Page 60 - Boiler Operator’s Handbook

Operating Wisely 45

tor starters located there are tripping as if the mo- happen every day, how can I plan for them?” Sometime
tor was overloaded. You lost some ventilation fans; later they’re realizing what they can do, and you should
you can’t stand to be in the boiler room for more be doing the same thing. Prepare disaster plans and
than ten minutes at a time; insulation on steam don’t be afraid to imagine the almost incomprehensible.
lines that were soaked by an oil leak are smoking; At least now, after 9/11 I don’t have to explain that part
the control room air conditioning isn’t making it so to people.
you’re perspiring all over the log book as you try to
record all the systems that are shutting down from
overheating. LOGS

• You are experiencing heavy snow, well beyond
Recording data in a log has been addressed in prior
normal such that you’re trapped in the plant, your
sections but the maintenance of logs is so critical to oper-
relief can’t get in; oil delivery trucks can’t get there
ating wisely that it deserves a section of its own. I have
for a day or two; the roof of the boiler room is
a multitude of stories that reflect on the performance of
buckling under the weight of the snow; the atmo-
plants and operators and almost every one involves a
spheric vents for gas systems and the oil tanks are
failure to maintain an adequate log. A few describe how
buried in a snow drift; combustion air openings are
maintenance of a log favored the operators and the plant.
plugged or plugging with snow.
I won’t bore you with all the stories but I will provide
some direction in how to avoid cost, embarrassment, and
• Today is the third day of sub zero weather and
injury through the dedicated maintenance of logs.
systems that were supposed to keep operating in
Logs are tools. They contain information that al-
the cold are beginning to freeze up. For you in the
lows the operator to make better decisions. In many
south, it only has to be the first day of sub freezing
cases they are the only records of a plant’s operation and
weather.
the activity therein. By looking at the log an operator can
• The electrical power is out and you were just told determine if a current condition of pressure or tempera-
by the electric company that it’s down for at least ture is consistent with what existed at another time un-
a day. Two subsidiary considerations are when it’s der similar conditions; a valuable check on the memory
below freezing and when it’s extremely hot. which can, and frequently does, fail. Mine does.
The wise operator knows the value of his log. By
• Consider loss of city water supply due to a city line maintaining an adequate log the operator is demonstrat-
rupture. You just got told it will be at least twenty- ing his skill, protecting the interest of his employer, and
four hours before you can expect water pressure developing a database as a resource for evaluating the
but you have to keep the plant going and you need performance of his plant which allows him to improve
makeup water. on the plant’s performance. There are many sources of
information available to an operator today but the one
• Boiler No. 1 (or the lowest number that’s still resource that continues to be a reliable source of infor-
around) just blew up shredding all piping and mation is the log.
wiring within six feet of the boiler; steam, water, Modern plants are equipped with computers, re-
chemicals, fuel gas and/or fuel oil are spilling into corders, electronic devices called data loggers and other
the area; you can’t hear a thing because the blast means of recording data but those devices do not record
just destroyed your ear drums temporarily. Repeat everything. The electronic devices may not retain infor-
this consideration for each boiler in the plant. mation, some only retain data for twenty-four hours.
Frequently the traditional boiler plant log is abandoned
• Your plant is next to a chemical complex that in the mistaken belief that all that modern instrumen-
makes a hazardous gas; they have an alarm system tation eliminates the need for a log. All too frequently
to indicate a gas release and it’s been blowing for those plants realize, after a serious incident, that belief
five minutes which is a fair indication that it’s not was ill founded. A major, or even a minor, incident can
a drill. destroy electronic data to leave the plant and operator
with no historic data for reference or evidence.
Almost every operator that looks at this list com- The typical boiler plant at the turn of the century
plains “C’mon, Ken, that’s not fair! These things don’t should have a log “book,” not a three-ring binder or