Power Boiler Operations and Monitoring Procedure

Purpose. This procedure sets the routine operating, monitoring and handover tasks for the power boiler and feedwater plant and the response to abnormal conditions.

1.Authority to operate

Only operators who hold the appropriate boiler operator licence and have been assessed as competent on the Riverside power boiler will operate it. The boiler will be operated within the limits on the safe operating envelope displayed in the boiler control room. The boiler must not be operated with any safety valve, low water cut-out or flame safeguard defeated.

2.Shift routine

At the start of each shift the operator must take a handover from the outgoing operator, review the shift log, check the alarm summary, and walk the boiler house to check for leaks, unusual noise, hot spots and housekeeping. The operator will record drum level, steam pressure, feedwater and combustion readings hourly and test the low water alarm at least once per shift. Water treatment tests will be conducted and recorded on the schedule.

• Handover and alarm review
• Boiler house walk-down
• Hourly readings recorded
• Low water alarm test each shift
• Blowdown and water chemistry tests as scheduled

3.Combustion and emissions

The operator will control fuel, air and excess oxygen to maintain stable combustion within the emissions limits. Opacity and sulphur dioxide readings from the continuous monitor must be checked every hour and recorded in the Environmental Discharge and Emissions Log. Any reading trending towards the licence limit must be reported to the shift supervisor and corrected.

4.Abnormal conditions

On a low water alarm the operator must confirm the drum level by the gauge glass, restore feedwater if safe to do so, and trip the boiler if the level cannot be restored. On a flame failure the operator must not attempt a relight until the furnace has been purged and the cause identified. On a tube leak the operator must reduce load, notify the supervisor and prepare for a controlled shutdown. Every abnormal condition must be recorded in the shift log and the Incident and Hazard Register.

5.Operator preventative maintenance

The operator will complete the operator preventative maintenance checklist each shift, including lubrication of the feed pump and fan bearings on the schedule, inspection of sootblowers and checking of gauge glass isolation valves. Defects must be raised as maintenance work orders on the shift they are found.

6.Handover

The outgoing operator must brief the incoming operator on plant condition, alarms, live permits, isolations and any abnormal event during the shift. Both operators must sign the shift log. A boiler must never be left unattended between shifts.