Monthly Archives: October 2019

Boiler & Property Consulting, LLC Ranked #1 by Jurisdiction Online for 23 Straight Months

Boiler & Property Consulting, a Buford, GA jurisdictional boiler inspection firm operating in conjunction with XL Insurance America (XLIA), recently announced it was ranked #1 by Jurisdiction Online for maintaining the lowest percentage of overdue objects for 23 straight months.

Since its beginning eight years ago, BPC has quickly grown to be one of the top boiler inspection companies in the United States. The company has inspectors nationwide and services all industries including power generation, basic metals, chemical, steel and pulp & paper.

The company has used Jurisdiction Online for the past five years. Jurisdiction Online supports regulatory code enforcement workflows, risk management workflows and jurisdictional accounting needs associated with regulatory activities. Its products are used by agencies in 31 states, more than 90 local jurisdictions and multiple Fortune 500 and private sector companies, including major insurers involved in the boiler and pressure vessel (BPV) market.

Each month, Jurisdiction Online releases a report ranking users on their percentage of overdue objects. BPC has maintained the lowest percentage of overdues and stayed at the top of the list for the past 23 months.

Yankee Dryers: Head/Shell (Crevice) Corrosion

Prepared by Anzar Hasan (Chief Inspector)

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The purpose of this technical bulletin is to advise inspectors engaged in the inspection of Yankee Dryers to be aware of a head/shell corrosion condition. This condition – and corrective action taken by the mill – should be a topic of discussion during the Yankee Dryer inspection and evaluation process.

There have been catastrophic failures of Yankee Dryers since the tissue paper manufacturing industry started utilizing Yankee Dryers. Due to the increasing number of failures that often require replacement of the dryers, the issue was taken up by TAPP in 1985. Studies such as finite element and root cause analysis were completed and several papers were submitted and published in TAPPI. 

This crevice corrosion is a serious condition, and if not detected, could result in cracking of the head and shell. Depending on the size of the dryer, the replacement cost could exceed $3M, with a delivery time ranging from 9 to 14 months. If detected in the early stages, repairs and modifications can be satisfactorily completed.

In the majority of cases, the crevice corrosion started from the head spigot corner and clamp fit of the head and shell flange. The investigative studies concluded the problem was caused by chemical showers during the tissue paper drying process. The chemical showers are used to improve creeping characteristics of the paper. Uneven temperature condition in the head and shell caused a gap between the head and shell flanges at the outside radius, reducing the efficiency of the clamping force. The chemicals seep into the gap, resulting in corrosion to form in the crevice.

The growth of crevice corrosion is slow and difficult to detect as the shell deformation is masked by natural shell wear and the shell grinding process.

Special gauges are used to measure head tilt, head to shell spigot loss and establish crevice corrosion severity. 

Nondestructive examinations techniques are also utilized to track corrosion growth and verify Yankee dryer structural integrity. These tests included acoustic emission and ultrasound.

The head/shell joint on new dryers has been modified to reduce and/or stop the crevice corrosion. If the corrosion is detected in the early stages, older dryers can be modified with successful results.

The methods utilized include:

  • Removal of crevice corrosion by machining substantial cutback of the head outside diameter to remove corrosion-jacking force that concentrate stresses at the head spigot corner.
  • Bore out the existing bolt holes and upgrade the bolt size to increase the clamping forces necessary to overcome permanent deformation caused by crevice corrosion jacking. 
  • Remaining dryer life should be calculated as recommended by engineering and/or Jurisdiction requirements.

Fall 2019 Message

Happy fall, everyone. I hope this message finds you all doing well. BPC certainly is doing well. All of our indicators are in line with our expectations and the trends look very good for us to finish the year on very solid footing. Year-to-date, we have seen solid growth in all sectors, including our property group. The Jurisdictional Segment continues to hold on to the #1 spot in JO for managing our overdues for 23 straight months.

We also continue to diversify and grow our portfolio of customers. Customers are now seeking us out directly due in large part to the reputation we have built in the industry. In my travels and meetings, it never ceases to amaze me how complimentary our existing customers are to our organization. They can’t say enough about our professionalism, responsiveness and overall quality of our work. All of this is a direct result of your efforts. There are many factors that got us to this point, but I think one of the main things we do better than anyone else in the industry is that we get a response back to our customers within 24 hours of them reaching out to us. We don’t always have the response they are looking for, but we do get back to them and start addressing their issues.

We’ve gotten to this point through hard work and dedication and it is going to take continued hard work and dedication to maintain our reputation and to improve it. We can never rest on what we did yesterday as all customers want to know, “What are you going to do for me today and tomorrow?” In order to continue our growth, we need to constantly look for ways to improve our services and pull our customers closer to us, so that it is “painful” for them to move their services elsewhere. As long as we work as a team, we will continue to be viewed as the best company to work with for the services we offer.

I thank each and every one of you for all your efforts. I look forward to each day’s challenges in a positive light, as I know that I am working with the best team in the industry.