Boiler Controls Troubleshooting and Repair
There can be times when a company may begin to experience boiler shutdowns with no identifiable explanation. This is very common with poorly designed
boiler control systems or improperly trained operators.
For a boiler field service engineer, if the control system is unable to tell why the boiler has tripped, they must have a thorough understanding of how the boiler works to know why it stopped working at any given point of starting or running
Simply put if a properly functioning boiler stops, all supporting processes will stop as well causing the safety device that monitors the running process to say it stopped. So if a boiler trips there will be more trips associated with the first trip. An example is first the boiler trips from high steam pressure and next the main gas valves close. Following this the main gas proof of closure switches will make saying the gas valve is closed which most of the time will be interpreted as a gas valve malfunction. Further the scanner will no longer see flame which will be interpreted as flame failure and the low combustion air flow switch will no longer see combustion air flow and so on.
It is easy to see how a lot of time can be wasted trying to figure out why a boiler trips and how important it is to have a well designed and
programmed boiler control system in the first place. Further this equates to thousands of dollars lost if all production processes related to steam stop. From hospitals unable to use sterilizing equipment to oil refineries unable to separate hydrocarbon chains, the end result is lost revenue.
With many years of experience troubleshooting boilers and burners of all types Collins Combustion is confident we will find the problem and fix it fast. We will observe the operation of your process and make the necessary repairs to insure your company stays up and running reliably. The more common items that we will troubleshoot will most likely be related to the following:
- A failing
safety interlock device.
- An improperly adjusted or
calibrated interlock device.
- A mechanical device supplying fuel or air that is incapable of operating within its designed range.
- Poorly tuned control loops that cannot react quickly enough to process swings.
- Poor wiring connections.
- Poor
control system design including poorly designed trip annunciation for bad quality.
- Mechanical failure, poor water quality.
- Lack of routine maintenance.
If unknown trips are happening to you or if there is concern that this may happen in the future, it would be a good idea to have routine service performed. Safety interlock calibrations quickly identify potential trips and correct the chance of unnecessary trips from happening before they do.
Yearly preventative maintenance is a tried and true way to keep your company operating trouble free.
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