Continuing Education Update

We just completed a seminar on steam system design.  The course covered such topics as sizing steam valves, traps and pilot valve applications.  The course also covered piping distribution as well as load balancing.  Following accepted design practices is as important as correctly sizing the components that make up the system.  With more concern placed on the conservation of energy, the time when ignoring energy waste has come and gone.  More and more energy codes are being adopted by states in an effort to curtail energy waste.  Tennessee, for example, follows the International Energy Code.  As a result, architects and engineers can be held responsible for not following proper procedure as outlined in those energy codes.  More importantly, architects and engineers can be sued if their designs do not perform as building owners expect.  It then follows that insurance carriers that provide errors and omissions coverage for architects and engineers have to pay for designer’s mistakes.  Those of us that practice in forensic engineering will be looking for deviations from code requirements as well as accepted design practices.

 

 

Pumps and Glycol Solutions

Just completed two webinars; one on the use of glycols as heat transfer fluids and the other on retrofitting pumps in HVAC applications.  Both of these topics are related in that pumps are used to circulate fluids, including glycols, to transfer heat.  Typical applications for glycol use include the food and beverage industry, HVAC, and process chemical.  Pumps applications not only include the previously stated industries but also, utility; both electrical and water, petrochemical, and plastics, to name a few.  Insurance carriers that cover businesses in these industries need to be concerned because property damage as well as personal injury can occur when spills and pump failures occur.  Corrosion is a major problem in systems using carbon steel piping as a conduit for the transmission of the gylcol.  If not properly mixed and the correct inhibitors added, the glycol solution can be acidic and cause wear to occur in pipes and fittings resulting in leaks and spills, if not carefully monitored.  Similarly, the internal components of pumps can come under attack and fail as a result of the acidic conditions that could arise if the glycol solution is not properly mixed.  However, during such instances, insurance carriers are also considering the possibility of subrogating against a third party in order to recover their expenditures.  Potential defendants would include the company mixing and/or installing the glycol solution, the designer and installer of the piping system, and the selector and installer of the pump used in circulating the glycol.  It should be noted that the internal components of the pump can be selected based on compatibility of the fluid to be circulated.