Problem

  • Customer complained of availability issues.
  • Operation was not smooth, and availability was lower than expected.

Goal

  • 3% increase in plant operational availability

How SAM GUARD Helped

  • The plant was partially modelled over the course of a few days, covering several of the main production units.
  • Alerts directed the operators to equipment failures at the thermal incinerator; indicators showed bad sensors at the oxygen flow meter, and process deviations direct to the blower.
  • After handling these problems and measuring the availability three months after applying the software, unplanned shutdowns were reduced from 14% to 10%.
  • A substantial increase of 4% was measured in the overall plant operational availability.

Value

  • 4% increase in plant availability.
  • Next steps include modelling the entire plant to increase plant operational availability to the highest industry standards.