Process modeling for decomposition unit of a UFP for reliability indices subject to fail-back mode and degradation
Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering
ISSN: 1355-2511
Article publication date: 31 January 2023
Issue publication date: 18 July 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Ensuring safe operation of a urea fertilizer plant (UFP) is a vital aspect for its functioning and production. Clearly the safe operation of such systems can only be archived with proper and effective maintenance scheduling and through controlling its failures as well as repairs of the components. Also for this, the concern plant management must have the information regarding the failures that affects the system's performance most/least. The objective of this study is to analyze mathematically the factors that are responsible for the failure/degradation of the decomposition unit of UFP.
Design/methodology/approach
The considered system has been modeled by the aid of Markov's birth–death process with two types of failures for its components: variable (which are very similar in practical situations) and constant. The mathematical model is solved by the help of Laplace transform and supplementary variable technique.
Findings
In the present paper, the availability, reliability and mean time to failure (MTTF) are computed for the decomposition unit of the UFP. The critical components that affect the reliability and MTTF of the decomposition unit are identified through sensitivity analysis.
Originality/value
In this paper, a mathematical model based on the working of the decomposition unit of a UFP has been developed by considering two types of failure, namely, variable failures rates and constant failure rates (which has not been done in the literature for the decomposition unit). Conclusions in this paper are good references for the improvement of the same.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Citation
Kumar, A. and Ram, M. (2023), "Process modeling for decomposition unit of a UFP for reliability indices subject to fail-back mode and degradation", Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 606-621. https://doi.org/10.1108/JQME-01-2022-0008
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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