Mechanical Engineering Plant Problems Solved – Root Cause Analysis

These problems developed during commissioning and during the author’s 17 years’ service in a South Indian Ammonia, Urea, and NPK complex fertilizers plant. The author and his team resolved these problems forever mostly online or involving shortest shutdowns.

That plant’s success ushered many still higher capacities plants in India wary of high-speed centrifugal compressors-based fertilizers technology.

He, a mechanical engineering graduate joined that plant after serving the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) for 13 years as Instrument Engineer.

During his first five yearlong South Indian Fertilizer Plant services, he successfully solved many instruments commissioning problems.

In addition, he offered solutions to many mechanical and electrical problems repeatedly discussed in the problems solving meetings.

During the next 4 years’ tenure as Instrument Electrical and Workshop Engineer, he continued solving more problems.

How he got into handling all given up crippling electrical problems appears in the Electrical Problems Introduction.

During the 8 years tenure as Maintenance Manager, he solved this booklet discussed mechanical problems. Just two months as General Manager, he joined a Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Plant.

During his 5 years Saudi tenure he solved few problems that enabled the debuting co to establish its image as a reputable NH3 supplier initially and as high-quality urea and complex fertilizer supplier after the plant added those facilities.  

After the return from Saudi, he took 3½ years of training assignment with Reliance Petroleum Ltd Jamnagar, and several lecture assignments, a one-year assignment with Reliance Navi Mumbai, and a six-month assignment with Chambal Fertilizers Ltd.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

The author attributes his problems solving success to the following:

1. Every one’s cooperation
2. Root Cause Analysis supported by input from the problems-sufferers, instruction manual studies, comparing design and actual operating data, gathering knowhow from relevant literature, tech journals articles and advertisements especially on new products
3. In short ‘avoiding the popular industry joke, “When all else fail read the instruction books”
4. Consider input from anyone. – no matter his/her qualification and hierarchical rank – thankfully and credit his / her contribution
5. The author learnt mere experience does not suffice, as mostly many have one-year experience repeated so many years by not solving problems by root cause analysis and living with it; it makes most persons complacent, leads to take the problems as a way of life and live with them, and prevents finding root cause analysis solutions. Experience combined with adequate job knowledge-based root cause analysis only can solve problems; not years and years of experience alone.

Good Luck to all plant problems solving troubleshooters. The free plant personnel from the drudgery of annoying repeat low-tech tasks, midnight, off days, and during vacation calls and the associated ill effects e.g. the inconvenience and family wrath from missed family times and functions.

Mechanical Engineering Plant Problems

This root cause analysis (RCA) is from real-time scenarios that happened in industries during the tenure of two or three decades ago. These articles will help you to improve your troubleshooting skills and knowledge.

The below is the list of mechanical solved problems.

S.No.	Mechanical Problems and Solutions	Article
1	Steam turbine HP case three monthly Discharge Head (DH) leaks 10-days plant outages cut to 1½ days using negligible resources than the past	Click Here
2	The above 3-year persisting K-601 Discharge Head 3-monthly leaks eliminated	Click Here
3	Steam turbine (K-601) IP case six monthly 2 days shutdowns eliminated	Click Here
4	Process Air Compressor (K-602) too frequent & too lengthy overhauls	Click Here
5	Refrigeration Compressor Not-tripping Trip Throttle threatened potential compressor wrecks eliminated	Click Here
6	Malfunctioning inlet check valves caused 5-yearlong chaos at each compressor stop/trip eliminated	Click Here
7	K-603 near ½-RPM frequency high magnitude shaft vibrations eliminated	Click Here
8	Steam turbine surge caused near-miss K-601 wreck eliminated	Click Here
9	8,000-RPM, 7000 KW K-602 T injured rotor threatened yearlong total plant outage. Innovative in-house repairs put the plant on stream in 1½ days; recurrence eliminated	Click Here
10	8000 – RPM K-602 cracked shaft spacers; the plant Root Cause Analyzed, made the spacers and heat-treated to lesser hardness and fitted on the spare and running rotor	Click Here
11	K‑601 T turning gear chamber excessive oil belch posed indefinite SD threat eliminated on stream and recurrence eliminated	Click Here
12	NH3 plant K-601 T Tilting Pad too high temperatures sudden entire plant indefinite shutdown threat eliminated	Click Here
13	An Indian Plants all turbines’ low Vacuum & Plant K-601 T only solved and recurrence eliminated	Click Here
14	often-found pitted shaft and coupling bore tapers repair caused excessive and length shutdowns	Click Here
15	Poorly engineered plant Air Compressor often failing drives made 100% reliable very economically	Click Here
16	Boosting <40% available Plant Air Compressors availabilities to 100% enables fulfilling “keep the plant young corporate goal”.	Click Here
17	NH3 Storage tanks financially crippling 12 T/d wasteful venting &  pollution authorities plant closure threat eliminated	Click Here
18	Potassium Carbonate Pump 3-monthly Seal Leaks threaten entire plant shut down indefinitely	Click Here
19	Plant BFW Pump Low throughput DDUDP resolved	Click Here
20	CW circulating Pump Low throughput resolved & proposed Rs 20 million pump add averted	Click Here
21	Failed Phosphate Dozing restored	Click Here
22	Acid Dozing Pump weekly failures eliminated	Click Here
23	Eleven Cooling Tower Fan frequently failing drives made never failing	Click Here
24	CT fan FRP fan blades saves and saves	Click Here
25	Condensate Pump Frequent Wrecks eliminated	Click Here
26	Generally too poor AFB lives and production loss from impossible to remove AFBs and Coupling halves	Click Here
27	Root Cause Analysis eliminated too poor antifriction bearings lives boosts production	Click Here
28	Too frequent 1800 kW 8000-750 RPM Gearbox (GB) failures eliminated	Click Here
29	Turbine to gearbox too frequent alignment drifts eliminated	Click Here
30	Large motor’s too frequent Journal Bearing (JB) failures eliminated	Click Here
31	Fired Boiler ID fan too frequent AFB failures eliminated	Click Here
32	Fan Bearing Changes made easy at 10% former times	Click Here
33	Sudden fatal pipe burst root cause removed; wrecked panel instrumentation restored within a week and recurrence eliminated	Click Here
34	Sledge open/close valves replaced with one hand operable valves	Click Here
35	Flange Joint Errors shutdowns root cause analyzed and eliminated	Click Here
36	K-601 T 100-40 bar steam letdown station 3-year long flange leaks eliminated	Click Here
37	Seawater pipeline spools leaks threatened NH3 plant indefinite SD eliminated	Click Here
38	K-601 T 12” 2500 # Trip Throttle Valve stubborn cover opened	Click Here
39	Repeat Safety Valve Pops caused too many Urea Plant shutdowns eliminated	Click Here
40	Rupture Discs bursts caused too many Urea Plant shutdowns eliminated	Click Here
41	Urea Plant PTFE lined 6” 300# butt weld end Plug Valves leaks stopped forever	Click Here
42	Primary Reformer – Each Turnaround done massive and expensive Tubes Repairs eliminated	Click Here
43	Too often done riskily repaired roof Hot spots eliminated forever	Click Here
44	Primary Reformer RFG main hot spots eliminated online and indefinite outage eliminated	Click Here
45	10-years persisting syn loop BFH shell flange leaks, and nuisance ammonia plant trips eliminated	Click Here
46	Despite senior colleagues’ diffidence & a seemingly no solution last-minute hitch, 220-bar syngas cooler successfully re-tubed	Click Here
47	Constraints ridden ‘impossible’ demister cleaning innovatively done and urea plant indefinite outage eliminated.	Click Here
48	Constraints ridden another ‘impossible’ heat exchanger leaks innovatively stopped and urea plant indefinite outage eliminated.	Click Here
49	Root cause analysis stops crews morale robbing many Bucket Elevators many wrecks	Click Here
50	Bucket elevators’ 5-year long too short chains lives eliminated	Click Here
51	Plant Bucket Elevators chains too short chain lives eliminated	Click Here
52	Too noisy & too maintenance-intensive granulator drive silenced and made maintenance-free	Click Here
53	Home-made Rotary Drier Shell to Split Gear drive eliminates too frequent drive failures	Click Here
54	Home developed motor vibrators lot better than provided vibrators boost safety and production	Click Here
55	Innovative in-house motor-operated valve repair enables guarantee test completion and final settlement.	Click Here
56	Root Cause Analysis enhances a new exchanger’s 50% heat transfer to 100% and enables a urea plant commissioning completion	Click Here
57	Ruined De-Min vessel internals innovative within few hours’ restorations eliminates an Ammonia plant indefinite shutdown	Click Here
58	A near impossible constraint overcoming enables repairing a 220-bar urea reactor top cover	Click Here
59	10-yearlong every TA restored CO2 Stripper collapsed internals eliminated	Click Here
60	Every turnaround (TA) done CO2 Absorber corroded wall thickness weld building eliminated	Click Here

Also Read:

• Electrical Root Cause Analysis
• Instrumentation Root Cause Analysis

Author: S. Raghava Chari

Do you face any similar issues? Share with us through the below comments section.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for Instrumentation, Electrical, PLC, and SCADA video tutorials.

You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter to receive daily updates.