Fuzzy Reliability and Fuzzy Availability of the Serial Process in Butter-Oil Processing Plant

Abstract

Problem statement: The purpose of this study was to compute fuzzy reliability and fuzzy availability of the serial process in butter-oil processing plant for various choices of failure and repair rates of sub-system. This plant consists of eight sub-systems out of which two are supported by stand-by units with perfect switch over devices and considered that these two sub-systems never fail. The effect of coverage factor on the fuzzy availability also studied. Approach: In this study the chapman-Kolmogorov differential equations were formed using mnemonic rule from the transition diagram of the butter-oil processing plant. These equations were solved for steady state recursively and results were obtained by computer program. Results: Result in the study analyzed fuzzy availability for various values of system coverage factor, failure and repair rates. Industrial implications of the results also briefly discussed. Conclusion: The findings in the study suggested that the management of butter-oil processing plant’s sensitive sub-system is important to improve its performance.