x, x' A- Font Paragraph ITED STATES) Styles Shale Oil Company Internet Case Study: Shale Oil Company The Shale Oil Company contains several operating units that comprise its Aston, Ohio, manufacturing complex. These units process the crude oil that is pumped through and transform it into a multitude of hydrocarbon products. The units run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and must be shut down for maintenance on a pre-determined schedule. One such unit is Distillation Unit No. 5, or DUS. Studies have shown that DUS can operate only 3.5 years without major equipment breakdowns and excessive loss of efficiency. Therefore, DU5 is shut down every 3.5 years for cleaning, inspection, and repairs. DUS is the only distillation unit for crude oil in the Aston complex, and its shut down severely affects all other operating units. Some of the production can be compensated by Shale refineries in other locations, but the rest must be processed before the shutdown and stored. Without proper planning, a nationwide shortage of Shale gasoline could occur. The timing of DU5's shutdown is critical, and the length of time the unit is down must be kept to a minimum to limit production loss. Shale uses PERT as a planning and controlling tool to minimize shut-down time. The preventive maintenance for DUS is as follows. Font Activities Paragraph Time Estimates (days) Opt Most Pess Pred(s) Likely 1. Circulate wash water 1 2 2.5 throughout unit 2. Install blinds 1.5 3. Open and clean vessels and 2 23 2.5 1 4 2 columns 2 3 2 4. Open and clean heat exchangers, remove tube bundles 5. Open and clean furnaces 6. Open and clean mechanical equipment 7. Inspect instrumentation 1 2 2 2.5 43 22 2 4 5 2 T Normal 1 No Spac... Heading Heading 2 Title Subtitle Subte EAL Styles Font Paragraph 8. Inspect vessels and columns 1 2 9. Inspect heat exchanger shells 1 1.5 10. Inspect tube bundles 1 1.5 11. Inspect furnaces 2 2.5 12. Retube furnaces 13. Inspect mechanical equipment 14. Install new pump mechanical seals 15. Repair instrumentation 16. Repair vessels and columns 17. Repair heat exchanger shells 18. Repair tube bundles, retube 19. Repair furnaces 20. Repair mechanical equipment 21. Test and close vessels and columns 15 313 20 1.5 5 3223028 3444554 3 8 15 7 14 21 28 8 1 5 10 9 2 5 10 10 5 10 20 11 10 15 25 13 4 5 8 16 22. Install tube bundles into heat 1 2 3 18 exchanger shells 23. Test and close heat 1 2 2.5 17, 22 exchangers 24. Test and close furnaces 1 25. Test and close mechanical 1 22 33 equipment 26. Test instrumentation 27. Pull blinds 1.5 42 22 6 2.5 12, 19 14, 20 15 21, 23, 24, 25 TED STATES) Σ 26. Test instrumentation 27. Pull blinds 2 1.5 42 6 15 2.5 21, 23, 24, 25 28. Purge all equipment with steam 1 3 5 27 29. Start up unit 3 5 10 28 1. Determine the expected shutdown time and the probability the shutdown can be completed one day, two days, three days, four days, five days, six days, or seven days earlier? 2. Shale Oil is considering increasing the budget to shorten the shutdown. How do you suggest the company proceed?