Monitoring and Control System Provides Early Indication of Recovery Boiler Leaks

GoalEnhance leak detection and minimize false alarms.

<h6>Customer Challenge</h6> <p>A North American pulp and paper mill wanted to replace its existing controller used for recovery boiler chemical feed and mass balancebased leak indication since it was prone to nuisance alarms. The early indication of recovery boiler leaks is important to maximize safety, reliability, and availability of recovery boiler operations. Minimizing false alarms in leak indication systems is crucial if they are to bring value and instill operator confidence.</p> <h6>Recommended Solution</h6> <p>Solenis recommended that the mill replace its existing controller with the OnGuard i controller with Leak Alert software and congruent phosphate treatment control software. Leak Alert includes both chemical mass balance (CMB) and water mass balance (WMB) indicators and provides enhanced leak detection sensitivity while minimizing false alarms.</p> <h6>Results Achieved</h6> <p>After installation of the OnGuard system, an incident involving several leaks occurred in one of the recovery boilers. The Leak Alert software provided early indication of the problem when no other indications were evident, including results from several boiler system walkdowns.</p> <p>Eventually, an obvious, much larger leak occurred and an emergency shutdown procedure was initiated. Post-shutdown inspections revealed that a very small tube leak had led to two larger wall tube leaks.</p> <p>Sensitivity to the small leak without the nuisance alarms of the previous system has given the mill confidence in the OnGuard system as a valuable tool in ensuring the safety of its recovery boiler system.</p> <p><img style="max-width: 100%; width: auto; height: auto;" src="/link/4210e6641c1b41f699281628e6d8809e.aspx" alt="" width="1702" height="814" /></p>