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The purpose of this webinar is to present a unified set of principles that guide the formulation of a method for managing aging assets. The method itself is presented and the data requirements of the method are described. An example of the application of the method to transmission transformers is discussed.

The objective of aging asset management in electric utilities is to minimize the cost of operating the assets while providing the customer services for which the assets exist. A policy for achieving this cost minimization can be found by application of an appropriate methodology. The methodology indicates when and under what conditions it is best to retire (and replace), repair, test, or do nothing to a particular asset.

Asset management deals with uncertainties in asset failure, asset condition, and asset testing. The management methodology is structured to control these uncertainties. That structure is presented in this webinar. The essential idea of the methodology is that the condition of an asset changes as the asset is used, hence the management policy must be based on the uncertain and dynamic asset conditions. In particular, asset hazard rates are condition-dependent. Further, knowledge gained about asset condition by testing is itself uncertain. These uncertainties are combined into a forecast of asset failure that guides asset policy.

The data requirements for the methodology are described. The methodology has been applied to many classes of assets. A transmission transformer application is given that illustrates the inputs, the methodology structure, the assumptions used in the application, and the outputs, which include the optimal policy for managing an inventory of transmission transformers.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify the important variables in asset management
  
• Formulate the asset management problem mathematically
  
• Specify asset condition as an uncertain, dynamic variable
  
• Recognize the importance of condition-dependent hazard rates
  
• Identify how to represent the information found in asset testing
  
• Integrate asset testing and test results into the optimal asset management policy
  
• Review what is required to find the optimal asset management policy based on asset condition, test results, and cost of failures

Continuing Education Credits:

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer up to 0.1 CEUs for this program.