The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 29, 2013
Filed:
Nov. 15, 2002
Theodore A. Meyer, Harrison City, PA (US);
Robert K. Perdue, Murrysville, PA (US);
Warren H. Bamford, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Edward Terek, Irwin, PA (US);
G. Gary Elder, Monroeville, PA (US);
Joel Woodcock, Herminie, PA (US);
Theodore A. Meyer, Harrison City, PA (US);
Robert K. Perdue, Murrysville, PA (US);
Warren H. Bamford, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Edward Terek, Irwin, PA (US);
G. Gary Elder, Monroeville, PA (US);
Joel Woodcock, Herminie, PA (US);
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, Monroeville, PA (US);
Abstract
An improved method of selecting and planning the performance of various maintenance activities on a facility such as a nuclear power plant includes determining the net present value of a number of future net savings that are expected to result from performance of the maintenance activity at a given time, and selecting and planning the maintenance activities in a fashion that maximizes net present value. The method includes, for each of a number of components and a number of time periods, determining a change in the probability that a component will fail within a time period, with the change resulting from an assumption that a maintenance activity is performed. The change in probability is multiplied with the losses associated with a failure in order to determine a gross savings from which costs are subtracted to determine net savings. The probabilities of failure may be determined from a probability failure model that has been derived from multiple sets of failure data that are characterized by Weibull distributions and are mathematically combined according to Bayes' Theorem. The maintenance activities may also be optimized according to a number of budget figures. An apparatus for performing the method is also disclosed.