Operational maintenance data for power generation distribution and HVAC components

This paper describes the culmination of a 24000-man-hour effort to collect operational and maintenance data on 239 power generation, power distribution and heating, ventilation and air conditioning items, including gas turbine generators, diesel engine generators, switchgear assemblies, cables, boilers, piping, valves and chillers. This program was designed to determine the effects of "new technology" equipment, i.e., equipment installed after 1971, on availability. The central hypothesis was that this new equipment would exhibit a significant increase in availability, with corresponding decreases in required maintenance and the occurrence of failures. Information was obtained on a variety of commercial and industrial facility types (including office buildings, hospitals, water treatment facilities, prisons, utilities, manufacturing facilities, schools, universities, and bank computer centers), with varying degrees of maintenance quality. Data collection guidelines and goals were established to ensure that sufficient operational and maintenance data were collected for statistically valid analysis.