How long does it take to replace an insulation jacket during a maintenance shutdown?
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During a maintenance shutdown, every hour your plant stands still counts. In practice you can often take an insulation jacket off a valve, pump or flange within minutes, and put it back after the work. With fixed insulation, the cladding or insulation shells have to be demolished first, and that takes more time.
In this article you will read how long removing and refitting an insulation jacket takes, what drives that time and how to prepare your insulation for your next maintenance shutdown.
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Why insulation matters in planning your maintenance shutdown
During a maintenance shutdown, plants are offline and the maintenance team works to a tight schedule. Every delay costs money. Valves, pumps, flanges and heat exchangers are the components the team needs to reach first, and those are usually the insulated ones.
Whether insulation slows the work down depends on how it was installed. That is the difference between fixed insulation and a removable jacket.
What happens to fixed insulation during a maintenance shutdown
Fixed insulation consists of insulation shells or cladding around the component. Before maintenance it has to come off. That takes time, and the material is often damaged in the process.
Afterwards the insulation has to be installed again. That is extra work at a moment when the schedule is already tight. In practice the insulation regularly does not come back in full. A component that stays unprotected loses heat continuously. You pay for that through a higher energy bill and more COâ‚‚ emissions.
How long does it take to remove and refit an insulation jacket?
An insulation jacket is a flexible cover made to measure for a single component and closed with fasteners. You undo the fasteners and lift the jacket off. The component is accessible straight away, and nothing has to be demolished. After maintenance you put the jacket back on in the same way and close it again.
For a small valve or fitting this usually takes a few minutes. Larger or more complex components take longer, but it generally stays quicker than demolishing and reinstalling fixed insulation. We do not quote a fixed time per component, because it differs per installation.
What determines how long replacing an insulation jacket takes?
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Size of the jacket – a jacket around a boiler or turbine needs more hands and more time than a jacket around a valve.
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Shape of the component – the more complex the shape, the more fasteners there are and the more care refitting takes.
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Space around the installation – limited working space makes removal and refitting slower.
A made-to-measure jacket fits the component exactly. You do not have to adjust or rework anything when you refit it. Because a jacket is designed for repeated use, you can open and close it again at every maintenance shutdown without losing its insulating performance.
How to prepare your insulation for your next maintenance shutdown
You decide which components you open during the shutdown and when it takes place. We measure those components, design the jackets and make them to size. Schedule the measuring well before the shutdown so the jackets are ready when the plant is taken offline. How quickly that can be done is explained in our article on how quickly a custom insulation mattress can be delivered after measuring.
You can often refit the jacket yourself after maintenance. Whether that applies to your installation is covered in can you fit an insulation jacket yourself or do you need a specialist.
What this delivers for your planning and energy bill
You get less demolition work, faster access to the component and insulation that is back in place after the shutdown. That helps you keep the shutdown on schedule and run the plant afterwards without extra heat loss.
The effect on your energy use is substantial: thermal insulation jackets reduce heat loss at valves and fittings by up to 85%. Econtras states a payback time of 6 to 24 months.
How Econtras helps you
At Econtras we make insulation mattresses fully to measure, from a single valve to a complete turbine. We measure on site and take into account how the component is opened and how much space there is around it. That way the jacket fits exactly and you can take it off quickly at every maintenance shutdown.
Conclusion
An insulation jacket takes little time to remove and refit during a maintenance shutdown. Nothing has to be demolished, the component is accessible straight away and the insulation stays intact afterwards. That gives you better planning, less heat loss and a lower energy bill.
Do you want to know which components in your installation pay off most at the next maintenance shutdown? Get in touch with us, we are happy to calculate it for you.
Curious what an insulation jacket means for your maintenance shutdown?