Application of reliability-centered stochastic approach and FMECA to conditional maintenance of electric power plants in China

In a competitive supply-side power market, conditional maintenance can help the generation utilities to reduce cost and gain more profit. In this paper, reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) analytical method is adopted. The reliability-based mathematical model for predicting the failures of the subsystems and components in the power plant is established, and the failure mechanism is studied. Software is developed to simulate the failures evolution and forecast their tendency. Based on the above and further ranking the weightiness of equipment whose status to be observed by FMECA (failure mode effects & criticality analysis), the power plant manager may choose appropriate condition monitoring and failure diagnosis apparatus for carrying out conditional maintenance. At the end of this paper, some suggestions on the reformation of equipment maintenance plan and pattern in China are proposed. In this paper, practical research on four 200 MW generation units of Junliangcheng power plant in China is implemented. The results show that it can efficiently help decreasing the cost on maintenance and hence improve the total benefit.