pressure throttling device.
 The maximum flow velocity in the discharge line should not exceed 2 m/s
iv. Foundation and grouting

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 The pump must be installed on a base plate. The base plate is attached to a
foundation and grouting is placed between it.
 The foundation and grouting will help to damp out the vibrations.
v. Alignment
 The pump alignment is extremely important.
 The suction and discharge piping should be naturally aligned with pump.
 The alignment should be done prior to grouting it and it is checked after
grouting and during startup.

CENTRIFUGAL PUMP PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

Maintenance Programs for centrifugal pumps can be grouped into three categories: routine,
quarterly, and annual maintenance. Routine maintenance is the process of setting a
schedule to inspect, log, and repair components. This focuses on components that are
leading indicator of potential failure.

● Bearing and Lubricant Condition

○ Monitor and log bearing temperatures, lubricant level, and vibration. Lubricant should
be clear with no signs of bubbling. If bubbling is occurring, this is a good indication to
add more lubricant to decrease the temperature of the bearings. If there is an increase in
vibration in the bearings, this may be a good indicator of impending bearing failure.

● Shaft Seal Condition

○ Check the mechanical seals. There should be no signs of visible leakage.
○ During downtime, inspect the pump’s packing to make sure there is adequate lubrication.
If the packing looks compressed and dry, replace the packing and add lubricant per the
operation manual.

● Overall Pump Vibration

○ Imminent pump failure can be detected by monitoring overall pump vibration.
Excessive vibration can result from a change in pump alignment, bearing failures,
cavitation, and obstructions in the suction and discharge lines.

● Pump Discharge Pressure

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○ The difference in pressure read by the suction and discharge gauges will provide the
total developed head pressure of the pump. Confirm this reading is within the pump’s
designed performance. You can find this on the manufactured website or your operation
manuals.

Common Failure Points that Require Pump Maintenance

Centrifugal pumps convert mechanical energy (required to rotate the impellers) to
hydraulic energy (required to lift a column of fluid). If applied improperly, operated outside
the normal operating range, or poorly maintained, pump components will break down over
time, leading to reductions in pump efficiency and pump failures.

It is vital to schedule pump preventive maintenance to avoid an unexpected breakdown of

the equipment. Below are common points of failure in centrifugal pumps and the pump
maintenance procedures required:

1. Bearings and Points of Lubrication

Ensure the bearings, lubricant levels, and lubricant quality are maintained in proper
condition. Follow the pump manufacturers’ guidelines for lubricant changes, lubricant
type, and bearing operating temperature.

2. Pump Vibration
Excessive vibration in the bearings indicates an impending breakdown as it causes an
unsustainable rise in temperature. If you notice excessive vibration in your centrifugal
pump, you should have it checked out immediately. It could be a result of misalignment,
cavitation, or normal wear.

3. Shaft Sealing
A sudden decrease in the efficiency of your centrifugal pump may be due to a broken
shaft seal. Leaks from a broken seal reduce the pump pressure required to lift a column
of fluid. Inspect the shaft seals for any physical signs of damage/leakage and replace the
seal where necessary.

4. Impeller Clearance

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An increase in the impeller to casing clearance can reduce the head pressure of the
pump, negatively impacting pump discharge pressure. Routinely inspect impeller
clearance and carry out clearance adjustments where necessary.
These standard maintenance procedures for centrifugal pumps can be carried out in
accordance with the pump manufacturer’s instruction manual. Normal maintenance
intervals are quarterly, biannually, or annually depending on the type of pump application.

Pump Couplings
Pump couplings connect the pump shaft and motor shaft together in order for the
motor to efficiently transmit power to the pump. Like everything else on the pump,
selecting the right coupling for the application can have positive or negative impact on the
pump's lifetime performance.
Couplings fall into two main categories: Material Flexing and Mechanical Flexing. The
material flexible types obtain their flexibility from stretching or compressing a resilient
material, such as rubber, or from the flexing of thin metallic discs or grid. Material flexing
couplings do not require lubrication, with the exception of grid couplings.

Material Flexing Couplings

Material flexing couplings typically do not require lubrication and operate in shear or
compression and are able to accept angular, parallel and axial misalignment.
Examples of material flexing couplings are jaw, sleeve, tire, disc, grid and diaphragm
couplings

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Mechanical Flexing Couplings

The mechanical flexing couplings accept misalignment from rocking, rolling or sliding of
metal surfaces. All metal mechanical flexing couplings require lubrication.

Examples of mechanical flexing couplings are gear, grid and roller chain couplings.

The mechanical flexing couplings accept misalignment from rocking, rolling or sliding of
metal surfaces. All metal mechanical flexing couplings require lubrication.

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Refrigeration System Preventative Maintenance Checklist:

 Check overall system operation: Temperature readings inside the
refrigeration unit, along with temperature checks to the discharge, liquid
& suction lines to & from the condensing unit
 Further detailed inspections of the major sub-systems including the
compressor, condenser & evaporator coils & refrigerant flow control
device
 Check for proper refrigerant level, and look for any indication of moisture in
the system
 Verify the thermostats, pressure controls, contactors, relays &
defrost time clocks all work correctly
 Inspect the low and high voltage electrical components & tighten the
connections
 Ensure proper operation of airflow by inspecting the fan motors of the
evaporator & condenser coils
 Clean & lubricate motors as required
 Inspect & clean the condensers and evaporators coils
 Check the refrigerant level indicator, inspect the condensing unit,
evaporator coil & exposed refrigerant lines for any damage or visible
signs of refrigerant leaks
 Check the refrigeration system door gaskets, hinges & latches for proper
seal & closure
 Check/clean the evaporator drain pans
 Check/clean the condensate drain lines to prevent obstructions.

Electrical Maintenance Safety

When an equipment problem occurs, the first priority is to ensure that power is
disconnected from the affected area, as well as from the control panel where
troubleshooting and repairs are performed.

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Once you verify that power is locked out, make sure you inform other personnel in the
area of the situation so they do not unexpectedly restore power.

After you inform your co-workers, recheck the power supply to ensure that power is
disconnected in the affected control panel. Using insulated fuse pullers only, remove
fuses and check terminal strips for current- carrying wires. Before you perform any
repairs with an exposed conductor or terminal, use an approved voltmeter to check for
continuity to ground and continuity between other current-carrying conductors.

When you perform any kind of maintenance or repair involving electrical components,
follow the guidelines listed below:

1. NEVER reset a circuit breaker or replace an open fuse before determining and
correcting the cause of the circuit interruption.

2. NEVER bypass or use a jumper to replace any limit switch, fuse, circuit breaker,
or other circuit protection or safety device.

3. NEVER replace an open fuse with another that is not rated at the proper current
and voltage. Always double-check correct fuse specifications rather than replace the
open fuse with one of the same current and voltage rating.

4. NEVER rest tools on motors, transformers, terminal strips, or other control panel
or electrical components. All tools used should be kept in a tool box or pouch.

5. NEVER restore power or restart equipment before verifying that all tools, spare
parts, etc., are removed from the work area and are safely stored.

6. NEVER restore power or restart equipment before verifying that ALL personnel
are aware of the condition and are safely clear of the equipment.

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7. ALWAYS replace any safety devices and guards, removed during maintenance or
repair, before you restore power or restart equipment.

8. ALWAYS use extreme caution and follow recommended safety procedures while
you perform any electrical inspection or maintenance operations.

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