Heads up on the old boiler at the Riverside plant in Joliet

I was doing a walk through there last week for a quote and saw something that made me stop. The main feedwater line on the number three boiler had a section of insulation pulled back, and the pipe underneath was showing some serious scale build up, maybe a quarter inch thick in spots. It looked like it hadn't been checked in years, and with the pressure that thing runs at, it's a real weak point. Has anyone else worked on that unit and seen this?

3 comments

3 Comments

brookes371mo agoMost Upvoted

A quarter inch of scale is no joke. Did you get a look at the condition of the pipe itself under all that, or just the scale buildup?

-1

terry11mo ago

Couldn't see the pipe metal at all. That scale was like solid rock. Had to chip it all off first.

kelly.keith16d ago

Like solid rock" is exactly right. I've chipped away at stuff like that and ended up hitting the pipe way harder than I meant to. My subtlety with a hammer is not my strong point.