Integration of reliability, availability and maintainability analysis and operational research modelling – a case study
J. Bishop, M. Niblett and M. McCarthy
https://doi.org/10.19124/ima.2018.001.05
Abstract
A facility on the Sellafield site is being designed which will receive waste from several of the site’s high hazard facilities during their decommissioning.
Sellafield Ltd. uses a process called T-RAM (Throughput – Reliability, Availability and Maintainability) to develop a reasoned auditable argument that a new plant, and its systems and subsystems, will meet its performance targets. T-RAM activity is focused on areas of the plant that represent the most T-RAM risk as determined through a top-down proactive approach to risk identification. Identified T-RAM risk is mitigated through improved design supported by the development of effective operations, maintenance and asset care strategies using techniques including Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA); Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) and Reliability Block Diagrams (RBD).
In order to underpin the “Throughput” capability of the facility, the Operational Research (OR) Group has developed a simulation model of the facility which has been used to feedback the expected throughput based on current best knowledge of plant configuration, equipment cycle times, reliability and maintainability data. This is an iterative process, with high risk bottleneck areas identified by the simulation model becoming the focus for T-RAM progressive risk reduction activities. The project is an excellent example of the OR and T-RAM teams working together to influence facility design.