Reliability and availability analysis of the serial processes in skim milk powder system of a dairy plant: a case study Online publication date: Mon, 30-Nov-2015
by Anil Kr. Aggarwal; Sanjeev Kumar; Vikram Singh
International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IJISE), Vol. 22, No. 1, 2016
Abstract: In this paper, a numerical method is proposed to compute the long run availability and reliability with mean time between failures (MTBF) for skim milk powder system of a dairy plant. It is a complex system and comprises of six repairable subsystems viz. chiller, cream separator, pasteuriser, evaporator, drying chamber and packaging sub-systems arranged in series or parallel configurations. This analysis is based on Markov birth-death process and by assuming that the failure and repair rate of each subsystem follows exponential distribution. Mathematical formulation of the system is carried out and Chapman-Kolmogorov differential equations are derived, a numerical method, i.e., Runge-Kutta fourth order method is used to solve these differential equations. The results are presented and discussed with the plant personnel to adopt and practice suitable maintenance policies/strategies to enhance the productivity of skim milk powder system.
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