ABSTRACT
The process industries, pump failures can have all kinds of consequences in terms of cost and safety. A very convenient and interesting way to investigate and understand the dependency of system MTBF on its components is through the use of some 'in-house' simulation software. The data have been combined with equivalent data from the user, which made it possible to generate the overall seal MTBF chart. An unsuitable seal with a lifetime of one month or less will have a catastrophic effect on pump MTBF as will a badly performing coupling or bearing. The cooperation initiative alluded to in these illustrations has continued over the years and performance can be seen to be still world-class despite a small reduction in MTBF over time. In addressing the issue of mechanical reliability in mechanical systems, it is important to understand some of the terminology and recognize some of the pitfalls in the application of reliability measures.
