Reliability-centered maintenance model to managing power distribution system equipment

With the implementation of electric power industry reform the utilities are now active in looking for effective ways to improve the economic efficiency. One area in particular, the equipment maintenance, is being scrutinized for reducing costs while keeping a reasonable level of the reliability in the overall system. Here the conventional RCM requires the trade-off between the upfront maintenance costs and the potential costs of losing loads. In this paper we describe the issues related to applying so-called the "reliability-centered maintenance" (RCM) method in managing electric power distribution equipment. The RCM method is especially useful as it explicitly incorporates the cost-tradeoff of interest, i.e. the upfront maintenance costs and the potential interruption costs, in determining which equipment to be maintained and how often. In comparison, the "time-based maintenance" (TBM) method, the traditional method widely used, only takes the lifetime of equipment into consideration. In this paper, the modified Markov model for maintenance is developed. First, the existing Markov model for maintenance is explained and analyzed about transformer and circuit breaker, so on. Second, developed model is introduced and described. This model has two different points compared with existing model: TVFR and nonlinear customer interruption cost (CIC). That is, normal stage at the middle of bathtub curve has not CFR but the gradual increasing failure rate and the unit cost of CIC is increasing as the interruption time is increasing. The results of case studies represent the optimal maintenance interval to maintain the equipment with minimum costs. A numerical example is presented for illustration purposes