When failures happen in production facilities, a business can suffer. Each hour that a critical piece of equipment is out of service is an hour of lost revenue and dissatisfied customers. For that reason, speed is of the essence when it comes to industrial equipment repair – as it was with a rush job we completed over the holidays.
The Problem: Major Equipment Failure Stalls Service
A southeastern paper mill suffered a major failure on one of their Power Boiler ID Fans three days after Christmas. Thanks to ProcessBarron’s 24/7 emergency repair service availability, we were able to dispatch a field crew to the plant site that same day. Our team evaluated the situation and determined the scope of repairs that would be needed to get the fan back in service.
However, a thorough inspection of all the equipment soon revealed that the damage was much more extensive than initially thought.
This specific paper mill has two power boilers, so having one out of service is not an option. Our help was needed to get this boiler back online as soon as possible.
The Solution: Rapid Response with Precise Engineering and Fabrication
The job required us to fabricate a completely new 10,000 lb. fan rotating assembly and a full set of fan housing chrome carbide scroll liners weighing 4,500 lbs. The double inlet Boiler ID Fan impeller was 7 feet in diameter with a full set of chrome carbide blade wear pads, as well as center plate wear pads.
The impeller shaft was a 17-foot-long, large diameter shaft with multiple journal step downs. The fan housing scroll liners required were 7 feet wide by 34 feet in length, cut into multiple sections, and rolled to fit the existing housing curvature.
Our manufacturing plant personnel worked around the clock, straight through the New Year holiday weekend, fabricating the new impeller assembly and machining the new shaft. The fan housing scroll liners only took a day to fabricate and were delivered immediately. This allowed our day and night shift field crews to begin replacing them while our manufacturing plant personnel were in the process of fabricating the new fan rotating assembly.
The Results: Minimal Downtime through Emergency Equipment Repair
The new impeller rotating assembly was completed and delivered to the plant just as our field crews were finishing the fan housing repairs, so installation of the new impeller began as soon as it arrived.
With the Boiler ID Fan housing repaired and the new impeller rotating assembly installed, the customer was able to put the boiler back online.
From when we began fabrication to when we completed our work on the Boiler ID Fan, only a week’s time had passed, and this included the New Year holiday weekend. Emergency fan services and industrial repair services are the foundation our company was built on. We continue to provide the fastest services and best quality equipment in the industry.