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QUESTION:There is some hard data available (Chemical Recovery in the Alkaline Pulping
Process, chapter 6) that quantifies the risk and severity of smelt-water
explosions. Smelt-water contact is mostly caused by mechanical failure (tube
leak). I don't know if operator alarms in a DCS (control system) are effective
to indicate a tube leak and allow someone to intervene in time to prevent an
explosion.
The second most likely cause of explosion is fuel rich condition, which can be
alarmed by low O2 reading. But I don't have hard data on the frequency of such
events in industry.
My questions are:
1. Is my assumption correct that alarms are not helpful for preventing a
smelt-water explosion?
2. Are there any studies/references that quantify the severity and frequency
of fuel rich explosions?
ANSWER: You might be bests erved by contacting the appropriate Recovery Boiler task
group or Sub Committee within the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper
Industry (TAPPI).
If you bring up the issue in a safety-related manner you might get detailed
information by contacting TAPPI. You can obtain information from paper company
contacts, if you know who they are and you also stress the safety aspect of
this issue.
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