New software directs the fight against boiler tube failure

Journal Article · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Power Engineering; (United States)

OSTI ID:6881927

Abbott, R C ^[1]; Tilley, R; Gehl, S ^[2]; Singh, G P; Lamping, G A ^[3]

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1. New York State Electric and Gas Corp., Binghamton, NY (United States)
2. Electric Power Research Inst. (United States)
3. Karte Technology Inc. (United States)

Boiler Maintenance Workstation supplements formal prevention programs to dramatically reduce tube failure. This paper reports that boiler tube failure (BTF) is such a common experience (over 4000 occurrences are reported each year to the North American Electric Reliability Council) that plant managers have developed a variety of methods to aid tube repair and replacement. Although these methods, often ingenious, have steadily increased the speed of boiler tube failure diagnosis and repair, they may soon be obsolete. As a result of research and development by the Fossil Power Plants Department of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), new software tools now are available and are proving to be effective at preventing failure and forced outages. One such software package, called the Boiler Maintenance Workstation (BMW), combines several modules to provide a foundation to help manage key BTF prevention activities. Research by EPRI and others has improved mechanistic understanding and uncovered prevention methods for nearly all types of failures. BMW provides guidance for applying newly developed NDE techniques, metallurgical analysis, quality control, welding, and water conditioning to a boiler availability improvement program.

• OSTI ID: 6881927
• Journal Information: Power Engineering; (United States), Journal Name: Power Engineering; (United States) Vol. 96:10; ISSN 0032-5961; ISSN POENAI
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
200104* -- Fossil-Fueled Power Plants-- Components
42 ENGINEERING
421000 -- Engineering-- Combustion Systems
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
B CODES
BOILERS
COMPUTER CODES
CONTROL
EPRI
FABRICATION
FAILURES
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
JOINING
MAINTENANCE
METALLURGY
POWER PLANTS
QUALITY CONTROL
REPAIR
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
TUBES
WELDING