Robert Perez is mechanical engineer with more than 35 years of
rotating equipment experience in the petrochemical industry. He has
worked in petroleum refineries, chemical facilities, and gas processing
plants. He earned a BSME degree from Texas A&M University at
College Station, an MSME degree from the University of Texas at
Austin, and holds a Texas PE license. Mr. Perez has written numerous
machinery reliability articles for magazines and conferences
proceedings and has authored 4 books and coauthored 4 books
related to machinery reliability. He resides in San Antonio, Texas.
Q: W HAT ARE THE PLANS FOR THE
FUTURE , FROM THE INDUSTRY STAND
POINT ?
A: Process plants continually have to do
more with less. This requires more efficient
equipment designs, more efficient process
designs, better process controls, and
fewer people. I see training, controls, and
monitoring as the keys to a safer and more
profitable future. To get the most out of our
people, we must provide the best training
available and provide state of the art
monitoring that allows them to keep an eye
on their machines.
14
PECM Issue 29
It goes without saying that nothing happens
without effective process controls. Controls
are required to optimize process yields.
Optimizing requires balancing production
yields with energy and maintenance costs.
Future control technology will incorporate
all these factors in their designs in order to
get the most out of processes.
Q: F ROM YOUR VIEWPOINT , WHAT ARE
THE HIGH - LEVEL BEST PRACTICES YOU
TYPICALLY PROPOSE ?
A: Every processing facility should have:
Detailed pump selection and installation
best practices for all classes of pumps
and drivers to ensure the right pumps are
selected and properly installed.
Written procedures for all normal and
abnormal pump start-ups and shutdowns
to ensure pumps are properly operated
under all process conditions.
Written procedures for all pump repairs
to minimize early failures and maximize
run intervals. Also, the new trend in pump
maintenance is the establishment of
maintenance agreements with OEM’s or
third parties. I have seen these agreements
work well for mechanical seals. There is no
reason that similar agreements cannot be
made for total pump maintenance.