[labnetwork] Steam boiler question

[Paolini, Steven]

Rich,
  I had to dust off my old steam engineer hat for this one.
The answer to your question depends on what type of boiler it is; It is either a steam tube or a fire tube. If it is a steam tube, you are probably experiencing the signs of galvanic coupling/corrosion and I would replace the boiler since the other parts of the boiler will follow suite soon. In any event, take extra notice of the piping, as you know, dissimilar metals will couple and accelerate the corrosion process. If it is unavoidable to mix metals, use dielectric couplings. I'll assume that like most fabs, you use DI water for make-up. DI is aggressive in leaching out ions from metal so it's very important to choose the right materials for the connections.
  Good luck and best regards,
  Steve (Equipment Dood) paolini

Steve Paolini
Principal Equipment Engineer
Harvard University Center for Nanoscale Systems
11 Oxford St.
Cambridge, MA 02138
617- 496- 9816
spaolini at cns.fas.harvard.edu
www.cns.fas.harvard.edu

From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> On Behalf Of Morrison, Richard H., Jr
Sent: Wednesday, July 03, 2019 9:38 AM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Subject: [labnetwork] Steam boiler question

HI Everyone,

I have a facility question, we have 2 steam boilers which provide heat and steam to make humidity. One boiler has tubes that have leaked and we can either re-tube the boiler (7 years old) or purchase a new boiler. What is the collective wisdom out there around the risk of lifetime of a re-tubed boiler?

Thanks and Happy 4th

Rick



Richard H. Morrison
Principal Member of the Technical Staff
Draper
555 Technology Square
Cambridge, MA
02139-3573

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