Since I have written my experience visiting a boiler manufacturing company recently, I think it is good if I follow up with another article related to boiler. This time, it is about the importance of boiler water treatment chemicals. I remembered monitoring the boiler man blended and poured some chemicals (from Nalco) to be injected into the boilers.
Do you know that like cooling tower, a boiler also requires chemical treatment for various reasons. When I was a process engineer, I got the opportunity to learn about the chemical water treatments for utility boiler and cooling tower. There are various chemicals with specific functions. The chemicals, which I will explain below will imperatively preserve the life of a utility boiler (in this case a low pressure boiler). A low pressure boiler in this case is one which is less then 200 psi. We shall look upon several chemical parameters, namelu the amines, alkalinity, sulfites and phosphates or polymers of the boiler water.
Amines are used to increase the condensate pH to a range of 7.8 to 8.7. When generating steam, carbonic acid forms and as a result your steam pH is low. Amines are volatile and when introduced into the steam header or boiler water, amines will increase the condensate pH. A low pH will lead to excessive condensate pipe corrosion.
Alkalinity is used to increase the boiler water pH to above 10.5. This serves three purposes. pH above 10.5 will decrease your overall corrosion rates, it will keep a 3:1 ratio of total alkalinity to silica, and it allows the polymer to react with calcium. A 3:1 ratio keeps silica from plating in the boiler. A low pH will result in an over general corrosion appearance on your boiler tubes.
Sulfites are used to remove any dissolved oxygen from the water. Dissolved oxygen enters the boiler in make up water or as air is sucked into the system. Dissolved oxygen is extremely corrosive to your tubes and localized pits will form, ultimately resulting in premature tube failure. Maintain a 20 to 40 ppm residual of sulfite in your boiler water.
Phosphates and polymers are used to react with any calcium in the water. The polymer attaches itself to the calcium. The polymer and calcium then is able to exit the boiler through the surface or bottom blowdown. Phosphate reacts with the calcium and sinks the calcium to the bottom of the boiler. When using phosphates you must perform boiler blowdown daily to release the phosphate and calcium. Failure to use a polymer or phosphate will result in calcium build up on the tubes or as some call it boiler scale. This will decrease the over boiler efficiency and will drastically increase your fuel cost.
It is vital to note that water expands 100,000 times when it change from a liquid to vapor phase. A typical home water boiler 30 gallon system has enough energy to throw a 2,000 pound car over 100 feet in the air if catastrophically failed.
First Image credited to: www.johnstonboiler.com. Second Image credited to http://www.indiamart.com (Example of Nalco Chemical for boiler water treatment).
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This is just to share with you my Ph.D updates. It has been already137 days since I registered as a Ph.D student.
1. Quartz reactor I'm going to used quartz tube as a reactor for my experimental research. The funny thing is I'm having difficulties in getting them. I don't understand all these manufacturers/suppliers. I have contacted 4 quartz tube manufacturer around the world. They responded, but after I gave them my design, none of them return back to me. Are they genuinely quartz manufacturer? If you know any reliable quartz tube manufacturer, please help me. Thanks. That's it, I only need new quartz tube with my own design to begin my experiments.
2. Preparing my First Stage Proposal I'm in the midst of preparing my Ph.D proposal . I wish I can complete them as soon as possible and present them in my second semester.
3. Learning Matlab I've just started working on the thermodynamic studies of my reaction. It is not a simple task learning and doing all this. I need to study the reaction kinetics of the reactions. Calculate the heat enthalphy and Gibbs Free energy. Then use Matlab software to simulate the reactions. My supervisor insist me to use Matlab. Now, I need help in Matlab.
4. Paper presentation I'll be presenting 2 papers this coming December, both in a national level conference. One is ESTEC'09 which is hosted by Universiti Malaysia Trengganu (UMT) and the other one will is RCSSST'09 hosted by Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UNIMAP).
5. Journals ??? I'm also preparing my first paper to be submitted to a journal I haven't decide yet. Need to get them ready fast.
Hi there... How are you? Last month I published Engineering Ethics 101 Videos. The intention is mainly to educate ourselves on the important of engineering ethics. Now I'm continuing the series of engineering ethics video part 4-6.
Part 4: Can You Keep a Secret? Confidentiality & Engineering
Synopsis of part 4: Engineers often find themselves in roles that require keeping of a confidence. In this video, Michael Loui describes different types of secrets and an engineers ethical and legal obligations to keep them.
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Synopsis of part 5: Making decisions ethically is an important part of being an engineer. In this video, Michael Loui addresses a variety of tests for considering whether a decision is ethical or not and applies them to everyday cases.
Part 6: Professional Ethics in Engineering, The Citicorp Center Case
Michael C. Loui presents the 6th video in the series Professional Ethics in Engineering with a classic example for us to have better comprehension on the real engineering ethics.
To view Part 1-3 of the engineering ethics video, please click here.
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Increased awareness of sustainable development gives environmentally credible companies a competitive edge in national and international markets. A certified Environmental Management System proves that your business is taking active steps to fulfill your responsibility.
What an Environmental Management System encompasses
The ISO 14000 series of standards
The structure of the standard
Requirements of ISO 14001
Acceptance of the standard
What is involved in the certification process
I personally recommend you to get hold of this informative book and learn more about how you can contribute in helping the environment (off course this message is in conjunction with earth hour 2009 which will be held this 28th March 2009).
In case you are already familiar with ISO 14001 and would like to know the strategy and secrets to achieve it, I would like to recommend another book which is also FREE. This book is a perfect reference for any manufacturing industry.
This road map can be used as a resource for your company as you travel down the road to ISO 14001:2004 certification.It is created in an easy to read and understand format that can aid in understanding the ISO 14001:2004 standard.
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Do you know what is ISO 9000? Are you aware of the importance of ISO 9000 in your working place or your engineering practice? Is it important for us?
Short answer is a big YES!!!
As a former process engineer, I handled a lot of ISO documents related to the plant I was in charged. There were indeed a lot of forms, documentation, files etc. We need to properly and accurately maintain them. I need my supervisors to periodically checked all the ISO documents and double the same activity before internal and external audit. It is a good practice and it make us to be discipline and work in a proper system.
The following ISO description is adopted from Wikipedia:
a set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business;
monitoring processes to ensure they are effective;
keeping adequate records;
checking output for defects, with appropriate and corrective action where necessary;
regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness; and
facilitating continual improvement
A company or organization that has been independently audited and certified to be in conformance with ISO 9001 may publicly state that it is "ISO 9001 certified" or "ISO 9001 registered." Certification to an ISO 9000 standard does not guarantee the compliance (and therefore the quality) of end products and services; rather, it certifies that consistent business processes are being applied. Indeed, some companies enter the ISO 9001 certification as a marketing tool.
If ISO 9000 is very new to you, then I highly recommend you to download and read this FREE ISO 9000 Brochure.
Here is some brief information about the brochure. Title: What Is ISO 9000 And Should I Care? Primary Category: Industrial & Manufacturing
Short Description: A certified quality management system promotes, facilitates and enables consistency and improvements in a process or product.
Long Description: ISO 9000 consists of a series of Quality Management System standards that are designed to facilitate and enable consistency of a product or service and thereby ensure that customer requirements are met or exceeded. They can be applied in any manufacturing industry or service sector.
The value of certification to customers is evident, but the quality of the certificate is also important. All certificates are not equal.
As more and more companies become certified, buyers are looking at the reputation of the registrar. DNV's approach is one of a partnership. Our goal is to provide organizations with value-added services that result in a certification which is recognized and accepted by its customers and prospects.
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I just received an interesting email (thanks Mr. Ray for forwarding it to me) mentioning about a special "Volume Potable Water and Power Production" product. It is believed that this product will be of interest to World Vision as it provides clean potable water as a by-product of electrical power generation, both of which are core fundamentals to health issues for the developing world. I believe, a lot more parties will be interested with such a brilliant revolutionary product like this.
Doxford Power Ltd. (DPL), a company based in UK, produces a 10MWe power station equipment or power stations complete on a supply or BOO (Build, Own and Operate) basis. These power stations are significantly different to current (fossil and alternative) power stations in that their primary fuel is derived from two sources, Biomass (Jatropha Curcas, Rapeseed, Palm oil etc) or waste (household or industrial). With that, the product has no reliance on fossil fuels, the chance for a developing country to meet its current and future energy demands from domestic agribusiness and a waste management solution which can be run in parallel to the agribusiness which can utilize what is normally sent to landfill sites as EfW (energy for waste).
DPL owns and utilizes a second technology called a Powereau Unit which drives considerable efficiencies into standard heat engines (generators and gas turbines) and also the DPL power units. A by-product of this intercooler technology is water, and it produce lots of it. A 10MWe power station will require approximately 25,000 tonnes of biomass oil per month but will produce as a by-product in excess of 100,000 tonnes of water per month and more in humid conditions. This water alone justifies the fuel source.
Fuel Source
The DPL 10MWe power plant can utilize Jatropha Curcas plantations to supply 100% renewable and sustainable fuel supply. The berry crop has the oil removed via crushing and filtration with the waste being made into briquettes for domestic heating and cooking use (thus avoiding cutting further trees) One key issue here is sustainable employment. One DPL power plant will require 2000 hectares of land on average to run every year if Jatropha Curcas is the crop of choice. This provides employment at usually a higher standard than current farmers receive of one job per hectare.
The core infrastructure resources for world health are water and power. This DPL power plant provides both of these and whats more, it can commercially reduce current power production costs.
It seems that this is a superb product and the company has began the business development for it. I understand that the marketing material for this product is being processed now. Hence, what you are seeing (from the power point slide presentation) is the core management marketing pre-graphic designers and is not the final professional presentation yet. The product will only be available from April 2008 onwards.
I tried to get further in depth information from the company's website; Doxfordpower.com, however, it could not be opened. I hope the problem can be rectified and interested parties can refer to it for more information.
...Finally we came out with a very risky idea but can solve the problem faster. We have to maintain a slight vacuum inside the buffer tank just to hold the oil from pouring out of the leaking hole. We must attain the right balance i.e. to avoid oil from coming out of the vessel so that welding can be done; and to avoid spark from entering the vessel to avoid fire. We gathered enough manpower to execute and monitor the job.
The welding job runs smooth. Due to lack of time, we could not conduct air or steam test to really ensure that the welded portion is properly sealed. With that in mind, the fitters must properly weld the leaking section. They welded a few layers to ensure there’ll be no leaking at all.
While the welding job is in progress on the ground floor, another big vessel on the first floor was externally caught on fire. Smoke rushed out from underneath the insulation and we can see fire coming out of it as well. We swiftly grabbed the fire hose and spray water towards the fire.
It was the insulation wool that was actually burning. The big vessel has some hidden leak and when the plant breaks vacuum, oil came out of it. Combination of oil, high temperature and air triggered the fire as the flash point was reached. That was not the first time. It had happened several times during plant start up or stoppage. Luckily, we managed to put off the fire. However, we continued spraying water to cool down the hot insulation wool. We also poured few pails of low concentrated caustic to encapsulate all leaked oil (hydrocarbon molecules) in the insulation wool.
As soon as the situation on the first floor was under control, the welding job on the ground floor was also completed. Everything looked fine and the plant is ready to start. The vacuum system was slowly established and crude oil is pumped into the plant. After I was really satisfied with the overall situation, I left the plant, relieved that we have identified the prime pumping problem that haunted us all these while. It was already dark and I was very exhausted.
That was the problem # 2 that recently occurred in the plant. I shall continue with problem # 1 followed with problem # 3 in few days time. Oh yea, the photos are not actual events of what occurred in the plant.
James Dyson is an inventor and a technology team player. He is the type of man who likes to make things work better. Dyson and his team have developed various brilliant quality products that achieved sales of over £3 billion worldwide. He has established James Dyson Foundation in 2002 with the intention to promote charitable giving in the field of science, engineering, medicine and education. He is also the founder of Dyson School of Design Innovation which will be opened in 2009.
In 1991, Dyson won the International Design Fair prize in Japan for his 'G Force' vacuum system. The Japanese were so impressed by its performance that the G Force became a status symbol. He designed and built an industrial cyclone tower, which effectively and efficiently removed powder particles by exerting centrifugal forces greater than 100,000 times those of gravity.
In 1993 he opened his research center and factory in Wiltshire, and developed a machine that collected even finer particles of dust (microscopic particles). He came out with the revolutionary Dual Cyclone™ (DCO1) system, the first in a range of cleaners to give constant suction. The traditional bag has been replaced by two cyclone chambers which cannot clog with dust. After the outer cyclone has spun out the larger dust and dirt particles, the inner cyclone further accelerates the air to remove unhealthy microscopic particles. It proves to be a better and improved vacuum cleaner.
The technology that this Dyson vacuum cleaner employed separates dirt and dust from the air by centrifugal force and collecting it in a bin. It doesn't rely on a filter or bag that clogs, hence suction remains constant. Users will save money because there’s no bag or filter to be replaced in the vacuum set.
The technology is so great that it captures particles as small as pollen, bacteria and mould spores. That's why the air a Dyson expels has 150 times less pollen, bacteria and mould spores than the air you breathe. On top of that, the Dyson vacuum set is tested strong, tough and durable.
There will be two major events (Exhibition and Conference) coming on this coming week from 27 - 30th November 2007. One will be held in Malaysia while the other one will be organized in Singapore. Check it out:
BioMalaysia 2007 - Venue: Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), Kuala Lumpur.
BioMalaysia 2007, Malaysia’s premier international biotechnology event, brings together biotechnology and life science professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers from all over the world to connect, network, learn and exchange ideas.
BioMalaysia 2007 is targeted at local and international biotechnology and life sciences attendees from all areas of the industry specifically in Agriculture, Healthcare and Industrial sectors.
This year’s theme focuses on innovation, the driving force of biotechnology. Get new perspectives and insights on how the biotechnology and life sciences industry plays a crucial role in innovation economy, and what the unique opportunities and challenges are in bringing innovative discoveries to commercialisation in the global markets. Hear what the roadmap for an Innovation Economy in Malaysia will be.
Featuring
Latest research findings
State-of-the-art technologies
New product launches and demonstrations
Networking opportunities with local and international attendees
Business and collaborative opportunities
Production and research capabilities
Media publicity opportunities
Focus Area Agriculture, Healthcare and Industrial Biotechnology
----------------------$----------------------
CIA 2007- Venue: Suntec Singapore, Level 4. ControlsAsia2007 - The 15th International Plant Process Engineering Exhibition and Conference InstrumentAsia2007 - The 13th International Instrumentation, Measurement and Testing Exhibition and Conference AnaLabAsia2007 - The 11th International Laboratory and Analytical Technology Exhibition and Conference CIA2007 provides an ideal platform for the sharing of ideas and building of new contacts among the industry leaders and professionals in controls & automation, instrument, testing, analysis and process engineering. Preregister Online at: www.cia-asia.com
Personally, I have attended the CIA2006 held in KLCC last year. I gained a lot of informations, ideas, knowledges and goodies. It will be great to attend the CIA2007 in Singapore. Unfortunately, I could not make it to either the BioMalaysia2007 or the CIA2007 due to job constraint. Hopefully I can visit such exhibition later in the future. I hope anybody attending the exhibition or seminar can share their experiences with us.
The entire week have been an interesting. Besides my routine job, I learned and experienced new things. However, I will share only the following 3 stuffs.
Vacuum dropped due to wet steam
I hate this case!!! When vacuum pressure dropped, the quality of oil is affected and most of the time the oil have to be rejected. In this case, vacuum dropped occurred because of wet steam. Wet steam is basically water carry over from boiler. Boiler is supposed to produce steam and deliver it to plant. When boiler began sending steam + water to the plant (which is not suppose to happen), the vacuum system is interrupted. The vacuum lost its capability to suck fatty acid which is supposed to be removed from the oil. I could not let it happen again. I don't want my plant to reject oil again because of this 'typical' reason. The boiler people never want to admit that they sent steam + water to the plant.
Therefore, I decided to investigate the case further. Few minutes after the 3rd incident ocurred (wet steam) I took a bottle of condensate water sample (this is the condensed steam which became hot water) and tested its TDS (total dissolved solid). We tested the TDS using a digital TDS meter at the boiler house. The TDS of the sample showed 70 ppm. Normal condensate water should display reading less than 10 ppm. This implied that water carry over (wet steam) happened. Why? Because, steam is water (H2O) at 120 ++oC temperature (around 15-17 bar). Hence the boiler is/should only send steam (pure H2O). Pure H2O should have zero or very minimum content of metal/solids/substance inside it. When steam condensed and became condensate water, the content of metal/solids/substance should remain. However, when wet steam occurs (due to water level fluctuation inside the boiler), some water follows the steam to the plant. The water is chemically treated and this increased its TDS. Therefore, if the condensed water is 'rich' of TDS, this confirms that wet steam is taking place.
Up to today, I gathered 2 condensate water samples (as proof) after the wet steam incident and the TDS result is very high!!! The boiler people definitely have to do something to avoid this from worsening or happening again. I'm not accusing anybody to be responsible of the "oil rejection". I sincerely just want to solve the problem. Save cost and time as well.
Checking the Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) at different temperature
When I first checked the condensate water sample which was collected by my supervisor, it showed TDS of 67 ppm. The boilerman said, that is impossible. He claimed that my sample was very cold (I left the sample in my office for about 5 hours before testing it. Therefore the air condition has cooled down the condensate water temperature to about 24-27oC). That's fine....I told him, let's heat the same sample up to 65-70oC and repeat the TDS test. We heated up the sample and re-tested the sample at 65oC. The sample showed reading around 70ppm. At least, it's close the the earlier TDS reading. Before repeating the TDS test, I told the boilerman that TDS have nothing to do with temperature. However, he stubbornly claimed that temperature influenced the TDS reading. After that he kept quiet and admitted that temperature have nothing to do with TDS. Hence, the condensate water really have high TDS which means water carry over (wet steam).
Before facing the shutdown in 11 days time, I toured my plant another round, just to check all the valves and other parts that need to be replaced. I went from one pump to another pump. There are a lot of pumps. They don't look good. Ugly black dirty oils covered them. I checked the suction and discharge ball valves. Some of the suction valve are 6" and 8" valve and the discharge valve are 4". Well, the sizes of big valves are easier to detect or decide. There's no big problem for me identifying them now. However, that was not the case when I joint the company earlier. It took me some time to get familiar with all types of valves and their brand.
Then I went from one heat exchanger to another heat exchanger. I checked out the drain valves. It's harder for me to estimate the sizes of those drain valves and deciding the brand. There are commonly small varying from 1/2" to 2". In between those sizes, there are also 1.75" 1", 1.5" and others. Deciding the correct size and brand is vital to order and purchase the repair kits/seats. Ordering the wrong spare parts will just be a total waste of money and time and the chance to replace the valve seats which can only be done during plant shutdown.
The darkish, oil layer covering the valves at the pumps and heat exchangers are something that must be improved. It should not be left dirty and uncomfortable for eyes. It should be cleaned and well maintained. I want the valves to be clean and shining like a new piece of metal. Well, We are working on that as well. I'm developing a 5S system (a Japanese Concept of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)) for maintaining the plant to be a clean healty place and pleasant working environment.
Curious Cat Science & Engineering Blog is a very interesting and informative blog containing a wide range of science and engineering stuff. The blog is well and neatly maintained by Mr John Hunter. If you are looking for extra information knowledge and unthinkable news, you can always get it from Curious Cat Science & Engineering Blog. John Hunter is also well verse in management improvement, engineering and economics. He is also good in design of experiment (DOE) stuff. Earlier he gave me some insight and input with regard of DOE:
Here are some good sites with more information on design of experiments and articles on design of experiments including many from the Center of Quality and Productivity Improvement at the University of Wisconsin that was founded by William Hunter, my father and George Box (leaders in the field, in my biased opinion, but others opinions as well).
I’m Zaki. I used to be a project, process and chemical engineer. Few years ago I successfully became a Chartered Engineer (IChemE) and Professional Engineer (BEM). I'm now employed as a chemical engineering educator/researcher/consultant. Hope you like reading my blog. I welcome any feedback from you. My email: zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. TQ!
Get this powerful 80-page ebook on various alternative energy that can save our environment and save your money. On top of that, you'll get a FREE eCourse on alternative energy from me.
boiler in make up water or as air is sucked into the system. Dissolved oxygen is extremely corrosive to your tubes and localized pits will form, ultimately resulting in premature tube failure. Maintain a 20 to 40 ppm residual of sulfite in your boiler water.
Have you downloaded my free "Choosing Alternative Fuel" Ebook? If not, then please download it here. It's Free and on top of getting the free ebook, you'll get eCourse on Alternative Fuel. It's a good and easy way to add more valuable information to yourself.
