Reliability growth of gas turbine powered compressor units

This paper presents British Gas Corporation's experience of gas compressor reliability growth to date and shows the methods which are used to evaluate operational trends. Cumulative Sum Chart technique has been applied for the given reasons. It provides an excellent, easily understood, visual presentation of the data. It can be used quantitatively to measure reliability levels and to detect whether reliability has fallen below a given target value. It is an excellent scheme for detecting changes in reliability and indicating the time of change. The same basic techniques can be applied to both the detection of changes in start up reliability (success/failure events) and running reliability (Mean Time Between Failure Assessment). The scheme can be easily computer programmed; however, it is also very easy to operate manually.