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on Maintenance Reliability

A listing in reverse chronological order of these article series:



  • Usman Mustafa Syed — Aasan Asset Management series

  • Arun Gowtham — AI & Predictive Maintenance series

  • Miguel Pengel — Asset Management in the Mining Industry series

  • Bryan Christiansen — CMMS and Reliability series

  • James Reyes-Picknell — Conscious Asset series

  • Alex Williams — EAM & CMMS series

  • Nancy Regan — Everday RCM series

  • Karl Burnett — History of Maintenance Management series

  • Mike Sondalini — Life Cycle Asset Management series

  • James Kovacevic — Maintenance and Reliability series

  • Mike Sondalini — Maintenance Management series

  • Mike Sondalini — Plant Maintenance series

  • Andrew Kelleher — Process Plant Reliability Engineering series

  • George Williams and Joe Anderson — The ReliabilityXperience series

  • Doug Plucknette — RCM Blitz series

  • Robert Kalwarowsky — Rob's Reliability Project series

  • Gina Tabasso — The Intelligent Transformer Blog series

  • Tor Idhammar — The People Side of Maintenance series

  • André-Michel Ferrari — The Reliability Mindset series

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Centrifugal Pump Life Extension – The Volute

Centrifugal Pump Life Extension – The Volute

Centrifugal Pump Life Extension – The Volute

What readers will learn from this article.

  • Pump volute problems and fixes.
  • Pump set-up and piping connection issues to get right.
  • Process conditions that will cause problems.
  • What to watch for with pump shaft designs.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

Old School Team Building

Old School Team Building

Old School Team Building

I’m facilitating an RCM Analysis this week in a second-floor conference room that overlooks a company courtyard complete with manicured landscaping, picnic tables, park benches and walking path complete with distance markers. While this park like setting has been mostly empty the first few days this week today there is a group of 30 people milling around. Some small groups of 2 or 3 are clustered together talking and most everyone is checking out their smart phone for various unknown reasons. I can’t help but wonder what is going on so I ask the team I’m working with why so many people are in the courtyard. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, RCM Blitz Tagged With: team, teamwork

by Mike Sondalini 1 Comment

Heat Exchanger Design and Use

Heat Exchanger Design and Use

What readers will learn from this article.

  • Basic theory of heat exchange across walls.
  • Necessary properties of fluids to make heat exchangers work.
  • Protecting and checking heat exchangers against corrosion.
  • Issues with using shell and tube heat exchangers.
  • Issues with using plate heat exchangers.

This article introduces readers to heat transfer in heat exchangers. It explains the concepts of temperature gradients across walls and parallel- current and counter-current flows. Both shell-and-tube and plate heat exchanges are discussed along with their common operational problems and remedies.

Shell-and-tube and plate heat exchangers (HXCH’s) are recuperative type devices, meaning that flowing fluids exchange heat through a dividing wall. The exchange of heat occurs from the hotter liquid to the cooler one. The hotter liquid is at a higher energy level than the colder liquid and the energy flows from hot to cold in an attempt to reach a steady equilibrium state at an intermediate temperature. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

The 6 Things Every Asset Management Strategy Needs to Be Successful

The 6 Things Every Asset Management Strategy Needs to Be Successful

I want my customers to be successful, every one of them. Yet there are times I can see the writing on the wall and I know as hard as I might try to show them a clear path to what it takes to be successful they have their own plan. Some of them are so complex that people become confused just trying to make sense of them, and others get so hung up in the minutiae of even the simplest of steps like listing a 3 part failure mode they will word-smith themselves to a point where folks just give up. I find myself asking “why do people have to make what is really so simple into something that appears to be complex?” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, RCM Blitz

by Mike Sondalini 2 Comments

Air Compressor Operation & Care

Air Compressor Operation & Care

What readers will learn from this article.

  • Basic theory of reciprocating compressor operation.
  • Introduction into work and power calculations for a compressor.
  • Explanation of Free Air Deliver (FAD).
  • Issues with using rotary screw compressors.
  • Issues with using reciprocating compressors.

Compressed air is one of the most used service fluids in industry. This article introduces the basic design concepts of an air compressor and discusses some of the common problems and solutions found in both reciprocating (piston goes up and down) and rotary screw (twin, meshed, rotating, helix) air compressors. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

The 5 Differences Between Leaders and Managers

The 5 Differences Between Leaders and Managers

The 5 Differences Between Leaders and Managers – Can Someone Be the Best of Both?

While working in the field of Asset Management formerly known as Maintenance and Reliability for over 30 years I have worked with my share of Managers and Leaders. Those who have known me for years know that I started in the field as a Pipefitter Apprentice, worked as a Journeyman and Team Leader for a number of years, did a stint as a Maintenance Supervisor, went to night school to become a Reliability Engineer and then as a business owner working with customers around the world. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, RCM Blitz Tagged With: leadership

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Process Logic Controller (PLC) Basics

Process Logic Controller (PLC) Basics

What readers will learn from this article.

  • Overview of how a programmable logic controller (PLC) operates.
  • Communication methods used to connect the PLC to equipment.
  • Dangerous practices that will lead to trouble if not corrected.

A process logic controller is a computer designed for monitoring and controlling equipment. The personal computer that many people have at home is designed to accept signals from the keyboard or mouse and use instructions (software) to display the resulting effects on a screen (monitor). A PLC accepts signals (inputs) from sensors located throughout a piece of equipment or process plant. It then follows the instructions (program) within its memory and sends out commands (output) to operate equipment. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance Tagged With: process

by Doug Plucknette 1 Comment

The Elevator Pitch, and No it’s not a Major League thing….

The Elevator Pitch, and No it’s not a Major League thing….

I was taking questions from the audience following my presentation at a conference last spring when a young lady stood up and asked me if I could give my Elevator Pitch.

She must have noted the confused look on my face because she repeated herself this time adding further details.

“If you were riding an elevator with someone and you had a quick minute to sell your RCM services what would you say?” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, RCM Blitz

by Mike Sondalini 1 Comment

Sealing Threaded Pipe Connections

Sealing Threaded Pipe Connections

Threaded connections on process chemicals and utilities piping can be difficult to seal. Leaks from threads in steam and compressed air service are common. This article looks at pipe thread design and the proper sealing of threads.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance Tagged With: process

by Doug Plucknette 1 Comment

5 Reasons Why Your Top Performers Leave and What You Can Do to Keep Them!

5 Reasons Why Your Top Performers Leave and What You Can Do to Keep Them!

Those who know me well know I am a voracious reader.  From newspapers and magazines to business related books and novels it’s a rare site to find me without my Kindle or some type of printed reading material.  Lately I have noticed a number of articles on the reasons why your best employees are leaving your business and I have to say I saw this problem trend coming more than a decade ago. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, RCM Blitz

by Mike Sondalini 1 Comment

Hazardous areas for dusts and flammables

Hazardous areas for dusts and flammables

Many explosions in the processing, manufacturing and bulk materials handling industries involve flammable gases or vapours and explosive dusts or fibres. Such chemicals are known as hazardous materials. This article provides a basic overview of the design requirements for hazardous areas.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

The 6 Signs of a Reliable Plant

The 6 Signs of a Reliable Plant

Having visited hundreds of manufacturing plants in the last 17 years, someone recently asked me if there were any traits the most reliable plants all had in common. I have listed below the top 6 signs of a reliable plant. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, RCM Blitz

by Mike Sondalini Leave a Comment

Steam Trap Operation and Selection

Steam Trap Operation and Selection

This article covers the operation of steam traps and how they work. Steam is a greatly used medium. Its use ranges from heating process and domestic fluids through to driving turbines by the expansion of the vapour. Yet the steam trap at the bottom of a drop leg is easily forgotten.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance

by Doug Plucknette Leave a Comment

It’s Time For a Laugh….The 10 Best/Worst Ways to Supplement Your Run to Failure Strategy!

It’s Time For a Laugh….The 10 Best/Worst Ways to Supplement Your Run to Failure Strategy!

I’ve been told that humor, especially New York sarcasm doesn’t go over too well on LinkedIn.  That as a regular contributor of articles, blog postings and hopefully useful updates one should try avoid attempting to use humor as a teaching tool.

Well those who know me well know I also don’t always follow the advice of those who somehow believe we all learn the same way, think the same way and therefore do things the same way.  I’m a guy who believes that while common sense might not be that common, when you explain why something makes sense most of the audience will get it.  For the others who still don’t understand I of course bring data.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, RCM Blitz

by Mike Sondalini 1 Comment

Using pH meters

Using pH meters

When in solution (dissolved in water) the molecules of an acid or a base dissociate (disunite) into a mix of component parts and the full molecule. The components are electrically charged + or – ions. Ions are unstable and ‘want’ to bond chemically to become stable. In strong acids and bases many ions are present, making them reactive and dangerous. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles, on Maintenance Reliability, Plant Maintenance

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