A turnaround (TAR) is a scheduled event wherein an entire process unit of an industrial plant, such as a

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable s ...

plant,

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

, or

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

, is taken offstream for an extended period for work to be carried out. Turnaround is a blanket term that encompasses more specific terms such as I&Ts (inspection and testing), and

maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

. Turnaround can also be used as a synonym of

downtime In computing and telecommunications, downtime (also (system) outage or (system) drought colloquially) is a period when a system is unavailable. The unavailability is the proportion of a time-span that a system is unavailable or offline. This is ...

. Related terms are shutdowns, and outages sometimes written as Turnarounds, Shutdowns, and Outages (TSO).

Maintenance budget

Turnarounds are expensive, both in terms of lost

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

while the process unit is offline and in terms of direct costs for the labour, tools, heavy equipment and materials used to execute the project. They are the most significant portion of an industrial plant's yearly maintenance

budget A budget is a calculation plan, usually but not always financial plan, financial, for a defined accounting period, period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including tim ...

and can affect the company's

bottom line In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, and ...

if mismanaged. Turnarounds have unique

project management Project management is the process of supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...

characteristics.Project Vs. Turnaround
Breakdown of differences from Engineering, Procurement and Construction projects

References

{{Reflist

Maintenance budget

References

See also