pwr_january-2025 - 26

MARNIE SURFACEBLOW
Know What You Know and Know
What You Don't
Not everyone has to be an expert. Having a goal to do the right thing, listening to
your team, and seeking experienced help often results in an expert solution.
Una Nowling, PE
W
ayne Fritz, the manager of a
struggling
ammonia
production
plant in North Dakota,
summed up the project goals: " We're
the largest ammonia production plant
in the region, with no real competition,
but our unreliability is losing us
customers-a third of them in the last
five years. We want to know if we can
reasonably improve our plant reliability
enough to stabilize our business. I have
some handouts of our market analyses
and lifecycle competitive costs. "
A stack of glossy printouts was
passed around the conference room table.
Marnie Surfaceblow, vice president
of Surfaceblow & Associates International,
handed her copy unread to her lead
field engineer, Maya Sharma. Somewhat
more interested in the company's stated
direction, Maya rapidly flipped through
the pages. After reaching the end, she
asked, " Excuse me, Mr. Fritz? There are
line items of 'O&M Cost' and 'Unavailability
Cost,' but no details. Where might
those be found? "
" Ron Sorrel, our maintenance manager,
generates reports each month, "
replied Wayne. " What specifics are you
needing? "
" Small things, really, " answered Marnie
in Maya's stead. " Exactly what issues
limit plant reliability? When did they
start? Are they improving, worsening, or
staying the same? Those sorts of things. "
Caught flat-footed, Wayne nonetheless
gave an honest answer. " My team
leads here will need to answer most
of your questions. I'm not an engineer,
scientist, or mechanic. I'm an economic
strategist. Science was always boring to
me, but I appreciate and respect it, and
those who are experts at it. "
Marnie shook her head with some
disbelief. " I understand trying to do your
best when you're in over your head-in
most cases-but this facility produces
half a million tons per year of a chemical
so toxic that just 0.03% in air is deadly.
When you're working with something
26
that dangerous, plant reliability and operations
take on a whole new level of
importance, " she said. " Issue 1: you've
been the boss for three years. Prior to
your taking charge, this plant averaged
68 unplanned outage days per year.
Since you took charge, the annual forced
outage rate increased to 88 days. You've
also filed a Hazardous Substance Release
Report every quarter. In the three
years prior, not a single report was filed. "
Wayne nodded soberly and started to
reply, but was interrupted by Sheila Bell,
the site health and safety lead (Figure
1). " With all due respect, Ms. Surfaceblow,
you aren't considering some other
factors. In those same three years our
lost hours rate from injuries decreased
by 78%, and our severe injury rate was
0. And I know you didn't have access to
this data, but many forced outages were
issued by Wayne over safety concerns, "
she noted.
Wayne started to speak again, but
was interrupted by Hector Jimenez, the
plant lead engineer. " Ladies, you say our
maintenance costs are very high. This is
correct, because Mr. Fritz increased our
maintenance budget each year for better
safety training, protective equipment,
leak monitoring, and preventive maintenance, "
he added.
Wayne nodded and tried again to
speak, but another of his staff, operations
leader Claude Blackbird, piped up.
" What you ladies do not see in your reports
is before Mr. Fritz came here, we
had more ammonia leaks than now. The
former manager never filed the reports, "
he recounted.
Wayne nodded his head, opened his
mouth, and Sheila snuck back in. " Right,
Claude! And Mr. Fritz requires us to report
every leak, even ones below the
legal threshold, so we can stay on our
toes. If you look carefully, most of the
leaks never reached the OSHA eighthour
exposure limit of 50 ppm, " she
pointed out.
Giving up hope of getting a word in
edgewise, Wayne silently looked expecwww.powermag.com
1.
Sheila was quick to defend Wayne's safety
record. Source: POWER
tantly at Marnie and Maya. While Maya furiously
typed notes on her tablet, Marnie
was focusing on buffing a rough spot on a
fingernail while wearing a sly smile. Upon
noting the silence, Marnie looked up and
said, " Oh, we already knew all of that.
Maya is a researcher nonpareil and gave
me a comprehensive pre-trip report. "
Leaning forward and focusing her
peridot-green eyes on Wayne, Marnie
continued, " I wanted to confirm Maya's
research by listening to and watching
the interaction between you and your
staff. And what your team said, and
how they said it, means this is a project
we want to help you with. Now, that bit
about science being boring-you and I
will discuss that later, " she said with a
smile that could have been humorous
or devious. " Since you hired us to come
on-site to get a high-level view of your
reliability challenges, we'd better go out,
and walk and talk, despite it being so
cold the trees are chopping themselves
into firewood. "
Failing to Understand Failures
After watching a one-hour ammonia
safety video and preparing for the frigid
conditions, Marnie and Maya joined
a coterie of senior plant staff to begin
their tour. Trudging through snow toward
the start of the ammonia process
plant, Wayne commented, " I hope you
POWER | January 2025
http://www.powermag.com
pwr_january-2025

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