Electrical Reliability

Improvement Techniques
Akash Sharma
Sr. Construction Engineer
Engineering & Projects Dept.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd

Introduction

Agenda

Need for reliable electrical system

Some Important Definitions

Criteria for Reliable Electrical System

Robust design

Predictability of system failure

Installation and testing of system before use

Periodic and preventive maintenance of installed equipment

Subtitle (18for
pt. HPreliable
Simplified) electrical systems
Need

To deal with critical power requirement in day to day life.

Acts as saviour of various commercial entities.

Eg. hospitals, data sharing over satellites & space operations, internet based banking and share
markets.

OR

Subtitle (18 pt. HP Simplified)

Reliability

Theoretically defined as:

The probability of failure,

The frequency of failures

In terms of availability:

A probability derived from reliability and maintainability

Some Important Definitions ( Ref: IEEE 4932007) Simplified bold)

Availability(A):

Failure (f):

The ability of an itemunder combined aspects of its reliability, maintainability, and

maintenance supportto perform its required function at a stated instant of time or over a
stated period of time

The termination of the ability of a component or system to perform a required function

Failure rate ():

The mean (arithmetic average) is the number of failures of a component and/or system per
unit exposure time

Some Important Definitions ( Ref: IEEE 4932007)

Inherent availability (Ai):

Maintenance downtime (Mdt):

The instantaneous probability that a component or system will be up or down. Ai considers

only downtime for repair to failures. No logistics time, preventative maintenance, etc., is
included

The total downtime for scheduled maintenance (including logistics time, spare parts
availability, crew availability, etc.) for a given time period (Tp) (hours)

Mean downtime (MDT):

The average downtime caused by scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, including any
logistics time.

Criteria for Reliable Electrical System

Robust design

Predictability of system failure

Installation and testing of system before use

Periodic and preventive maintenance of installed equipment

Robust Design

Robust design

Selecting the right and efficient architecture design and equipment with
redundancy.

Depending on the loading conditions and simulation design, the pre-design

specification must be generated.

Material for equipment design selection goes a long way in giving the right
service of the equipment.

Right balance between safety factor and economic feasibility.

Predictability of System
Failure

11

Predictability of system failure

System design may have embedded system and equipment health

monitoring instruments to predict the failure of all the components and give
cumulative probability of system failure.

Methods that may be useful in determination of probability of failure are:

Monte Carlo simulation for availability evaluation of system.

The Minimal Cut-set method for system reliability evaluation of system.

Predictability of system failure

Power Plant

Sub-station

Sub-station

Sub-station

Sub-station

Sub-station

Installation and Testing of

System Before Use

14

Installation and testing of system before

use

Installation :

Care has to be taken while installing a system or its component as per standard engineering
procedure and as per manufacturer recommendations under strict supervision. Ambient
conditions are of prime importance considering future operating conditions.

Testing & Commissioning :

This includes basic equipment acceptance tests such as relay testing, insulation resistance
measurement, over-potential withstand, and contact resistance measurement, but should
extend to step-by-step verification of control system operation, and system-level functional
testing.

Periodic and Preventive

Maintenance of Installed
Equipment

16

Periodic and preventive maintenance of

installed equipment

Design consideration.

Considering redundancy of equipment or circuit during down time of

maintenance.

Limiting the equipment deterioration by periodic checks and replacements.

Q&A

Thank you !

akashsharma@hpcl.co.in