Root Cause Failure Analysis: A Guide to Improve Plant Reliability

334 Pages·2021·7.19 MB·English

by  Trinath Sahoo

Root Cause Failure Analysis:
A Guide to Improve Plant Reliability
Root Cause Failure Analysis:
A Guide to Improve Plant Reliability
Dr. Trinath Sahoo
This edition first published 2021
© 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sahoo, Trinath, author.
Title: Root cause failure analysis : a guide to improve plant reliability /
Trinath Sahoo.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, 2021. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020053092 (print) | LCCN 2020053093 (ebook) | ISBN
9781119615545 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119615590 (adobe pdf) | ISBN
9781119615613 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Root cause analysis. | Piping. | Industrial equipment.
Classification: LCC TA169.55.R66 S25 2021 (print) | LCC TA169.55.R66
(ebook) | DDC 658.2–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020053092
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020053093
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Images: © ch123/Shutterstock, Yakov Oskanov/Shutterstock
Set in 9.5/12.5pt STIXTwoText by SPi Global, Pondicherry, India
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
v
Contents
Preface vii
About the Author ix
Acknowledgment xi
1 FAILURE: How to Understand It, Learn from It and Recover from It 3
2 What Is Root Cause Analysis 9
3 Root Cause Analysis Process 19
4 Managing Human Error and Latent Error to Overcome Failure 35
5 Metallurgical Failure 43
6 Pipe Failure 65
7 Failure of Flanged Joint 85
8 Failure of Coupling 107
9 Bearing Failure 133
10 Mechanical Seals Failure 157
11 Centrifugal Pump Failure 179
12 Reciprocating Pumps Failure 201
13 Centrifugal Compressor Failure 219
14 Reciprocating Compressor Failure 245
vi Contents
15 Lubrication Related Failure in Machinery 279
16 Steam Traps Failure 295
17 Proactive Measures to Avoid Failure 309
Index 321
vii
Preface
Process industries are home to a huge number of machines, piping, structures, most of them
critical to the industry’s mission. Failure of these items can cause loss of life, unscheduled
shutdowns, increased maintenance and repair costs, and damaging litigation disputes.
Experience shows that all too often, process machinery problems are never defined suffi-
ciently; they are merely “solved” to “get back on stream.” Production pressures often override
the need to analyze a situation thoroughly, and the problem and its underlying cause come
back and haunt us later. Equipment downtime and component failure risk can be reduced only
if potential problems are anticipated and avoided. To prevent future recurrence of the problem,
it is essential to carry out an investigation aimed at detecting the root cause of failure.
The ability to identify this weakest link and propose remedial measures is the key for a
successful failure analysis investigation. This requires a multidisciplinary approach, which
forms the basis of this book. The results of the investigation can also be used as the basis for
insurance claims, for marketing purposes, and to develop new materials or improve the
properties of existing ones.
The objective of this book is to help anyone involved with machinery reliability, be it in the
design of new plants or the maintenance and operation of existing ones, to understand why
the process machine fails, so some preventive measures can be taken to avoid another failure
of the same kind.
An important feature of this book is that it not only demonstrates the methodology for
conducting a successful failure analysis investigation, but also provides the necessary
background.
The book is divided in two parts:
1) The first part discusses the benefit of failure analysis, including some definitions and
examples. Here, we examine the failure analysis procedure, including some approaches
suitable for different types of problems. We also look at how plant‐wide failure prevention
efforts should be conducted, including a discussion about the importance of the role of
the top management in the prevention of failure.
2) In the second part, different types of failure mechanisms that affect process equipment
are discussed with several examples of bearings, seals, and other components’ failures.
Because it is simply impossible to deal with every conceivable type of failure, this book is
structured to teach failure identification and analysis methods that can be applied to virtu-
ally all problem situations that might arise.
Trinath Sahoo
ix
About the Author
Trinath Sahoo, Ph.D., is the chief general manager at M/S
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Dr. Sahoo has 30 years of expe-
rience in various fields such as engineering design, project
management, asset management, maintenance manage-
ment, lubrication, and reliability. He has published many
papers in journals like Hydrocarbon Processing, Chemical
Engineering, Chemical Engineering Progress, and World
Pumps. Some of his articles were adjudged best articles and
published as the cover page story in the magazines. He has
also spoken in many international conferences. He was the
convener for reliability enhancement projects for different
refinery and petrochemical sites of M/S Indian Oil
Corporation Ltd. Dr. Sahoo is the author of bestselling
book Process Plants: Shutdown and Turnaround Management. He holds a Ph.D. degree from
Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India.
xi
A cknowledgment
First and foremost, I would like to thank God, the Almighty, for His showers of blessings
throughout to complete the book successfully. In the process of putting this book together, I
realized how true this gift of writing is for me. You have given me the power to believe in my
passion and pursue my dreams. I could never have done this without the faith I have in you,
the Almighty.
I have to thank my parents for their love and support throughout my life. Thank you both
for giving me strength to reach for the stars and chase my dreams.
For my wife Chinoo, all the good that comes from this book I look forward to sharing with
you! Thanks for not just believing, but knowing that I could do this! I Love You Always and
Forever!
To my children Sonu and Soha: You may outgrow my lap, but you will never outgrow my
heart. Your growth provides a constant source of joy and pride to me and helped me to com-
plete the book.
Without the experiences and support from my peers and team at Indian Oil, this book
would not exist. You have given me the opportunity to lead a great group of individuals.
“Thanks to everyone on my publishing team.”
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Robert F. Kennedy.
3
1
FAILURE: How to Understand It, Learn from It and
Recover from It
Failure and fault are virtually inseparable in households, organizations, and cultures. But
the wisdom of learning from failure is much more than from success. Many a time we
discover what works well, by finding out what will not work; and “probably he who have
never made a mistake never made a discovery.”
Thomas Edison’s associate, Walter S. Mallory, while discussing inventions, once said to
him, “Isn’t it a shame that with the tremendous amount of work you have done you haven’t
been able to get any results?” Edison replied, with a smile, “Results! Why, my dear, I have
gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that won’t work.”
People see success as positive and failure as negative phenomena. Edison’s quote
emphasizes that failure isn’t a bad thing. You can learn and evolve from your past mistakes.
But in organizations executives believe that failure is bad. These widely held beliefs are
misguided. Understanding of failure’s causes and contexts will help to avoid the blame game
and create an atmosphere of learning in the organization. Failure may sometimes considered
bad, sometimes inevitable, and sometimes even good in organizations. In most companies,
the system and procedures required to effectively detect and analyze failures are in short
supply. Even the context-specific learning strategies are not appreciated many times. In
many organizations, managers often want to learn from failures to improve future
performance. In the process, they and their teams used to devote many hours in after-action
reviews, post-mortems, etc. But time after time these painstaking efforts led to no real
change. The reason: being, managers think about failure in a wrong way.
To be able to learn from our failures, we need to develop a methodology to decode the
“teachable moments” hidden within them. We need to find out what exactly those lessons
are and how they can improve our chances of future success.
F ailure Type
Although an infinite number of things can go wrong in machinery, systems, and process,
mistakes fall into three broad categories: preventable failure, failure in complex system, and
intelligent failure.
Root Cause Failure Analysis: A Guide to Improve Plant Reliability, First Edition. Trinath Sahoo.
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.