‘Belt & Braces’ Approach to Plant Maintenance

Maintenance on plant and equipment is often carried out to prevent problems arising, ensure equipment is working effectively and to increase reliability. Usually these programs are continuous over the year and present the cost benefits of better productivity and efficiency. This level of high quality is usually maintained by a complete plant shutdown every 12 or 18 months.

Plant shutdowns for planned major maintenance work are the most expensive and time-consuming of maintenance projects because of the loss of production and the expense of the turnaround itself.

For plant shutdown to go as planned, extra gas detection equipment may be needed to accelerate the maintenance program. During plant shut downs, storage tanks, silos and warehouses may be cleaned or flushed out by maintenance teams. Therefore, plant managers must guarantee worker safety upon entry to these areas. Confined space entry equipment must be available to protect maintenance teams against harmful hazardous process chemicals.

At a1-cbiss (UK) they will work with you during the project to ensure that everything operates in accordance and your maintenance workers have the confidence in the supplied gas detection equipment. a1-cbiss are able to supply a wide range of gas detectors to provide exceptional protection in the harshest of industrial environments.

Product training can be provided to ensure that workers understand how their equipment works and what to do in the event of an alarm.

A popular choice for plant maintenance is the BM25 from Industrial Scientific. Packing all the benefits of a fixed detector into a portable detector, the BM25 is a rugged area monitor that is often used alongside personal gas detectors to provide a tough ‘belts and braces’ safety approach.

Designed to work in hazardous areas for prolonged periods of time, the BM25 is equipped as standard with a high capacity battery pack, offering up to 170 hours uninterrupted battery run time. The BM25 is able to provide early indication of toxic and combustible gas leaks using powerful audible (103 dB) and bright, flashing visual alarms to alert personnel, giving users peace of mind.

The Ventis MX4 is a suitable multi-gas counterpart for the BM25. Usually worn on a belt or clipped to work wear, this multi-gas detector can provide detection of 1-4 gases with a continuous run time of up to 20 hours. Equipped with three separate alarms; vibrate (for noisy or bright lit environments), visible flashing beacon (for noisy or dark environments), and an audible alarm (for dark environments), the user can select the most appropriate alarm type or equip all 3 at once.

The detectors feature a bump test and self test on start-up functionality, which allowed the factory engineers to optionally configure the instrument to perform a self test or execute a bump test procedure during instrument start-up. This provides the ability to ensure that instruments are properly tested before each use.

a1-cbiss hire any numbers of gas detection equipment and for short or long periods of time, allowing for a smooth cost-effective shutdown, you won’t have to worry about storing or maintaining the detectors fleet.