Repair and Reclamation of Ethylene Plant Equipment

Maintenance is a significant component in the productivity and profitability of many industrial enterprises. Ethylene plants are no exception to this when it comes to planned and unplanned outages where decisions will often be based on resolving the three ‘R’s of equipment maintenance.  That is, to repair, to replace or to remain in service. The ability to fix problems without significant disruption to the operation or start-up of a plant has given rise to the concept of repair technology as a discipline in its own right. This paper discusses the attributes of repair technology and provides some examples where fundamental processes were adapted to situations involving critical pieces of equipment such as steam turbines, radiant coils, and TLEs in order to return them to service.