Entries by Structural Integrity

Attemperator Monitoring with Wireless Sensors

Risk and Cost Reduction in Real Time Jason Van Velsor, Matt Freeman, Ben Ruchte Installed sensors and continuous online monitoring are revolutionizing how power plants manage assets and risk by facilitating the transformation to condition-based maintenance routines. With access to near real-time data, condition assessments, and operating trends, operators have the opportunity to safely and […]

High Energy Piping Monitoring

High Energy Piping Monitoring SI moves beyond the pilot application of a High Energy Piping monitoring program designed to reduce operational risk and optimize maintenance activities. SI has successfully implemented the initial application of an integrated monitoring solution that provides insight into damage evolution and operational risk using real-time data and automated engineering intelligence. This […]

SI Selected in The Corporate Magazine’s “Top 20 Most Dynamic Leaders”

The Corporate Magazine (www.thecorporatemagazine.com) approached us recently to be featured in their “Top 20 Most Dynamic Leaders” issue. We saw this as a unique opportunity to elevate our brand by briefly discussing our two-year journey under Mark, expanding on our history, highlighting our offerings, and sharing our unique value to the industries we serve. To […]

News & Views, Volume 51 | Forecasting the Life of a Mass Concrete Structure, Part One

A CASE STUDY FROM THE FERMILAB LONG BASELINE FACILITY By:  Keith Kubischta and Andy Coughlin, PE, SE All around us is aging concrete infrastructure. From the dams holding back water, to the nuclear power plants creating carbon free electricity, to the foundations of our homes and offices. Though many advances have been made in the […]

News & Views, Volume 51 | High Temperature Ultrasonic Thickness Monitoring

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION – THICK FILM SENSORS By:  Jason Van Velsor and Robert Chambers The ability to continuously monitor component thickness at high temperatures has many benefits in the power generation industry, as well as many other industries. Most significantly, it enables condition-based inspection and maintenance, as opposed to schedule-based, which assists plant management optimizing operations […]

News & Views, Volume 51 | Selective Seam Weld Corrosion

ENGINEERING CRITICAL ASSESSMENT By:  Pete Riccardella, Scott Riccardella and Chris Tipple The Structural Integrity Associates, Inc. Oil and Gas Pipeline group recently supported an Engineering Critical Assessment to assist a pipeline operator manage the Selective Seam Weld Corrosion (SSWC) threat to an operating pipeline.  SSWC occurs when the fusion zone of a certain type of […]

News & Views, Volume 51 | PEGASUS A Versatile Tool for Used Fuel Modeling

By:  Wenfeng Liu PEGASUS, a finite element fuel code developed at SIA, represents a new modeling paradigm. This new paradigm treats all fuel behavior regimes in one continuous analysis. Introduction PEGASUS, a finite element fuel code developed at SIA, represents a new modeling paradigm.  This new paradigm treats all fuel behavior regimes in one continuous […]

News & Views, Volume 51 | Managing Piping Assets

SOFTWARE AUTOMATION By:  Adam Roukema and Mark Jaeger Driving Forces for Digital Transformations: Paper Reduction (68%) Online Training (54%) Risk Management/Prediction (39%) Social Media Integration (63%) IT Automation (50%) From Tech Pro Research, %’s reflect rate of respondents who believe digital transformation will significantly impact indicated categories A fundamental tenant of engineering is that where […]

News & Views, Volume 51 | Deaerator Tank Failure

EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES By:  Matt David, Michael Greveling, Daniels Peters and Erick Ritter Recently, Structural Integrity Associates (SI) helped a client with a leaking deaerator tank (DA tank). DA tanks are traditionally used to remove dissolved gasses from liquids. The client’s DA tank in particular is used to remove dissolved oxygen in feedwater for steam-generating boilers; […]

News & Views, Volume 51 | Combustion Turbine Compressor Hygiene

COMPONENT LONGEVITY By:  John Molloy Introduction An industrial combustion turbine can ingest over 1000lbs of air per hour of operation.  Entrained within the air is a spectrum of mineral, salt, moisture, and VOC, and other compounds that are present in the local atmosphere.  Locally high concentrations of potentially corrosive species may also be present due […]