Summer turnaround turns out to be the center's most successful

  • Published
  • By Janaé Daniels
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  This summer Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) craftsmen and engineers saw the successful completion of a major turnaround project in the Engine Test Facility (ETF). 

There were a number of jobs involved in this effort including refurbishment of the RC2 cooler, removal and installation of a 13-foot expansion joint and repair of a number of valves. 

David Eldridge, Resource Provisioning Department director, said to his knowledge this is one of the most successful turnaround projects to date. More than 40,000 man hours of work was completed without a safety incident. 

"Phase I of the ETF Turnaround was clearly the most successful application to date of the specialized turnaround planning process," Eldridge said. "Because of the in-depth coordination and planning leading up to the actual start of the turnaround, we were able to proactively address execution issues. As a result, we were able to execute the full scope of work under cost and ahead of schedule. A detailed step-by-step return-to-service plan that required each plant system to be pre-operationally checked prior to actual operation ensured that we were ready to return to testing as scheduled." 

The purpose of the turnaround effort was to accomplish major work items that could not get done in a three-four-maintenance window between testing and to complete work in ETF that would conflict with the upcoming Turbine Engine Dry Air Capability (TEDAC) project. 

During this downtime, both major and minor facility preventative maintenance activities are also performed. Turnarounds provide an opportunity to accomplish preventative maintenance that require extended outages or cannot be performed in a four-day maintenance period. 

"All of this is aimed at sustaining AEDC's capability to test engines and deliver the highest quality product available to the customers," Bart Jones, Facilities, Operations and Maintenance Department director, said. "This project was successful because of the entire team's focused efforts, cohesiveness they displayed in getting the job done, overcoming obstacles that did come up, and most importantly, doing it all safely." 

According to Tim Wilson, turnaround planner, this project was the result of many hours of pre-planning large investment projects and preventive and corrective maintenance activities conducted over a period of 10 months. 

Wilson worked with planners, schedulers, work controllers, supervisors, engineering and project managers to identify the work, flesh out the detailed plans, and package it all together into a workable plan. 

"It is called a turnaround," Larry Roberts, senior engineer specialist, said, "because we take the plant and test cells out of service, perform the work best suited to be done while the equipment is out of service, and put the plants and test cells back in service in time to support testing." 

The five-week period was used to complete work in support of C Plant airside, A/B Plant exhaust side and C-1, C-2, J and T test cells. 

With the size of this project and the amount of people involved there were a few challenges to overcome. 

"People, equipment location, congestion and environmental issues were a few of the challenges," Bart Jones said. "But, good planning up front minimized the risk and all of our Operations and Maintenance and Installation crews worked extremely hard to get the job done." 

According to Chris Jones, Model Shop Installation supervisor, while this turnaround wasn't the only set of projects being worked during this period, it certainly was the largest and most intense with the RC2 cooler being the largest for his crew. 

"We had a dedicated team working this effort, but at the same time we had our crews working all over the base on other efforts that were critical also," Chris Jones said. "The teamwork was incredible. Bud Stovall, Tim Wilson, Vaughn Wilson, Robert Powell and I and our craft personnel spent many hours on the planning and execution this job and the planning certainly paid off. I believe there were a lot of lessons learned from the RC1 Cooler repair and we used this experience to help us with this project." 

Dave Simmons, Test and Facility Support branch manager added he couldn't be prouder of AEDC's maintenance team, especially the craft personnel. 

"We knew this would be a real challenge from the very beginning," Simmons said. "We also knew that with the aggressive schedule, multiple jobs both here and at other areas of the base, and nature of the work, our chances for successfully completing all the work on-schedule and at cost without getting someone injured was of significant concern. 

"We sat down with our folks, laid out the task ahead of us and asked for their help. What amazed me was how our folks stepped up to the challenge and proved that we have the best, most gifted craft personnel anywhere. Many people volunteered to work this effort on second shift putting their normal lives on hold. It was this type of sacrifice and attitude that made a difference. The final results speak for themselves - no injuries, ahead of schedule and under cost. 

Simmons also complimented the interface with Gary Casteel's folks. 

"I believe that the daily interface with Gary Casteel and his plant team was also a key to the success of this effort." 

Gary Casteel, Plant Operations and Maintenance branch manager said he's extremely proud of the craft personnel and supervisors for their efforts during this turnaround period. 

"I commend their attention to detail during the planning, scheduling, and execution of work, their determination to provide quality work within schedule and budget, and the professionalism displayed while executing the work."