ABSTRACT
This study investigated the reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) of Afam VI gas plant located in Okoloma Afam in Rivers State Nigeria against frequent failure emanating from friction and wear. Improving plant productivity is very pertinent in the sense that it lowers costs and enhances plant efficiency. Lack of reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) evaluation data leads to a reduction in production, excessive expenditure, equipment failure, and downtime. As a result, the planned maintenance approach was employed to measure the RAM of Afam VI gas plant. The RAM evaluation was calculated based on the data of the power plant and then compared with the planned maintenance technique. The highest RAM of the power plant occurred in the years 2015 and 2016 followed by 2017, 2014 and 2018, 2019, and 2013 and the worst was 2020. The results obtained proved a significant improvement in RAM with the planned maintenance than the corrective maintenance approach. The excellent performance of the power plant in the year 2015 and 2016 respectively could be attributed to the adequate supply of gas to the gas turbines that make up the power plant and routine maintenance. The large malfunctions that occurred in the year 2013 did not directly affect the RAM of the power plant. This shows that the productivity of the power plant is a function of heat supplied and not the number of days the system is in service. The poor performance of the power plant in the year 2020 could be a result of poor maintenance culture, or a short supply of gas from Okoloma gas plant to the power plant which affected both the power output and the productivity that year.
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