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Understanding Water Hammer in Steam Systems--This is what steam workers need to know before operating a steam valve in a high-pressure steam system! ...And what Engineers need to know before they design one! Over 2000 hours have gone into developing the most comprehensive seminar available anywhere on how to operate and maintain high-pressure steam systems so as to avoid life-threatening steam accidents. It's based on research done since the late 1970's, not on steam lore which predates a clear understanding of Condensation-Induced Waterhammer. The Seminar includes videos of water hammer in the lab, live demonstrations of a rapid steam bubble collapse, and over 300 animated slides that depict what's happening inside steam lines. (Link to the Program below). This seminar doesn't discuss, for example, how traps work, it discusses how they fail. The second-day covers advanced topics like looped steam systems, the danger of flooded manholes, and start-up accidents where oversights have killed workers. Examples are based on actual accidents which, in most cases, were investigated by the author and presenter. While this intensive 2-day, 8 hour seminar was designed specifically for steam fitters and operators to enable them to avoid repeating the mistakes found in previous accidents, Engineers have been the most enthusiastic attendees. (Link to Feedback from Operators and Engineers below). A one-day 6.5-hour seminar is offered for shift workers and engineers that can't be assembled for 2 days. The seminar has been refined over 100 presentations in North America in the last ten years to about 3000 attendees. Former recipients, about half of which are repeat clients, and upcoming seminars are listed below.
If you think you understand waterhammer in steam systems,
Take the Waterhammer Quiz!
Permit-Required Confined Space Training. See Confined Space Seminar Program. This program focuses on understanding the dangers which motivated OSHA to design the regulation as well as how to use equipment to detect these dangers. It outlines a step by step pragmatic approach to dealing with the requirements of the Regulation. |
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Understanding Waterhammer in Steam Systems-- the type that kills Operators 1Let's Review what you already "know" about waterhammer in steam systems. 2Condensation-Induced Waterhammer-- This is the kind of waterhammer that kills operators!
3.. Return to the Initial Accident. This is what happened when the worker opened the steam valve.
4..A discussion of the solar system of circumstances that must align for a Condensation-Induced Waterhammer to occur. 5 How to find Subcooled Condensate in steam systems
6. Recognizing an 7. Now, Do You Know Enough to avoid a steam accident? Re-visit the Fatal Accident with which we began and list what should be done before opening any valve in a high pressure steam system. Part II- Lessons from Real Accidents 6
7. Why are susceptible to Waterhammer.
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Part III--Advanced Topics (typically, the first three of these topics can be covered in the 8-hour seminar) 9. Looped Steam Systems
10. Flooded Manholes and Submerged Steam Piping--the danger of Nucleate Boiling and how this type of accident can, unlike other accidents, be self-initiating. This section also compares typical trap capacity with condensate formation within steam pipes in various states of insulation and non-insulation. 11. A "Start-up " Accident . This accident, which killed an operator during warm-up of a branch steam system, illustrates how less-than-carefully-considered (and enforced) shutdown and start-up procedures for high pressure steam lines can result in a fatal outcome. I suspect that the common error which was the ultimate cause of this accident may be at the root of most start-up accidents. 12. Column-Closure Waterhammer. This advanced optional topic discusses another type of water hammer which commonly occurs in steam condensate systems. It's signature is a bang when a pump activates or a trap discharges. It's generally not as powerful or dangerous as a Condensation-Induced waterhammer so it's mainly of interest to design engineers and troubleshooters. A demonstration of column separation due to evacuation is included. 13. Condensate Slug Accelerated by Sudden Application of Steam Pressure. Another advanced optional topic primarily for Engineers which calculates the reaction forces that can be generated by this type of non-waterhammer event. It's applicable to systems using very high steam pressures. 14. Steam BLEVE Accidents. A Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion can occur when water is superheated (compared to atmospheric pressure) in a pressurized vessel that ruptures or otherwise undergoes a pressure release (such as due to a satety valve release). The BLEVE can roughly double the internal pressure in the vessel leading to total loss of containment if the vessel is weak. With sudden loss of containment, superheated water flashes to steam which creates a shock wave traveling outward from the vessel. (See Accident Investigations) 15. Review Answers to 1st and 2nd Pages of Quiz. The program consists of animated slides, photos of actual accidents, slow-motion videotapes of actual waterhammer events in the lab, and live demos. The aim of the first day is to provide ordinary steam fitters a gut understanding of what actually causes water hammer in a steam system so they can figure out for themselves what to do when a dangerous situation arises. All theory revolves around an opening slide showing an actual pipe configuration in which an operator was killed and asking ."What would you have done to activate this steam line?". This theme is carried thru-out the first day culminating in the attendees acquiring the knowledge to be able to assess a dangerous steam situation, and take the correct action. Due to the intensity of the information provided, the 8 hour seminar is conducted in two morning sessions from 8 a.m. to noon. My experience has shown that, after 4 hours of training, fatigue reduces the ability of attendees to absorb the material. Groups consisting of Design Engineers are an exception to this rule--their enthusiasm for the material has sustained them successfully thru a one-day 6-hour seminar. The 6 hour one-day seminar goes from 8 a.m to 2:30 p.m. assuming a half-hour for lunch. Optional Wallet-Sized Handout--"What You Need To Know" Click on the link above to see a wallet-sized handout card for steam workers that can be ordered for Seminar Attendees. What I Need for the Seminar I need a computer projector and speakers that plug into my computer's audio output, a screen, a demonstration table (I boil water to make steam; at no time does steam pressure exceed atmospheric pressure in the can), and a white board or blackboard. Ideally, I will arrive a day in advance to set up. Please be sure projector and speakers are available. Before the first seminar, I will email electronic copies of the Quiz, evaluation form, and steam tables to be reproduced for each attendee. The room should be set up conference style (U-shape is good) with attendees as close to me as possible seated at tables so they can take notes. Provide (or we'll make them with magic markers at the beginning of the seminar) name tags to sit on the desks (first name only) for attendees so I can call on them by name. Attendees will need pencils or pens. Attendees should be motivated to learn, and not coerced to attend. While I like to have fun during the seminar, I'm serious as a heart attack about the material. Provide supervision, if you need to, to insure your people are serious too. Before the seminar, provide me information about: the steam pressures at which you distribute steam, if you return condensate, if steam is superheated, if you use inverted bucket traps, if your system is "looped", and if steam lines ever become submerged in water. The presentation is available in American or metric units. Written Feedback about the Seminar from steam operators, engineers, and supervisors (or, if you prefer, look at the verbatim comments from all attendees linked at the end):
To view the verbatim feedback from All attendees at a seminar, follow the link at Evaluation Form.html. Other Lecture Experience
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