What Is an Effective Turnaround Work Scope?

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Advanced Shutdown Turnaround and Start-Up

Plant turnarounds are one of the most important events in the routine operation of an oil and gas plant. As turnarounds are huge costs, they must strictly be done under the stipulated budget and timeline. Any delay poses huge financial costs that can largely affect the plant’s bottom line. Hence, a successful turnaround that is carried out within budget and timeline will make a huge contribution to the plant’s efficiency and safety. Optimal turnaround strategies are key to achieving turnaround success.

Turnarounds are also dependent on significant work scope changes that can be the result of unplanned issues arising during the turnaround. Quick and informed decisions must be made and approved to avoid any delay. Part of the turnaround strategy is preparing the right turnaround work scope during the planning phase.

When planning out the work scope, the turnaround must fulfil the 3 points below:

• Necessity – Is the turnaround necessary? How will it improve quality/quantity and safety?
• Desirability – Is it desirable at this time in the life of the plant? Too early or too late?
• Payback – What is the payback period? Increased profit or reduced cost?

It is key that the work scope must be clearly prepared based on the tasks needed to be performed to improve the plant performance. This is because the objective of each turnaround is to ensure that the plant can perform better than it did before. While the turnaround manager is responsible for the entire maintenance and project work, his team must also be open to do the necessary to support the turnaround and achieve the best outcome.

Here are the six components each turnaround work scope should have:

1. All departments have contributed ideas for increasing effectiveness in the turnaround
2. Allowability for changes is built into the work scope, without disastrous consequences
3. Clear designation of contractor roles
4. Contingency plans for likely and unlikely setbacks
5. Commitment of each department to strict but reasonable deadlines
6. Work scope management must align with plant objectives

In addition, the support of experienced contractors is crucial to a successful turnaround work scope. Selecting skilled professionals is key to ensuring optimal turnaround results. With some turnarounds costing millions of dollars per day, having a skilled contractor to oversee the roles and scope is key in producing a successfully completed turnaround.

Advanced Shutdown Turnaround and Start-Up is a 3-day training course held from 25-27 March 2020 (Kuala Lumpur), designed to improve your company’s approach to planning and scheduling through the provision of a framework for effective turnaround execution. The course provides a comprehensive knowledge base for turnarounds, demonstrates the latest planning techniques for turnarounds and highlights the operational check out and start-up requirements.