Abstract:
According to the studied factory faces with the problem of very high air compressor major
overhaul cost. Its air compressor yearly maintenance cost also increase as operation year increase.
Air compressors maintenance cost and related information have not yet well assessed and
analyzed to verify the existing maintenance and replacement policy which would be a suitable
policy or not.
In this study, the maintenance records and air compressor information have been assessed
and analyzed. The estimation of air compressors maintenance cost for future operation years are
resulted from the mentioned records and information. Based on the estimated maintenance cost
and installation cost, the Dynamic programming application is utilized to find the replacement
policy that gain a better maintenance cost for the whole air compressor operating life. The result
from this study provides an optimal air compressor replacement scheme at the 9th year of air
compressor operation (year 2009). New air compressor to be put in place and to be used from
year 2010 until its end of service life (end of year 2019). By this given replacement policy, the
total maintenance cost of 20.98 million baht for each air compressor is expected to be the optimal
cost. As comparing with the estimated cost of 26.49 million baht from the recent maintenance
program, the estimated reduction cost of 5.51 million baht (20.8%) would be also gained. The
studied factory will use this policy to plan its maintenance program and budget accordingly.