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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Last November I joined a group of Institution Engineers Malaysia (IEM) members for a technical visit trip to Mechmar Boiler in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia. This was the first time I visited a boiler manufacturer company. Honestly I was thrilled to learn and explore how a boiler is made and what the factory looks like. I mean the production plant site. In total there were about 20-30 engineers from IEM. The program started at 9.30 am up to 12.30 pm.
Some information about Mechmar Corporation (Malaysia) Berhad
Mechmar Boiler was established over 30 years ago. Currently, Mechmar Boiler is the leading industrial boiler and pressure vessel manufacturer within the Asian Pacific region.
With a core emphasis on superior engineering and strict manufacturing quality standards, Mechmar continually strives and meets the ever increasing expectations of today’s customers for reliable heat, power or steam generation at an economical investment cost.
Mechmar wide product range serves to meet the heat, steam or power needs of our customers regardless of their industry and location. Their products are the result of years of continuous and rigorous detailed engineering and dedication to providing quality in our manufacture and in our service to our customers.
The headquartered of Mechmar is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Mechmar’s engineering team reinforces their commitment to their customers by providing sound engineering input with attention to detail. With two world class manufacturing and fabrication facilities in South East Asia both of which are ISO9001 certified by Lloyds, we meet this commitment with speed and at competitive prices. (Information taken from Mechmar official website).
Products manufactured by Mechmar
Here are the list of products manufactured by Mechmar Corporation (Malaysia) Berhad:
Oil/Gas-Fired Boiler
Titan HT
Titan AS
Titan MB
Solid Fuel-Fired Boilers
Titan MCC
Titan MCH
Titan BD
Titan MTH
-Heat Recovery Boiler -Various Custom Made Boilers -Reconditioned boilers
For more comprehensive list of products, please click here.
The factory administrator of Mechmar Boiler gave us some explanation on the history and business of the company.
A nice pen as souvenir for the IEM delegates. Luckily they provided a free pen because I forgot to bring my own pen.
This is the view in the production facility of Mechmar Boiler One of the oil/gas fired boiler nearly completed
That's me with some nice background in the Mechmar Boiler facility
Taking a group photo together in the boiler manufacturing plant
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Today, one of my colleague, Fawzi from Libya defended his Ph.D thesis. If my calculation is correct he submitted his draft thesis to our supervisor after 2 years and 7 months. In general that is very fast duration for a Ph.D student. I'm so proud of him and his success kind of boosted my motivation. Few months before that (last year) another Ph.D student in my research group, Jawaid Akhtar from Pakistan also successfully defended his thesis and earned the title "Dr". So, within a space of 6 months, 2 Ph.D students in Chemical Reaction Engineering Group (CREG) graduated and earned their doctorate degree. Once again I would like to humbly congratulate them.
Recently, I met a lecturer while servicing my MPV. We chatted about his experience doing his Ph.D knowing I'm still in the battle. I know him and he is not the boosting or snobbish type of person. He told me that, he managed to publish 8 journals while doing his Ph.D. Yep, you heard that right. 8 journals and not 8 conference papers. Wow! I was impressed. I asked him, "How long did you take to do your Ph.D?". He responded, "I took 2 and a half years". Once again...Wow!!! That is very impressive. His VIVA took a mere 15 minutes only. The examiners just asked him some very general questions. The reason for that is because there is nothing more to be asked as he has already published massively. Indeed so good. That reminded on another ex-CREG member, my colleague, Dr. Istadi whom if I'm not mistaken published 6 or 7 journals while doing his Ph.D. But he took 4 years to complete his study. This guy, sitting next to me in the workshop, published 8 journals (with impact factor) in 2.5 years!!!
I asked him, "How did you manage to do it?" His answer was simple. He met his supervisor each week and reported whatever work he has done. In another angle, he said that his supervisor is very strict and ordered him to meet him on a weekly basis. He added that his supervisor asked him to produce 1 journal every quarterly. That answered how he can produced 8 journals in 2.5 years.
2 days ago, I met another colleague who is currently doing Ph.D in Korea. He is also a staff in the UTM. He has basically completed his Ph.D. However, he has not defended his research yet because the university in Korea only allow students to have VIVA after he or she managed to publish 3 journal papers. So far he has managed to complete his thesis and published 2 journal papers within a period of 2 years and 9 months. Another impressive record. I asked him how he did it. How he managed to complete so fast? He said that he has to work from morning till night each and everyday. He walked to the university with his wife (who has completed her Ph.D) every morning and returned together at night. They have 3 daughters who are staying in Malaysia. Since the cost of living is extremely high in Korea, they have to school their daughters in Malaysia. That means they are separated from their kids. Both of them has the drive and goal to finish the Ph.D as fast as possible so that they can be united back with their 3 beautiful daughters. Well, that's another amazing Ph.D success story.
What about me? It has been already 2.5 years for me. I'm still working and struggling on my Ph.D. One of my journal is under review. Another one is on the way. There are another 3 journals that I have to publish but they are not ready yet. I have 3 conference papers published already and 1 scopus journal in hand. I have another 1 month of experimental work to do. I have some thermodynamic modelling to work on. Comparing myself with the stories above, I'm no where yet. Nevertheless, I'm not giving up. I'm fighting to end this battle by this year, if God will. Please pray for me.
For those of you who are is currently doing Ph.D, keep up the believe and spirit. Planning is very crucial. Remember the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". For those who are in the 4th or 5th year or more (some of you are my colleagues), don't worry. Just do it. Be persistent and put in more effort. We know Ph.D is full of unexpected problems. The challenge is how we act to the test.
So, in conclusion, some aspects that are very crucial in ensuring success and speed in our Ph.D are as follows:
Always meet and report your work to your supervisor. At least once a week.
Set a goal and reason why you want to complete your Ph.D. That will drive and motivate you to finish your study.
Publish your work in reputable journals with impact factors. That's like an insurance policy during the VIVA.
I'm trying to fulfill all there imperative points above. Let's do it.
I strongly believe this story is motivating and inspiring although it is short. If you like it, I appreciate it very much if you can share it by LIKE it below (with Facebook).
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A friend of mine (Dr. Mohanad El-Harbawi) from Universiti Teknologi Petronas has some research student vacancies. He is looking for 1 master and 1 PhD student with strong background in molecular chemistry, biology, quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) and MATLAB. Anyone interested in the project can send your CV to his email below. You can find out some details below:
Project’s title: Development of Ecotoxicity Relationships to Enhance Ionic Liquids Commercialization using Green Chemistry Approach
Location: Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Chemical Engineering Department, Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
Salary: 1650 RM (525 US$)/month for master (max. 1.5 years) and 2250 RM (715 US$)/month for PhD. (max. 2.5 years)
If you are interested or would like to ask further details, please contact the following:
Dr. Mohanad El-Harbawi, Senior Lecturer, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Chemical Engineering Department, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia HP: 0122398415 | Office: 605-3687581 | Fax: 605-3656176 Email: mohanad_elharbawi@petronas.com.my | mohanad_75@yahoo.com
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After the previous Professional Interview (PI) and writing examination conducted by Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) last April, I sat for another interview which is the Chartered Engineering interview by IChemE. The interview was carried out by 2 Fellow IChemE members yesterday morning in Dayabumi, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. I was accompanied by my beloved wife to drive to Kuala Lumpur as early as 4.30 am.
The purpose of this interview is to assess my training and experience whether I am fit to be a member of IChemE and chartered engineer. Before this, under IChemE, I am an Associate Member (which I can use the AMIChemE designation after my name). If my interview yesterday is successful, I will be upgraded to Member and Chartered engineer. With that after my name, I can use the designation of MIChemE and CEng.
This is the meeting room where my chartered engineer interview was held (at level 5 Dayabumi building)
The interview was scheduled at 9.30 am but it actually started at 9.50am. The interview was relatively tougher compared to my IEM previous interview (which took about 50 minutes). Among the points that the interviewers were seeking for are some proof of chemical engineering application that I practiced in my previous jobs. They also look for some elements on creativity, innovation, leadership and contribution to society. The interview hoovers around discussing the information that I had provided earlier in Form C - Competence and Commitment Report.
Myself before the interview. Luckily we arrived early in KL and the building. I can relaxed and stabilized myself before the interview. Do I look nervous? haha....
The interview ended after about 2 hours. It was really a mental challenge to answer all the questions threw by the lead interview who is a very experienced lady chemical engineer. Nevertheless I'm glad that the interview went smooth and I believed I managed to answer all the questions. For now, I just hope to receive a favourable result. From the information that I have, the result is very fast which is about roughly 10 days.
After the interview, we immediately travel south back to Johor Bahru. Yes, we purposely drove to KL for my interview. It was very tiring but at the same time, I'm glad that I managed to complete both IEM and IChemE interviews this year.
What about you? If you are not yet a member of IChemE, you can begin now. Seek for more information on how and why to get chartered from IChemE website.
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I have wanted to write and publish about this since few weeks ago. Unfortunately I was hooked up with my Ph.D study. I'm presently running my experiments in the lab.
Well here how the story goes on my quest to be a professional engineer under the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM).
2007
I registered with IEM as a graduate member. After officially becoming a graduate member, I searched for a mentor to help and guide me to be a professional engineer. Unfortunately, I could not find any professional chemical engineer that is available to be my mentor in Johor (the state that I live and work in). So, I decided to search for any mentor in Klang Valley area. Take note that I got the list of chemical engineering mentor from IEM. To cut the story short I found a mentor which I'm attracted to and contacted him. He is Hj. Ir. Tunai Shamsidi Ahmad, a very experienced chemical engineering consultant. He agreed to mentor me and I started recording my training and experience report. My training reports were all about my activities in the plant plus several projects that I was involved in. That time I was a process engineer working in a physical refinery plant. According to my mentor, my working experiences keep repeating month after month. That, according to him is not good enough for me. I need to get involved with more projects and tasks.
2008
I resigned as a process engineer in early 3rd quarter this year and began my career as a lecturer. As a lecturer, I strongly believe I have better control of my career direction. I'm not only involved in lecturing but also research, consultancy, writing, publication and many more. It's quite an interesting experience.
My mentor was very delighted after he knew that I become a lecturer. He said by becoming a lecturer, I will have more diversified projects that I can be involved in. As a result, my training reports became more interesting. Earlier on, my training reports dwell on activities in the plant/factory. But now, I have totally new experiences that I can record in my training report.
2010
After 3 years recording my engineering training report and completed attending all mandatory trainings required by the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), finally I'm qualified for the professional interview (PI) which is to be conducted by IEM. I then filled up the required forms, paid the fees and standby for the PI. While waiting for the PI, I have to prepare 2 more detail reports which are (1) Project Technical Report and (2) Training and Experience Report.
Earlier on, I had a headache thinking of what project I should write for my Project Technical Report. However, after a while I considered the Plate Heat Exchanger Installation in my plant. The project really fits all requirement and elements for the report such as design, engineering, economic, planning, project management etc.
2011
I was informed by IEM secretarial in January that my interview will take place in IEM head quarters in Petaling Jaya. Later in April, I received a call and email informing about my Professional Interview. I prepared for the interview like mad. The interview will consists of (1) oral session and (2) Essay questions which is related to our own technical project and engineering ethics.
Finally, in late June, I received a notification email from IEM confirming that I have passed my Professional Interview. Hence, my membership is upgraded to corporate member which will then be awarded the title IR (Ingeniur) by BEM (after I completed necessary paper works). Thank God I passed this Professional Interview. All the hard work has finally paid off. It was very tough to prepare the project technical report. It was like doing the final year design project alone (not in a group). But now, the project must be a real project that I have handled before. I must also thank many people for assisting me on creating my project technical report.
What about IChemE (Institution of Chemical Engineer) membership?
At the same time of preparing my project technical report, I also prepared myself to be a chartered engineer under IChemE. At this moment, IChemE representative has already emailed me and ask me to standby for the interview which will take place anytime from now. Deep inside I hope I can also make it for the interview. Wish me luck... :)
My 2 cents:- If you are not yet a professional engineer, don't wait!!! Register yourself with the engineering professional body in your country, follow the training program and record your engineering training experiences. I'm saying this because I wish somebody have advise me earlier to be a professional engineer while I'm still younger (I mean just after graduating). So, if you are in Malaysia, register with IEM. If you are in UK, register with IChemE. If you are in USA, register with AIChE. The same goes to the other countries... Good luck :)
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Last Friday, I was supposed to run my experiment. I had made the tedious preparation a day earlier so that the only think I need to do on Friday is to just start the experiment.
So, what happen on Friday? I connected my online data logger to my laptop. I heat up the heating tape gradually. I switched on the online graph monitoring in the data logger software to monitor the temperature profile of each thermocouples fixed in several locations in my experimental rig. I saw the temperature increase for the heating tape thermocouple. However, the thermocouple temperature in the reactor did not raise (after I switched on my turbular furnace heating). This was strange. All this while, everything it's OK. So, it's trouble shooting time. I looked at the tubular furnace temperature display. To my surprise the temperature which I set to be 500oC is still maintained at 29oC. Oh my God... Is the tubular furnace spoil? I have just used it yesterday and it was just fine.
Troubleshooting the tubular furnace.
I turn off the helium gas from entering my reactor. I conditioned the GC. I then checked what's wrong with my tubular furnace. I attempted switching it on and off as well as changed the power supply socket. With the help of Mahadhir (my Ph.D colleague), we tried to play around with the temperature control display and investigated the setting and/or timer. Who knows this might be the reason the tubular furnace cannot heat up. Mahadhir also searched for the manual of this Carbolite tubular furnace and gave it to me. I spent quite some time digesting the information in the manual and try to relate it to the problem. By this time I already know that my Friday allocation for experiment is over. Worse case scenario is I have to spend another whole day to transfer my furnace (if it is spoil) with a spare furnace. That will definitely take one days work to do. We tried many things which also include the possibility of heater or filament spoil. However, deep in my heart, I believe that there must be a simple problem and a simple solution. But then, I cannot yet figure it out.
Accidental trouble shooting discovery I almost get fed up and nearly decided to call for Carbolite engineer to come to see what is the problem. I sat on my tiny work station in the lab room. I look at my experimental rig from a distance (actually it is not that far - only about 1 meter). I wanted to see the overview of the problem and see if there is some possible solution. Then I noticed something!!!
I found that my tubular furnace was not closed and double clipped on. Oh my God... Maybe this was the culprit. I did not even close the furnace and decided to heat it up. Immediately I close the tubular furnace and clip them. I turned on the furnace heating and off it goes. The temperature increased. So, that was the thing. It was a silly mistake and a very simple solution. I just did not close the tubular reactor.
Morale of the story
I learn my lesson that day. I need to be more careful when running the experiment. It was my first silly mistake after many times running similar experiment. I also don't know why that happen. It must slipped my mind. In addition, I can also know another that the furnace heating would not turn on if it is not properly close. It took me 1 whole day to experience this... Haha..what a day...
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This is funny. I got it from my wife who found it in a social network site. She giggled alone. I asked why? She said, this Ph.D cartoon is funny. I checked it out and I also laughed. This illustrates how tense and tough a Ph.D student life is.
Seriously I'm feeling it now. Whenever I do anything, I will think and remember my unsettle Ph.D work. When I walk, drive, rest and even sleep... I still think about my research work. I hope this will be over soon... :)
This cartoon can also provide some ideas on a post graduate students life to the undergraduates. Enjoy the cartoon...
If the cartoon is too small, click on the image to enlarge.
I just share this cartoon for fun and it is nothing at all related to me or anybody.
To enjoy the rest of the Ph.D comic, go to this link.
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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!
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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.
