Abstract
Fossil power plants commonly known as coal-fired plants are a prominent method used to generate electricity in South Africa. During operation, the cyclic operation of the plant exposes components and systems such as boilers to high pressure and temperature resulting in mechanical and thermal fatigue damage. Similar to engineered machines or systems, maintenance is required to improve the availability and safety of the plant. However, during the execution of this maintenance, delays are common; forcing contractors to resort to other practices such as requesting time extension, adding manpower, extending working hours and crashing the project in attempt to meet deadlines.
Globally, several studies have examined and identified reasons for delays in projects. Delays have been confirmed as one of the most significant adversaries to project success. These studies point to several factors contributing to delays and their effect on projects but do not address factors contributing to delays in boiler maintenance, specifically in coal-fired power plants in South Africa. This research aims to explore factors contributing to delays and their effect on boiler maintenance in a coal-fired power plant.
This study adopts a deductive thinking and qualitative approach to answer the research questions. Project documents and open-end questionnaires are used as a source of data in this study. Research findings show sixteen factors contributing to delays in boiler maintenance. The identified delay factors are categorised in accordance with the five PMBoK’s standard process and the analysis indicates that thirty-three percent of the top twenty percent of delay factors are related to the planning process, twenty-seven percent to initiating process, twenty-five percent is related to the monitoring and control process and fifteen percent is associated with the executing process. Furthermore, twelve effects of delays are identified. Additionally, mitigations for dealing with factors contributing to delays in the boiler maintenance are also presented.
This study explored factors contributing to delays and their effects in the boiler maintenance in a coal-fired plant, and therefore the findings presented here cannot be generalised.
The research adds to the body of knowledge regarding delays and their effects in the boiler maintenance. The results of this research can assist practitioners working in the boiler maintenance to adopt a proactive approach to deal with delays and academics specifically for further studies in other parts of the world.
M.Phil. (Engineering Management)