Corrosion: 1, Breakdown Maintenance and Unscheduled Breakdowns

CORROSION
 Corrosion is one of the main causes of reduced reliability in steam generating system.
 Corrosion is a phenomenon in which atmospheric oxygen in the air or water reacts with
the metal to form oxides.
 Corrosion in industrial boilers is a phenomenon in which the oxygen that is dissolved in
the water inside the boiler reacts with the metal of the boilers.
 Ferrous component of the metal reacts with the atmospheric oxygen in the water to
undergo oxidation.
 This oxidation results in the formation of ferrous oxides. Ferrous oxides lead to the
formation of cavities and holes in the metal.
 This gradual formation of cavities and holes in the metal is termed as pitting.
 Pitting is the main host for the corrosion which ultimately destructs metal and its
properties.
 boiler corrosion image
Causes of Corrosion
 Exposure of boiler metal to dissolved gases present in boiler water

 Oxygen present in boiler water
 Carbon Dioxide present in boiler water
 Unbalanced pH of boiler water
 Carbon Dioxide present in boiler water
 Exposure of metal to the dissolved gases i.e oxygen and carbon dioxide present in boiler feed
water
 Unbalanced pH of the water inside the boiler
 Improper and unscheduled maintenance
1, Breakdown Maintenance and Unscheduled breakdowns
 Breakdown Maintenance is referred to repair and maintenance work performed on a

machine, production plant or component, be it mechanical or electrical after it has failed
or broken-down unexpectedly. It is also referred to as maintenance or engineering work
related to unforseen plant breakdowns. It is not a planned event and as such can cost the
factory lost production and sales as well as other expenses such as out of budget
maintenance costs including overtime, technician call outs and urgent delivery fees for
spare parts or support.
 Maintenance breakdowns can have many causes, some being the result of
improper preventive and long term maintenance planning, lack of plant
inspections, lack or incorrect evaluation of stresses and load cycles on
machinery, faulty design and materials and in some cases neglect.
 A proper maintenance plan, correct documentation, record keeping and
maintenance execution at the correct intervals usually aids the maintenance
or engineering department to eliminate the majority of unforseen
breakdowns.
 Unforseen plant breakdowns can be classified as a form of waste in the lean
manufacturing system as they waste both time and resources . This indirectly
costs the business financially as budgeted maintenance costs are used for
unforseen costs and work as well as lost production which is lost revenue for
the business. It is therefore important to eliminate or reduce breakdown
maintenance to minimal levels to maximize production output and
operational costs.
1.1 How to reduce unscheduled breakdowns and reduce breakdown maintenance costs
 Moving away from breakdown maintenance or reactive maintenance takes
both time and a change in culture of the operations and engineering team. In
many smaller businesses with little exposure to efficient planning and
engineering practices, breakdown maintenance is the only maintenance
â€œstyleâ€ or system the team understands or has practiced. Changing
this culture and method of work will take commitment from the highest levels
of the business to the production and maintenance technicians that work in
the factory every day.
 A common starting point is to think about the airline industry, where
preventive maintenance is the only maintenance system acceptable by the
industry and the consumer. Would it be acceptable to wait until a wing
component has failed to replace it? What would be the consequences? This is
the type of thinking that needs to be introduced to the maintenance and the
production teams, as they are the individuals that detect problems while the
plant and machinery is in operation.
 Another initial action would also be for the plant manager and maintenance
manager to evaluate the unforseen breakdowns in the entire production
plant, or depending on size the most business critical or breakdown prone
area of the plant. An initial analysis can include the last three to six months
of breakdowns and plant failures which resulted in downtime production
downtime of more than one hour. Most minor issues should be able to be
rectified within an hour in most cases. The area or machine with the largest
share of production downtime hours should be the focus of the maintenance
team. An interesting analysis which can be done in parallel is to quantify the
actual cost of the unforseen breakdowns to the business in this area.
 Once the priority area or plant item has been defined the following questions
or items should be reviewed and rectified about the plant in question. This
will help the area transition from a reactive breakdown maintenance
approach to a preventive mode:
- Is the machine or plant item in question operating within its

design capacity and load?
For example a conveyor belt may be running overloaded or with an incorrect belt
for the application
- Is there a fault in the design of the machine or plant?
For example the conveyor was purchased from an economical source which has
substandard bearings and large distance between the load bearing rolls
- Is there an engineering drawing for the machine or plant which has

frequent breakdowns? Are all parts or components also correctly specified
in the drawing
- Is there information about the plant and spare parts that will enable
quick look up, ordering and cost budgeting for maintenance work?
For example well run maintenance departments will have a complete catalogue of
all plant, machinery and spare parts which will have identifying component
numbers, drawings, supplier or manufacturer, and pricing information including lead
time.
- Is there a lubrication and inspection schedule for the plant or machine?

In some cases a maintenance or production team member will be allocated
inspection ownership of an area
- Are spare parts for this plant area or machine available in the parts store
or workshop? Is it economical to purchase and store spare parts for this
plant, do suppliers have maintenance support and spare parts services?
- Is the plant kept in a clean and good working order each day? Early wear
on machine components is sometimes due to poor housekeeping standards
- Are auxiliary systems to plant in good working order?

For example generators and compressors need large cooling systems and fans to
keep them from overheating during long working hours. These can also be
temperature, humidity, pressure and speed controls.
- Is the maintenance history available for this plant or area? When was the
last preventive maintenance carried out on the machine or plant?
- Does the maintenance staff knows how to maintain or fix the plant or
machine, is specialists skills needed?
Reviewing and ensuring the correct solutions for the issues above are in place will
better prepare the maintenance and engineering team to first improve the reliability
of the plant and machine in focus, and then enable a more preventive maintenance
routine to be established. In our experience this can also be a a large task or even
project, depending on the state of the plant and size. It is best to select a small
high priority area first to realistically achieve sustainable results.

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CORROSION

 Exposure of boiler metal to dissolved gases present in boiler water

1, Breakdown Maintenance and Unscheduled breakdowns

 Breakdown Maintenance is referred to repair and maintenance work performed on a

- Is the machine or plant item in question operating within its

- Is there a fault in the design of the machine or plant?

- Is there an engineering drawing for the machine or plant which has

- Is there a lubrication and inspection schedule for the plant or machine?

- Are auxiliary systems to plant in good working order?

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