Reliability analysis and performance optimisation of the serial process in refining system of a sugar plant

Abstract

This paper deals with the reliability analysis and performance optimisation of a refining system. The refining system is a complex system and comprises of four repairable subsystems connected in series or parallel configurations. Two subsystems namely filter and sulphonation are supported by standby units with perfect switch over devices. The mathematical modelling of the system based on Markov birth-death process is carried out to derive Chapman-Kolmogorov differential equations with the assumption that the failure and repair rate of each subsystem follows exponential distribution. These equations are solved by using an adaptive step-size control Runge-Kutta method to compute the reliability of the system and steady state availability is calculated using normalising condition, initial boundary conditions and recursive method. The performance of the system is optimised with genetic algorithm. It has been found that the subsystem heater is the most critical and has more impact on performance of the system as compare to other subsystems. The results are highly beneficial to the maintenance personnel for the purpose of effective maintenance planning to enhance the overall performance of the refining system.