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What Happens When Your Boiler Level Control Fails?

The National Board records boiler failures throughout the nation. Most boiler failures are caused by a low water condition or poor maintenance.

2001 NATIONAL BOARD INCIDENT REPORT

Power Boilers

Low Pressure Steam Boilers

OBJECT EXPERIENCING INCIDENT	ACCIDENTS	INJURIES	DEATHS
Safety Valve	4	0	0
Low-Water Condition	161	3	0
Limit Controls	8	0	0
Improper Installation	2	0	0
Improper Repair	1	0	0
Faulty Design or Fabrication	2	0	0
Operator Error or Poor Maintenance	82	50	7
Burner Failure	29	2	0
Unknown/Under Investigation	7	1	0
SUBTOTALS	296	56	7

OBJECT EXPERIENCING INCIDENT	ACCIDENTS	DEATHS
Safety Valve	2	0
Low-Water Condition	519	0
Limit Controls	17	0
Improper Installation	10	0
Improper Repair	11	0
Faulty Design or Fabrication	31	0
Operator Error or Poor Maintenance	406	0
Burner Failure	29	0
Unknown/Under Investigation	66	1
SUBTOTALS	1091	1

The Results of a Low Water Cut-off Failure can be Devastating!

When water is heated and converted into steam, it expands at a rate of 1600 times its volume, at atmospheric pressure, when compared to what it was as a liquid. This huge expansion, when released, causes the enormous forces evidenced in the pictures shown below .....

Failures are often the result of an improperly maintained or faulty level control which fails to shut the burner off at the proper low water point. When the water level drops below the top of the furnace the metal overheats and loses tensile strength, resulting many times in a rupture of the furnace and tube sheet causing a steam explosion, rocketing the boiler great distances across the room.

HAVE YOU BLOWN DOWN YOUR WATER COLUMN TODAY?