Advanced Shutdown and Outages Management

The planning, preparation and execution of a turnaround is a complex undertaking that demands an effective strategy, a high degree of control and great attention to detail. It also requires a profound understanding of the critical elements that go to make up a turnaround and the drivers and constraints that shape the event.

 This requires involvement of every level of the company from senior management who set the framework for the event to the craft personnel who perform the actual work. The shutting down and start-up phases of a turnaround are critical to the success or failure of the event and as such must be planned and prepared in as much detail as the mechanical phase. 

There comes a point in each area of the turnaround at which most tasks have been completed and the systems may be handed back to operations for start-up. This is a critical transition phase and if not properly controlled, time, money and effort can be wasted. Although it may seem to the casual observer that the start-up of the plant is simply the reverse of shutdown, there are some significant elements which differentiate the two events: