16
Why does nobody talk about steam trap failures on 400 psi lines
Last month at the Marathon refinery in Gary, we had a steam trap blow out on a 400 psi superheat line. I was doing a routine walkdown and heard this weird chatter noise, thought it was just loose insulation at first. 3 years ago I ignored a similar sound and we lost a whole preheater section to water hammer. That repair cost us 18 hours and a crane rental. Anyone else had near misses from bad traps on high pressure steam?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
elizabeth_williams1mo ago
Put a thermographic camera on that trap before the blowout or just rely on listening? I find the chatter sound is easy to miss when the whole line is vibrating.
6
coleman.karen1mo ago
Did anyone check if the trap size matched the line pressure? I've seen crews slap on a trap rated for 250 psi on a 400 psi line just because it was what they had in the warehouse, and that chatter is the first sign it's struggling.
-1