ARCHIVING ENGINEERING CASE FILES FOR FUTURE REFERENCE Crispin Hales, PhD, CEng Hales & Gooch Ltd. Chicago USA and Christchurch NZ www.halesgooch.com March, 2006
SOME ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION 1. What sort of files are available? 2. What about confidentiality problems? 3. What format is the information in? 4. What is the important material? 5. How can it be archived and used?
FORENSIC ENGINEERING FILES What happened? Reports, statements, photographs, depositions Why did it happen? Review, analysis, interviews, timelines, logic Who was responsible? Contracts, documents, communications Who should have done what? Codes, standards, procedures Opinions/Interrogatories Depositions/Reports Mediation/Arbitration Settlement Trial (Last resort!) Technical Conclusions Legal Conclusions
Surely we can learn from these cases? Investigations are carried out at great cost Engineering history is compiled in detail Evidence is carefully gathered in quantity Technical issues are researched carefully Case claims are debated and resolved Files are then discarded and forgotten! Most of the materials are never used again!
What sort of files are we talking about? Bankers Boxes Red Rope Files Rolls of Drawings Triodyne had over 30,000 case files gone except H&G
Quiet Disasters - quietly forgotten Powerhouse explosion 6 deaths / $1 billion loss Bankruptcy of manufacturer wall of patents gone Papermill boiler pipe explosion 2 deaths / lawsuits Tri-axis transfer press failures lawsuits / bankruptcy Electric arc furnace eruption lawsuits / bankruptcy Company information confidential files!
EXAMPLE OF A RESIDUAL FILE (Originally 4-6 Bankers Boxes) Papermill boiler pipe explosion 2 deaths / lawsuits
Example: Papermill boiler explosion THE BOILER 1962 Coal-fired 275,000 lb/hr 850 psig at header 6 inch feedwater line Schedule 80 carbon steel
RUPTURED PIPE
THE INVESTIGATION Part 1 Removing pipe Inspecting details Modeling flows Reviewing records Creating timeline
Boiler Logs and Reports
THE INVESTIGATION Part 2 Machining samples Checking theories Analyzing metallurgy Coming to conclusions
FEEDWATER PIPE FAILURE Design specs. Pressure & Temp. Pipe geometry Normal flow pattern Insertion of quill Unique flow pattern Chelant injection Susceptible region Low residual Higher injection rates High dosing Increased local attack Local metal loss Catastrophic failure
SOME FACTORS INVOLVED 1. Pipe Geometry 2. Pipe material 3. Flow characteristics 4. Operating conditions 5. Water chemistry 6. Injection quill design 7. Chemicals injected 8. Monitoring procedures 9. Chemical feed instructions
MORE FACTORS INVOLVED 10. Side effects of chemicals 11. Chemical product changes 12. Water chemistry reviews 13. Boiler inspection procedures 14. Interpretation of inspection results 15. Inspection reports 16. Operator training 17. Ongoing field experiences
THE CODES Provide rules for basic safety Offer additional guidance & commentary Encapsulate experience Reflect consensus Lag events Are not cookbooks Allow for special cases Are continuously developed Become increasingly complex
ASME BOILER & PIPING CODES APPLICABLE TO QUILL 1977 Section I, Power Boilers: Feedwater line included in code 1980 Section I + B31.1-1980: Power piping code covers feedwater line 1983 through 1992 Same basic requirements
BOILER AND PIPING CODE DEVELOPMENTS 1995 B31.1-1995 includes non-mandatory appendices: Appendix IV: Corrosion control for power piping systems. Appendix V: Recommended practice for operation, maintenance and modification of power piping systems.
BOILER AND PIPING CODE DEVELOPMENTS 1996 1995 Addenda include additions: New Para 5.0 in Appendix IV on monitoring pipe wall thinning due to erosion-corrosion + more on testing and record-keeping in Appendix V. Also, repairs/replacement of pipe is covered in Interpretation 26-1
ACTIONS TAKEN TO HELP PREVENT SIMILAR FAILURES Approval for paper by attorneys & companies Joint technical paper by experts + companies Paper at Nat. Board Boiler Inspectors AGM Failed pipe donated to NBBI training center Paper published in a Journal by permission Journal paper reprinted by permission Follow-up presentations and publications This was a personal effort by all those concerned
69 th GENERAL MEETING NATIONAL BOARD OF BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL INSPECTORS AND THE ASME INTERNATIONAL MAIN COMMITTEE BOILER FEEDWATER PIPE FAILURE BY FLOW-ASSISTED CHELANT CORROSION Crispin Hales, Kelley J. Stevens, Phillip L. Daniel, Mehrooz Zamanzadeh and Albert D. Owens. Published Paper in Technical Journal Oral Presentation to Boiler Inspectors Failed Pipe Donated for Inspector Training Reprinted and Distributed Available on Internet [PDF] Boiler feedwater pipe failure by flowassisted chelant corrosion File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML assisted chelant corrosion. Crispin Hales *(1), Kelley J. Stevens (2), Phillip L. Daniel (3),... termed here "flow-assisted chelant corrosion".... www.matcoinc.com/files/ PublicationPDFs/1boiler_feedwater.pdf - Similar pages
Despite all this it almost happened again!! A Very Near Miss! Company was merged with another company Then that was bought out by another company Old records were scrapped No file materials on pipe failure were kept One day a steam leak was seen by chance Just caught it in time before pipe exploded! Management discarded prior knowledge!
POINTS OF INTEREST FROM EXAMPLE 1. Getting approvals took a lot of time and effort 2. Getting content agreed took more time and effort 3. The company didn t learn from its own experience 4. Much useful information remains confidential 5. For all the effort there has not been much feedback 6. However, an E-mail enquiry just came from China! Note: After the second failure most of the original file materials were transferred to the company to replace those they discarded.
SOME DIFFICULTIES WITH ARCHIVING FILE MATERIALS Determining what is important Getting approval for using it Determining what format to use Integrating different types of material Establishing a recognized home base Creating awareness of what exists Dealing with the residual materials
An Example of a Working System: The Life of Materials Information Granta Design Limited Cambridge United Kingdom www.grantadesign.com Software for enterprise-wide materials information management. Statistical roll-up Generate design data ASM Handbook MMPDS ESDU Mil-HDBK-17 CAMPUS, IDES Bulk data import Data reduction Store pedigree info Data Mining, Analysis Special Projects Trade-off, Comparison Optimal Selection Access Materials Reference Information Publish Materials Info Browse, Search, Select, Report, Export to Analysis
GRANTA MI Overview Bulk Data Input Bulk Data Processing Mgt tools (Schema, Access Control..) Windows Lab GRANTA MI Database Selector API Specialist Users Editor Viewer Multiple Simultaneous Inputs General Users Web Browser
SUMMARY OF SITUATION We have lots of detailed engineering case files The files are generally confidential but useable They represent enormous amounts of research work They contain valuable information and materials They can provide case studies for teaching However: The stories quickly get old and forgotten The files are getting lost by change and attrition We don t have an accepted way of archiving them