In recent years, EBI has seen an increase in unplanned outages due to failures. Unfortunately, one likely cause is a growing number of plants have adapted the most inefficient, unsustainable maintenance strategy a plant can run. A run-to-failure strategy, known as reactive maintenance. Although waiting until something breaks may seem like a cost effect approach to maximizing your equipment’s full lifecycle potential; in reality, it is a big gamble. A risk that can lower efficiency and further contribute to bottom-line losses if an unplanned outage or catastrophic failure occurs. In fact, studies have shown that running to failure costs 2-5 times as much as implementing a routine proactive, preventative maintenance schedule.
The choice for implementing a proactive maintenance plan seems like a no brainer; however, plant operators and maintenance managers tend to forget about including their electrical bus duct system in the plan. Although the value of the electrical bus duct system may seem insignificant when compared to big ticket items, such as the transformer or generator, the bus duct system plays a vital role in the plant. Consider it the lifeline between both of these high value components. If the electrical bus duct system fails due to poor inspection and maintenance practices, it has the potential of damaging the components it is connected to, such as the transformer.
Industry best practice recommends bus duct maintenance yearly, at every scheduled plant outage, or at a minimum of every 18 months. Proactive utilities are not only monitoring and observing the health of their bus duct systems. They are partnering with highly experienced and trained bus duct experts, such as EBI, who can perform online and offline visual inspections and properly document and correct potential issues before they materialize. The combination of these two maintenance strategies results in less down time and increased operational efficiency and safety.
If your plant is currently planning a Fall or Spring Outage don’t overlook including your electrical bus duct system in your plant’s fleet maintenance plan. Routine preventative maintenance is not only a cost-effective way to extend the life of your electrical assets, it is a critical task in minimizing the risk of a forced outage. Identifying the right partner to proactively maintain, service, and repair your electrical bus duct equipment, in addition to being your turnkey solutions provider, is critical to operational success and the key to plant sustainability. For more information, take advantage of scheduling a free webinar with members of our technical team by visiting https://www.electricalbuilders.com/webinars/ or by calling 877-297-0616.
