At Nutec Bickley we are members of the committee that formulates certain safety standards in the USA, the Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA). As a result, we have participated in some reforms to the regulations and we are up to speed with all important developments.
Beyond being ‘problem solvers’, we are committed to being an agent of hazard prevention by performing regular maintenance, based on the requirements set down in these regulations.
Learn more about how we can help you work efficiently, in compliance with international safety requirements.
A necessary but little-known service
The NFPA 86 Standard establishes the design and management requirements for industrial natural gas furnaces, for the purpose of safe production. It also notes the maintenance and operational points that the user must closely monitor during their daily activities.
Unfortunately, this American standard to which we adhere in Mexico (given we don’t have an equivalent one) and that serves as a guide for formulating our safety checklist, is not so widely known about.
This is where Nutec Bickley comes in as a pioneer in this matter, since we use this standard as a starting point in the design of our furnaces, ensuring their optimal operation and safety. In addition, we recently initiated a furnace maintenance service in compliance with these standards.
Design safety for industrial furnaces
Furnaces must be designed to prevent ignition if the following elements are not as they should be:
• High air pressure
• High/low gas pressure
• Flame status
• High temperature
Most of the time we can see that existing equipment does not allow high gas pressure to be initiated, so it is necessary to bypass the signal. When this occurs, the system should be prevented from booting up since it is not safe to do so under these conditions.
Equipment checks required for safe operation
Here is a list of the checks we make to your furnaces:
1.Safety interlocks
For our contract clients we provide a maintenance service that includes two visits per year for preventive safety checks of the following:
• Burners: general condition, block and internal components.
• Regulator diaphragm.
• Temperature bypass: operation and configuration of the correct values.
• Gas relief valves: verify that they open at the predetermined gas pressure.
• Over-temperature limiters: setting the correct values.
• Flame relays: check the correct burner ignition sequence to ensure that in the event of there no longer being any flame in the burner, the burner will immediately cut off the gas safety valve.
• Explosion relief ports: check that they open correctly, test them and verify that they are not padlocked.
• Manual gas shutoff valves: verify that they are not clogged or jammed and that they have the appropriate level of lubrication.
• High and low air and gas pressure switches: check configuration and operation of correct pressure values.
• Gas safety solenoid valves: ensure absence of leaks and correct opening/closing.
• Stress test: force test the system with high temperatures to verify that it works correctly.
• Valve test system: verify that the system executes the appropriate sequence.
2.Leak tests on safety valves
The regulations require that at least once a year we force test for possible leaks in the shutoff (ball) valves used to cut off the gas supply.
We can do this in the following way:
• Close the valve by applying supply pressure.
• Connect a rubber hose to a port in the pipeline at the outlet of each valve.
• Insert the open end of the hose into a glass of water and allow gas flow.
• Bubbles coming out of the end of the hose indicate that the valve has not been tightly closed.
• See NFPA 86 for the number of bubbles allowed in this test method.
At Nutec Bickley we have the latest combustion system technology and our designs comply with current regulations. Contact our team and tell us about your next project so that we can help you realize it, backed up by the latest technology available on the market.
