Boilers and heat exchanger failures can result in extended downtimes; in fact, often the lost costs from downtime far exceed the emergency repair costs! The heat exchanger or boiler is a critical path in many operations, and when it goes out, all functions stop until it can be fixed. Depending on the scope, this can be days or weeks or work.
What do I do when the boiler fails?
Our corrosion and metallurgy experts have dealt with a variety of boiler and heat exchanger failures, and we can help you, too. The first thing is to make sure you’re safe and operations are suspended appropriately. Next, you’ll want to determine why it failed. We suggest removing the failed component or regions once you’ve identified them; in some cases, this may require non-destructive or leak testing.
Then you will want to carefully preserve it and send it to a laboratory for failure analysis. At that point, you should work with the failure analyst and others to determine a plan for preventing it from re-occurring. Finally, you’ll want to make sure you have a repair plan that includes qualified welds and welders, along with a mitigation plan. Further inspections of the facility may also be required depending on the scope and nature of the failure and the liquids/gases enclosed in the process.
What are common boiler failure mechanisms?
- Welding failures are the most common in our experience; there are just so many welds within a single boiler, often made in tricky locations.
- Anything from porosity to overheating can have an enormous impact on the operating life.
- Crevices are often present in multiple areas, which can lead to accelerated crevice corrosion.
- Hydrogen embrittlement and high-temperature hydrogen attack are both possible in some areas.
We look forward to helping! Contact us now to get started right away or call us at 832-481-6600: