Agent 99 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Knowing the person(s) involved in the UP steam
> program (both current and past) for a long time
> (longer than I'd like to admit) I will say that
> while the current manager has made some missteps
> (he is human, kinda like the rest of us........)
> the overall direction of the program has been
> stunning (in a good way).
> Yes, the boiler water chemistry and washout
> procedure "experiments" with #844 can only be
> described as disastrous but today the #844 is on a
> much more carefully managed boiler water makeup
> plan that includes a high capacity mobile water
> softener that has been installed in the service
> car. A softener will mitigate 80% of the water
> issues by eliminating from the makeup water most
> of the substances that cause scale to build up in
> the boiler.
> Yes, soft water introduces its own set of
> potential problems but these are being handled
> with additives that control the Ph of the water
> and protect against oxygen corrosion (but its NOT
> an oxygen scavenger).
> The #844 has a low volume continuous blowdown
> installed as well as mudring blowdown valves that
> are used to control the boiler water chemistry
> which is monitored daily. The use of a softener
> greatly diminishes the frequency of blowing down
> but doesn't eliminate it.
> Examination of the boiler since starting the use
> of the softener and new treatments seems to
> indicate that the procedures are working well.
> Intermittent use and multiple water sources makes
> dialing in the boiler water chemistry challenging
> but they should be light years ahead of where they
> were before. I guess time will tell.
>
> 99 out


In other words, millions of dollars and 3 years out of
service later, they are back to what they had until
2011, when what had been working well for decades was
dumped on a whim and a "new and better" direction was
taken?