C&I maintainability starts with the specification [power stations]

Whilst power station plant has remained using the same technologies for some 60 years or more (other than for the growing use of gas turbine technology) the technology used to control it has changed about every 10 years recently. Since the 1960s it has changed from pneumatic to electronic to distributed, processor based, systems and now to integrated, processor-based, systems. These changes have led to changes in control and instrumentation (C&I) maintenance issues. The C&I engineer is now likely to face up to his most important and most intractable problems using a keyboard and monitor. This places special requirements on the person, but he can be significantly helped or hindered by the team that designs and implements the C&I system. This paper reflects the personal views and experiences of the author over many years as a purchaser of power station C&I systems within a power generation company