Metso and Brazilian energy company Petrobras have signed a service contract covering the supply of spare parts and maintenance services for Metso’s valves, actuators and positioners for 11 refineries in Brazil. The contract also includes intelligent tools for preventive and predictive maintenance planning developed by Metso.

Metso won the contract after the excellent performance of one Petrobras refinery in São Paulo, which was serving as a test pilot for two years. Satisfied with Metso’s commitment, valve quality and local service capabilities, Petrobras decided to expand the pilot contract for 10 of its other refineries in Brazil.

Mr Candido Franco from Petrobras explains that “During the testing period, Metso was able to demonstrate that its tools for managing valve inventories and spare part purchases proved to work in practice when targeting lower maintenance costs.”

Mr Franco continues that “With this agreement, we have systematic standardization of the installed valve base, which makes it easier to manage valve inventories and valve maintenance. This has resulted in a positive impact on the capital tied to valve inventories.”

Another significant advantage for Petrobras is related to the capabilities of Metso’s intelligent tools to monitor and analyze valve condition while the process is running. Conventional methods require stopping the process, and removing and dismantling the valves for closer inspection.

Mr Franco confirms that one key element in successful and economical valve maintenance is planning. He said that “With the on line monitoring tools, we can now plan our maintenance schedule in advance, so any disruption to the process is kept to a minimum. Also maintenance activities can be directly focused on those valves needing it most. A constant awareness of overall valve condition prevents unexpected breakdowns, which can result in stopping the process completely, which is extremely costly.’’

Metso’s strategy is to offer knowledge-based services close to its customers so the company’s global service network is continuously growing. Metso has 27 service centers globally to secure customer’s valve maintenance. To secure the high level of service for Petrobras, Metso’s Brazilian service organisation has created an individual management for each contract, what give more flexibility to attend the customer needs. The collaboration is one of the cornerstones of Metso operations to keep a long-term customer relationship.