Page 53 - SAPREF 50 year

Maintenance
The Maintenance department has the overall responsibility of keeping the refinery in tip-top condition. The department is responsible for overall maintenance and minor shutdown execution within the refinery.
The department of 160 people is led by Albert Mabaso. Its sub-sections include Instrumentation and QMI, Rotating Equipment, Electrical, Maintenance Services and Core Contracts as well as Mechanical Engineering Maintenance. The last section is distributed across five zones (Central Zone, North Zone, OMUTDE, South Zone and Island View) which are under the leadership of Area Engineers. Area Engineers, together with Plant Unit Managers and support disciplines, form the Zone Leadership Team responsible for overall maintenance execution within the zone.
Area Engineers are the main leads of maintenance execution within the zone and they also become the main Area Leads during major Turnarounds and minor zone shutdowns. Working with the Area Engineers are the support disciplines responsible for maintenance refinery-wide.
Refurbishment under way in the workshop.
Says Albert: “We have a well-equipped workshop and machine shop, including a skilled artisan base capable of handling most of the repairs and overhauls for the equipment on site. Most of the rotating equipment repairs are done in the workshop but some of the work is done in the field. Part of our department’s responsibility is machine condition monitoring (vibration checks) and oil analysis. This is led by the Rotating Equipment Section.”
Highlights over the years include:
• The Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC) project from 2009 to 2012 where some 210 pumps were upgraded, mostly in-house, to dual mechanical seals.
• The successes we achieved in improving reliability via various projects, and Plant Change Request upgrades such as the
‘Instrumented Protective Function’ Tactic
and furnace upgrade projects.
• The role played by the Maintenance
team in the 2013 Turnaround as Area Leads and also as part of the start-up commissioning team.
SAPREF can be proud that in all the years
of its existence it has always done most of the repairs in-house. This is a reflection of the skill and dedication of the people and the maturity of the organisation. The main drive is to repair equipment correctly in
the most efficient time to minimise risk to the running plants. Meeting tight deadlines can be challenging. In some cases, where there is a failure on a machine that has no standby, it requires all hands on deck and slick teamwork between many disciplines to get the necessary repairs done and the plant operational.
COMMEMORATING 50 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
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