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?

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3 Comments

brookes375mo ago

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?

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terry15mo ago

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

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kelly.keith5mo 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.

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