Equipment Preservation

What is equipment preservation?

Equipment preservation is the process of preserving critical equipment to prevent it from moisture which may lead to corrosion.

Problem:
During plant shut down and turnaround, the critical equipment has to be kept idle. During idling, these equipment have to be prevented from moisture. Moisture can lead to corrosion which may further result in:

Malfunction of critical equipment
Failure of critical equipment
Deterioration
Decrease in the life of parts and components
High replacement and repair cost

The rate of corrosion accelerates when the relative humidity crosses the critical level of 45%. Above this level, industrial pollutants like sulphur-di-oxide also enhance the rate of corrosion. Also, the rate of corrosion will be more when the surface is exposed to polluted air in combination with high relative humidity. In certain cases, a shut down can go on for a complete year where TDS can give guaranteed required climate conditions which can prevent any kind of corrosion.

Case Study

Defence sector protection from moisture

INS Talwar
Mumbai, Maharashtra

Solution

Corrosion can be controlled through maintaining relative humidity through Dehumidification. It is essential to control humidity and remove excess moisture to prevent critical equipment from corrosion.

Dehumidification involves drying the air by removing the moisture. Removal of moisture from the storage area lowers the relative humidity of the area, hence, effectively arresting corrosion and microbial growth. During equipment storage, proper dehumidification ensures minimum deterioration of all the internal systems.

TDS Solution

TDS offers the simplest and the most effective solution for maintaining relative humidity during preservation. TDS provides best-in-class desiccant based Dehumidifiers, which provide an ideal solution for moisture control during storage, effectively slowing down corrosion. Along with dehumidifiers TDS also provides condensing units, blowers, ducts, and skilled manpower for dehumidification services. In fossil fuel power stations, layup can be due to furnace, boiler repair, or less expensive power availability from an alternate source. During such periods, dry air circulation in the facility prevents rusting and other harmful moisture related problems. In nuclear power plants, during the shut down for refuelling the non-nuclear components such as boilers, condensers, and turbines should be preserved to prevent it from moisture which may lead to corrosion. In sugar mills, turbines and generators are stopped for 2-4 months for planned maintenance and repair. Due to high humidity, electromechanical equipment is prone to corrosion. All of these equipment should be preserved to protect it from moisture. Specially, turbine preservation is very critical in sugar mills.