Maintenance of Electrical Equipment In Buildings

Purpose of Maintenance

Apart from safety, maintenance is needed to keep plant in an acceptable condition. Maintenance of this kind must be reviewed on an economic and energy efficiency basis.
While it is appreciated that breakdown of plant may result in costly interruption of normal building operation, it must also be borne in mind that stopping plant for maintenance can also cause a loss in production.
Equipment on continuous and arduous duty, e.g. switchboards, motor control centres (MCCs), air-handling units, chiller plant etc., require more attention than that which is lightly loaded and rarely used.

Initial Steps For Economic and Energy Efficiency

Apart from the above considerations there will be the question of whether to repair or replace faulty equipment. This requires analysis of the past and future maintenance costs and the benefits of new equipment.

There has been much operational research carried out into such things as the probability of breakdown, replacement and repair limits, and overhaul policies. This obviously requires considerable effort and expertise and may need the services of a specialist consultant.

However, some simple initial steps can be taken as far as the economic and energy efficiency is concerned for maintenance of electrical equipment in buildings.

1. Standardisation of Equipment

The use as far as possible of standard items such as switchgear will help both in buying, stockholding and replacement of components on the most economic and convenient basis.

Motor control center at the BCI plant (photo credit: hotmixmag.com)

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