Heyns, P.S. (Philippus Stephanus)2015-12-082015-12-082015-09-032015Masenya, M 2015, Enhancing the maintenance system for critical pumps in a power station, MEng Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/51117>S2015http://hdl.handle.net/2263/51117Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2015.Maintenance is a significant aspect of asset management. Recent findings on Eskom’s asset management system in 2013 and the 2014 publication of the new asset management standard (ISO 55000) has highlighted the need to evaluate maintenance within the power utility to ascertain the degree of alignment to the minimum requirements stipulated in the standard. This research project derives requirements for a maintenance system, evaluates current maintenance processes and activities at a power station, and offers recommendations for improvement where gaps are identified. The principal objective of this research project is to enhance maintenance of critical assets in the Eskom power production process, using the Eskom Matimba power station as the basis for the investigation. This objective is achieved by first establishing the current maintenance system and practices at the power station through collection and review of documented maintenance-related information, policies and procedures from the station. Additional maintenance-related information is also sourced through interaction and interviews with staff employed by the power station. The research then gathers the requirements for an effective and efficient maintenance organization from literature, as well as asset management standards, and systematically evaluates the existing maintenance system for selected assets (critical pumps in electricity generation process) against these requirements with the aim of identifying improvement opportunities to the current maintenance system. In addition to frameworks for effective maintenance, the research also investigates quantitative tools for optimizing maintenance and develops a reliability engineering model to optimise asset maintenance costs for selected critical pumps. The research also highlights factors that influence the success of improvement initiatives such as adoption of ISO standards. Findings from evaluating the maintenance system for critical pumps at the power station against asset management requirements are that fundamental requirements for a maintenance system such as maintenance resource allocation, documented maintenance policies, computerised maintenance management systems and commitment to continuous improvement are met and in place. Areas of improvement identified and recommendations include increasing proactive maintenance; enhancing comprehensive asset information management, increasing asset management awareness and increasing functional or departmental integration. The findings from the research are applicable to the power station studied and offer a starting point for a maintenance improvement initiative for this station. However, the findings and recommendations are seen to be applicable to maintenance of other critical assets in similar power plants and are potentially beneficial in establishing a maintenance system for new power plants.en© 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.UCTDDissertation