Boiler Safety

Draft 11 28 2011

John Newquist

$1.6 million settlement reached in boiler explosion

• Daniel J. Quaintance, 56, of Appleton was following directions from a technician employed by the service company, when the boiler exploded.

• Quaintance suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as extreme blood loss, numerous broken bones in his face, respiratory failure, eye damage, hearing loss and some facial nerve damage, according to his lawyers. After the explosion, he was airlifted to Theda Clark Medical Center in Neenah, where he was hospitalized for more than a month, his lawyers said.

Problem

• Over a hundred boiler explosions and fires in the last ten years.

• These are pressure vessels.

• People assigned to operate and maintain the boilers have little or no boiler safety training.

Ford River Rouge Power Plant

• 2/1/1999• Dearborn, MI • General Duty egregious,

1.5M• Natural gas boiler

explosion triggered secondary coal dust explosion that had accumulated on building and equipment surfaces

• No flame sensing interlock for the gas lines

Six people died and another 30 were injured

Injury Prevention Basics• Management Leadership

• Employee Participation

• Hazard Prevention and Control

• Education and Training

• Program Evaluation and Improvement

• Communication and coordination on multi-employer sites

• These principles are adopted and recognized by…– 2100 VPP Companies– 1600 SHARPs– 1926.20, 1926.21 – 1910.119– ANSI Z9.10– OHSAS 18001– States AR, CA, LA,

HI, MN, MT NV, NH, NY, OR, WA

Top Five Accident Causation Factors

• Maintenance

• Lockout

• Startup/Re-ignition

• Falls

• Carbon Monoxide

Documentation

• Plant history of fires• Boiler logs• Operating manual?• Maintenance manual?• Repair History

• Take Photos• Interviews – Boiler

Maintenance Technician, Maintenance Supervisor.

Boiler LogBoiler Log

The boiler room log lists boiler operation data that can be used to increase boiler safety and efficiency as well as identifying a potential malfunction.

Warning Signs

All boilers that are required to have operating certificates shall have a manufacturer's nameplate attached. The nameplate shall have the appropriate ASME Code symbol, the allowable working pressure, date of manufacture, and the minimum relief valve capacity.

Inspections

Regular service should be performed on schedule and recorded.Operating records and inspection records should be reviewed regularly to ensure compliance.

Inspection

Water and scale buildup on floor indicates the relief valve might have been leaking past seat for some time. This valve should be replaced as soon as possible as it could scale up and become inoperative.

Backflow Preventer

Back flow preventer showing scale buildup on drain opening.

This indicates the back flow preventer needs to be tested for proper operation.

Relief Valve Test Relief Valve Test

Relief valves are routinely tested to ensure proper operation and must be serviced by an authorized manufacturer representative.

Manual Test of Relief Valve

The manual test lever on the relief valve should be lifted on a regular basis to determine the valve is functioning properly.The pressure in the boiler should be at least 75% of the set pressure of the relief valve.

Low Water Cutoff Valve This device detects if the water level within your boiler has dropped below the manufacturers recommended level. Should this occur, the low water cutoff will do just as its name implies. It will cut-off the burner and shut the boiler down.

• Without a properly functioning low water cutoff, the burner can continue to fire allowing for intense heat to build. The results can be catastrophic - explosions, fires and the possibility of severe injuries to personnel and property.• This must be a regular boiler test per the Manufacturer’s guidelines.

Water LevelWater Level

The Normal Operating Water Level (NOWL) should be approximately in the middle of the gauge glass.

BlowdownBlowdownThe water column is blown down first and then the gauge glass to remove any sediment.

Water should enter the gauge glass quickly when the gauge glass blowdown valve is closed.

Another Accident• "The fines reflect the company's failure to establish

procedures for a restart of the recovery boiler without the power boiler being on-line," said Clyde Payne, OSHA's area director in Jackson, Miss. "Employees were exposed to a fire and explosion because the employer failed to develop written boiler setup and operating procedures.”

• 23 employees were injured, one fatally.

• The willful violation is for failing to start the recovery boiler without adequate steam and not developing safe procedures to start up the recovery boiler when the primary power boiler is off-line. Several overhead doors were

blown off, and one of these struck 4 employees, injuring them.   

Boiler Restarting

• Many accidents during this process

• Exact Start up Procedures

• Trained Operators

• Knowledge of what to do if there is a problem

• Employee #1 and a coworker were assigned to light a boiler with a series of three pilot lights. They found the gas valve already in the open position. Employee #1 tried to light the third pilot light, which was out of sequence with the lighting directions on the metal plate located on the front of the Peerless low pressure boiler. When the third pilot light would not ignite, Employee #1 went to the first pilot light and attempted to light it when an explosion occurred. Employee #1 and the coworker were blown approximately 10 ft away.

Boiler Fall

• Many falls occur due to work on boilers • Scaffold (10)• Boiler Supports/Platform (6)• Ladder (4) • Floor Opening (4)• Unknown Platform (3) • Aerial lift (2)• Metal Grate Failure• Tripped over Boiler piping• Cheater Bar slipped and fall backwards

Carbon Monoxide• Carbon Monoxide is colorless, odorless • Buy a Carbon Monoxide detector to alert of high levels • Dampers in building partially closed was one cause• Flue exhaust from Boiler has CO another Also….• Defective exhaust system for one of the boilers• Plastic covered chimney• Downdraft had high CO• Working in a kiln that was heated by steam from a direct-

fired boiler that vented its combustion products with the steam it generated

Many more….

Fly Ash

• Fly Ash poses an engulfment and a burn hazard.

• Develop a cleaning AND unclogging procedure.

• Provided a PPE hazard analysis 1910.132 (d)

• Guard against mechanical hazards.

• Four employees were working at an electric utility facility. Two of the employees were engulfed and burned by a spontaneous release of hot fly ash from a boiler. One employee was killed, and the other was hospitalized for his injuries.

Confined Space

• Lockout• Follow

1910.146• Employees

vacuum inside or conduct inspections.

Typical 5(a)(1) Violations

• Not testing Relief Valves (NBIC)

• No written operating procedures

• No daily maintenance procedures

• Unprotected steam piping• No record of Blowdowns• Boiler Maintenance Employees

not trained• No record of all irregular

events and repairs in operation of the boiler

• Inadequate Power pining inspection program

• Nondestructive testing personnel not ANST qualified

• Defective controllers, gages etc on boilers

• Equipment downstream of Boiler not rated for output pressure of the steam

• Boiler Natural gas not odorized• Power piping not inspected• Boiler not installed correctly• And many more…

Non Destructive Testing (NDT)

• Use ANST qualified inspectors for NDT.

• Use NDT Techniques; inspection of deposits in tubes of different sections, hardness testing, dye penetrate and ultrasonic testing of weld joints.

Codes• 2007 ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, VII,

Division 1, rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels, section UG-125 General

• NFPA 85

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code for Pressure Piping, Standard B31.1 2007 Power Piping, Appendix IV Corrosion Control for ASME B31.1 Power Piping Systems

• ANSI/NB-23, ASME Section 7 Care of Power Boilers and guidance from Electric Power Research Institute

The Future

• Some Inspection

• Less explosions

• More eyes and awareness – insurance, S&H professionals, media, bloggers

• Debate on a standard

• More Employer Self-assessment

Further• This was prepared as a collaborative effort with several

friends as a preliminary aid for anyone in the inspecting boilers.

• These are just some the issues. A comprehensive job hazard analysis should be conducted for any task where someone can get hurt.

• This is not an official OSHA publication. Those will be on the OSHA.gov website.

• If you see any errors my email is Newquist.john@dol.gov or johnanewquist@gmail.com

• 312-353-5977• I want to thank Janet S. for her assistance in reviewing

the hazards in this sector.