Most customers schedule maintenance activities during shutdowns based upon the following: 

• Maintenance history of the device (fails every three years)
• Service life expectancy (scheduled device replacement)
• Process performance concerns that have become evident during normal operation but require a shutdown to investigate and/or repair. 

AMS Device Manager Approach 

AMS Device Manager has several tools to help outage planners determine the best activities to be performed and when to perform them during an outage. This way, more can be done in the same amount of time or less.

• Evaluate instruments and valves during normal operation by reviewing AMS Device Manager Device Status windows. 
• Use the ValveLink SNAP-ON application for complete control valve evaluations (with Performance Diagnostics) before shutdown. This allows only the actual valves in need of repair to be pulled from the process piping. Pre-testing also provides information regarding component performance, thus allowing only the necessary parts to be ordered and the valve assemblies to be repaired only to the extent needed.
• Review the Audit Trail for indications of repeat problems with specific devices. Armed with that information, a root cause failure analysis can be performed and a permanent fix implemented during the shutdown.

AMS Device Manager can also help to optimize the scheduling of activities. The AMS Device Manager database hierarchy is configured typically to match that of the actual plant areas, process units and process equipment. This makes AMS Device Manager the ideal tool to identify instrumentation associated with a specific piece of process equipment. 

Testimonials

BP “Approximately 60% of valves are removed for maintenance unnecessarily. Savings arise from being able to selectively diagnose and remove only those valves requiring overhaul, carry out in-line repairs, and defer overhauls where no defects are indicated. On a typical offshore platform with 70 valves, this means potential savings of $80,000 to $160,000 per overhaul.” 

Cabot Corporation “The AMS knowledge we gained through that training could have prevented at least 15 hours of process downtime when the main feed line shut down. We now have a greater appreciation for the many capabilities of AMS.”

DuPont “Summarizing the last three turnarounds, valve maintenance costs have decreased $100,000 per turnaround by using valve diagnostic technology. To date, control valve problems have been significantly reduced during plant operation.”