1. Chemtura New Jersey Hub 1020 King Georges Road, Fords NJ 08863 +1.732.738.1000
Critical Equipment Identification and
Preventative Action Plan
Executive Summary
This report’s objective is to identify the mechanical equipment critical to production and then
propose an action plan to prevent critical failures. We identified critical equipment by reviewing work
ordersfromJanuary1, 2015 until August3, 2016 anddiscussingnotable issueswiththe operationsteam.
Impact isdriven bylossof productiondue todowntime forrepairs/safetyconcerns andqualityissues.As
a resultof the investigationtwoincidentswere identifiedascausingexcessive downtime:ablownrupture
diskand brokenagitator blades.The DCS processdrivenissuesare all relativelysmall events,butaddup
to substantial downtime. The main recommendations are to reduce blown rupture disk downtime by
installingisolationvalves, and preventbroken agitator blades by increasing the bolt size while following
OEM recommendations. The preventative actionplanisdetailedatthisreport’sconclusion.
Critical Equipment Identification
Incidents Identified by SAP Work Order Patterns
These incidentswerediscoveredthroughworkorders andidentifypossible failures.Onlythe six active
reactorswere investigated.
Reactor 410
1. AgitatorGasketFlange Failure
2. External HotOil Coil Leak
3. Rupture DiskFailure
4. DCS ProcessDrivenIssues
Reactor 420
1. AgitatorBlades Fall Off
2. DCS ProcessDrivenIssues
Reactor 430
1. ReceiverPhase ProbesMalfunction
2. SteadyBearingWearto Failure
3. DCS ProcessDrivenIssues

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Reactor 710
1. Internal CoolingCoil Leak
2. GasketFailure onTotal Condenser
3. External HotOil Coil Leak
4. DCS Process DrivenIssues
Reactor 711
1. External Coil HotOil Leak
2. DCS ProcessDrivenIssues
Reactor 715
1. Leakon ExpansionJoint
2. External HotOil Coil Leak
3. SecondaryRupture DiskFailure
4. DCS ProcessDrivenIssues
Incidents Identified by the Investigative Team
A team was puttogetherto discussa critical equipmentfailuresanddowntime.Teammembersinclude:
John Spampinato (Maintenance), Yifun Su (Engineering), Jenalyn Clegg (Productions), and Nathan
Schaefer (Engineering/Maintenance) discussed issues that caused downtime over the past few months.
The resultsof the inquiryare as follows:
Event Consequence
AgitatorFlange Gasket
Failure
Loss of vacuum, product could overflow from vessel,
intrusion of air into batch causes discoloration
External HotOil Coil Leak Damages insulation and creates a smoldering fire
Total CondenserGasket
Failure
Loss of vacuum, recoveredacidcouldoverflow fromvessel,
intrusion of air into batch causes discoloration
Rupture DiskFailure Loss of vacuum
AgitatorBladesFall Off Loss of agitation
Phase Probes
Malfunction
Excessive dumping of recovered acid into lower receiver,
batch cycle time increases
SecondaryRupture Disk
Failure
Loss of vacuum
DCS ProcessDriven
Issues
Batch Stalls
Internal CoolingCoil Leak
Water spills into batch slowing the cycle or preventing the
reaction from completion

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Most Consequential Critical Equipment Failures
Combiningthe SAPworkorderdataandthe anecdote knowledgeof productions/maintenance,these are
the six mostflagrantcritical equipmentfailuresbyreactorduringthe lastyear:
Number of Occurrences
Reactor
Hot
Oil
Leak
Vacuum
Issue
Gasket
Failure
DCS
Process
Issues
Dislodged
Agitator
Blades
Blown
Rupture
Disk
410 X* X X
420 X X
430 X X
710 X X X X X
711 X X
715 X X X
*Safety Issue
Preventative ActionPlan
Gasket Failures (Agitator Flange, Total Condenser)
There have beenseveral vacuumissuesduetogasketfailuresthathave resultedinexcessivecycle
time and productdiscoloration,whichrequiresrework. Gasketsare essentiallygooduntil failure andare
difficulttoperformpreventative maintenance on. One optionwouldbe to group gasketsby sectionand
replace a certainnumberof gasketson a predetermined basis.Removingfunctional parts isnotefficient
and notrecommended.
Recommendations:
 Replace all vacuum jet nozzles and install booster pumps on condenser cooling water.
Thiswill enhance the currentreactorvacuum systems(nozzlesordered).
 Ensure that newgasketsare made from the rightmaterial forthe application
 Use properbolttighteningproceduresandtorqueing asperOEM recommendations.
External Hot Oil Coil Leak
External hot oil coils leaks have been identified as one of the top six critical equipment issues.
Patchinga hotoil leaknotonlyrepresentssignificantdown time,butcanalsopresentasafetyissue. Inan
incident on R-410, a hot oil coil leak was only discovered due to a smoldering fire in the insulation
surroundingthe vessel. There have alsobeenhotoil coil leaksonotherreactors.
Recommendations:
 To preventasmolderingfireinthe insulation,all the currentinsulationcouldbe replaced
withfire retardantblockfoam.Re-insulatingareactorrequires2weeks of downtimeand
cost about $55,000. Recommend reinsulating one reactor a year for the next six years
duringthe summershutdown. (AlsoanFMGlobal Insurance Recommendation)

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 Circulate the hot oil cycle through the reactor coils at 200°F during the weekends to
preventhotoil leaksfromoccurring. The Fordsplantwasbuiltfora24/7 operation.Total
shutdown on weekends allows the metal to fully contract and then a hard start on
Monday expects the coils to rapidly adjust to the increased heat. Such fluctuations put
undue stresson the coil.
 All repairsonbutt weldswillhave additional sleeve installed.
Agitator Blades Fall Off
Due to stress on the R-420 agitator bolts,the bolthead (securingthe agitatorblade to the shaft
hub) has shearedawayfromthe boltshaftcausingone of the six bladestofall.
Probable cause:
 Overtighteningof the bolts
 Wrong hardnessof bolt
 Impact bysolids
 Fatigue
 Holesonhub or blade have become worn(largerthanoriginal specification)
Recommendations:
 Do not use lockwashers as perOEM recommendation
 Increase boltwidthfrom 5/8”to3/4”. Increasingthe boltdiameterrequiresenlargingthe
shaft hub holes and the agitator blade holes. A new system could be purchased for
$20,000, but the recommendationisto retrofitthe existingblades.
 Install basketsinall vessel man-wayswithagitators.A solidpieceof compressedpowders
could fall through the man-way and strike the agitator blades causing the bolts to shear
or breakingthe blade atthe bolt holes.
 Use torque wrenchperOEM specifications
 Replace boltsafterapredeterminedtime period
 Review procedure for replacing rupture disks. Current procedure is to install blank on
reactor rupture disk vent line on roof requiringall reactors to be cooled down to 200F.
Recommend installing blank on rupture disk vent line located on reactor. This would
eliminatethe excessive downtime.
DCS Process Driven Issues
The DCS processdrivenissuesare classifiedinto3instances:fielddevice failures(transmitters),
valve issues(electrical ormechanical),andcommunicationhardware.
Withinthe pastyear, fielddevices have failedthatthenresultinDCSalarmsor erratic
automatedbehavior.Anincidentoccurredwiththe R-430 phase probesinthe upperreceiver.The
probeswere readingwaterwasflowingbackintothe reactorwhenorganicwasactuallyflowingback
intothe reactor. Subsequently,the DCSsystemdumpedupto30,000lbs of aciddownto waste water

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treatmentwhichsignificantlyincreasedacidadditionsandcycle time. The probesneededtobe removed
fromthe upperreceiverandre-adjustedtothe acidconductivity.
Recommendations:
 Purchasednewphase probeswhichwere adjustedonthe bench(resolved)
 Remove sightglassondecanterandcleanto allow visual interface(resolved)
 Relocatedlightbehindsightglass(resolved)
Valve issues canbe dividedintoundefinedvalvesandDCSalarms.Undefinedvalvesoccurwhen
a valve doesnotfullyopenorclose due to eitheranelectrical ormechanical issues.Inthe case of a
mechanicfailure,the levelswitchhasproperlysignaledtoopenthe valve,butthe valve mechanically
will notfullyopen.Inthe case of an electrical failure,the levelswitchhasnotcorrectlysignaled tofully
opena valve,butthe valve ismechanicallysound.Inthe case of a valve alarm, a valve takestoolongto
openor close andthe DCS systemgeneratesawarning. Production continuesas the valve eventually
opens,butthe operatorsrecordthe alarm.One solutionistoincrease the time the DCSsoftware
allocatesfora valve toopenor close,butsuch a fix onlytreatsa symptomof the problem.If a valve
takeslongerthannormal to operate,itisa signthatvalve isbeginningtofail.
Recommendations:
 Replace valvesinthe eventof amechanical failure (replacementvalvespurchased)
 Adjustthe limitswitchif itoff-setorreplace the limitswitchif itismalfunctioning(limit
switchesandsolenoidcoilspurchased)
 Stroke the valve several timesandsee if the alarmresolvesitself.
 Recordthe incidentandwrite aworkorderto maintenance forfurtherinquiry.
The most frequent communicationhardware failureisthe relaymodule onthe pumps.The
operatorssignal the pumpto start inthe control room, the pumpdoesn’tstart. In actuality,the DCShas
signaledthe pumptostart, buta fuse blew inthe starter.A relaymodule has16 channelsandcan only
be replacedduringa shutdownwithoutdisruptingproduction.We have noticedthisstarterblownfuse
inlessthan 10% of our relaymodules,butare lookingintoanothermodel.
Recommendations:
 Physicallychange the pumpchannel inthe relaymodel,andthenchange the channel in
the DCS software (immediatesolution)
 Replace all blownrelaymoduleswithanupgradedmodule fromPhoenix Contacts.Not
enoughdataexiststodetermine if thisnew module isthe solutiontothe blow starter
(long-termsolution)
NOTE: Inconclusiontoall DCS processdrivenissues,oftentimesthereare extenuating
mechanical orelectricissuesthatresultinthe DCSprogram notperformingasexpected.The operators
needtodocumentthese issuesandthe mechanics/electriciansneedtodocumentanyworktheydoon
DCS complaints.If we see atrendin unexpectedDCSbehavior,the maintenance/engineering
departmentwill take the appropriatecorrectivemeasures.

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Internal Cooling Coil Leak
If a cooling coil severely fails during a reactor, water will flood into reactor and immediately
evaporate with the possibility of over pressurizing the vessel. As with all coils, leaks are difficult to do
preventative maintenance for. Normal procedure is to test coils that are suspected to have mechanical
integrity issues. All coils on tanks are tested per MI every five years. During the July 2016 shutdown, a
hydrostatictestwasdone on R-710 and discoverednoleak.
Recommendations:
 Hydrostaticallytestcoilsat200 psigfor two hours to verifytheirmechanical integrity
 Patch coilswithleaksandre-hydrostaticallytest
 Replace the entire R-710 coil as the coolingcoil has14 patches(Inprogress)
 PMall coilsevery5yearsor as needed
Rupture Disk Failure (Primary and Secondary)
Every reactor and refinerisequippedwitharupture diskto relive pressure inthe eventof over-
pressurization (greater than 10 psi). Because all rupture disks blow to a common vessel, every reactor
needstobe cooleddowninorderto replace one blownrupture disk.
Recommendations:
 Install isolationvalvestoallow rupturedisktobe repairedwithoutimpactingproduction.
Butterfly valves needs to purchased and installed ($10,000 each). This will require
installinginterlocks andanMOC witha PSR.
 Add inspection port to rupture disk vent line to make annual PM and MI inspection
quickerwithlessriskof damagingthe rupture diskandcreatingvacuumleaks.
 Install block and bleed valves on water lines to decreases chance of water entering a
reactor while hot andover-pressurizingsystemwithsteam(CAPEXapproved)