Tough call on a cracked tube sheet at the chemical plant in Baton Rouge last Tuesday

Had a 6-inch crack show up on a tube sheet during a routine hydrotest. Two old-timers on the crew were dead split. One said drill and pin it, plug the bad tubes, get it back online by Friday. The other said no way, that's a bandaid, cut out the whole section and weld in a new piece. I was stuck in the middle. We had the plant manager breathing down our necks for downtime. Went with the drill and pin approach to buy time, but now I'm wondering if we just pushed the problem down the road. Has anyone else had to make this call and regretted it later?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_coleman20d ago

Your mileage may vary but I used to be in the drill and pin camp myself until I saw a repair like that give out six months later during a startup, cost way more in the long run. That crack you got sounds like it's telling you something deeper, not just a spot fix.

aaron_ellis4220d ago

Drill and pin just means you get to do the whole job twice for twice the price, that's a great deal.