Maintain Your Equipment; Reduce Your Risk, Part 2 of 6
Dave Smith has been an Industrial Maintenance Electrician since 1975. He has taught maintenance, troubleshooting and safety courses to thousands of electricians in mines, mills, refineries, factories, plants, power stations and offshore platforms throughout North America and the Middle East. Dave is a hands-on guy and teache...
Once an organization has committed itself to the goal of developing a world-class maintenance program, the first order of business is to determine the standards that will define it.
As it is not easy developing an electrical maintenance program, I will list the key North American electrical maintenance standards that we reference in our training courses and will be referenced in the new CSA Z463.
The first cornerstone are IEEE standards; specifically, three standards derived from what are known as their “colour book” series.
The first of these is 3007.1, “IEEE Recommended Practice for the Operation and Management of Industrial and Commercial Power systems”, intended for the numerous personnel who are responsible for safely operating and managing industrial and commercial electric power facilities.
The contents include power system documentation (especially the requirement for a single-line diagram and other plans); system operation and management clarifies the interaction of load distribution; system integrity, power factor, system protection coordination; and the effect of operating economics. The last section – system control responsibilities and the corresponding switching and clearing procedures – address a significant aspect of power system operation and management, and define the responsibility of the owner and everyone who interacts with the system.
This essential document is the beginning of executive due diligence in the ownership and management of a system. A CEO does not need to be able to manage the system but their deputy certainly does.
The second standard s 3007.2, “IEEE Recommended Practice for the Maintenance of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems”, which covers the maintenance of industrial and commercial power systems, electrical equipment maintenance, how to develop successful maintenance strategies, and the common testing methods used as part of an electrical equipment maintenance program.
It is another excellent document as it addresses the difficulty in determining the basis for a preventive maintenance program as described in last month’s article, and the design considerations that balance the competing economic needs of providing maintenance and the importance of reliable power. In addition it defines the goal of enhanced safety as a product of creating an electrical preventive maintenance program.
High-voltage and high-current systems possess thousands of horsepower of energy that can be instantly released with deadly effect, and an effective maintenance program restrains these. One client recently had a piece of switchgear hand grenade itself into fragments moments after several employees had moved away from in front of it. A change in time and there would have been two serious injuries that could have paid for an immense amount of maintenance activity. When investments in maintenance are reviewed, a percentage should be correctly categorized as part of the health and safety program.
A system could have corona quietly destroying it and a maintenance program that excludes corona testing may discover its existence with an explosion and, in the least, a production loss.
IEE 3007.2 includes a clear example of reliability-centred maintenance program for electrical system of a high-rise building, including a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) of the system. It is clear from this exercise that an RCM program requires a huge upfront cost from a committed management team, but it is equally clear that the reward is a reduction in operating costs to $6/hp per year.
This standard defines the fundamentals of electrical equipment maintenance, insulation tests, inspections and test frequency, protective device testing, analytical tests, grounding tests, functional testing, testing procedures and specifications, and maintenance of standby power equipment.
The series concludes with 3007.3, “IEEE Draft Recommended Practice for Electrical Safety in Industrial and Commercial Power Systems”, which covers all aspects of electrical safety in industry and commercial power systems but, more importantly, provides additional context for NFPA 70E and therefore, CSA Z462. There are many other IEEE standards that are essential additions to a maintenance program and, by extension, a reduction in workforce injuries.
Until next time, be ready, be careful and be safe.©
