J.S. Held Acquires GLI Advisors, Strengthening Our Construction Project Support Services in the Western US and Hawaii
Read MoreWe investigate the cause of equipment and system failures at industrial and commercial facilities and determine the scope of damage caused by such failures or severe weather events.
Learn more about our equipment failure analysis and lab testing services.
Our team has performed and managed multidisciplinary investigations into the cause and scope of damage of large and complex losses around the globe at power stations, refineries, chemical and petrochemical plants, gas processing facilities and terminals, pulp and paper mills, and numerous other industrial and commercial facilities.
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We provide a comprehensive range of services in support of dispute resolution and litigation, such as:
Our team utilizes our laboratory services to identify the mechanism and cause of metallic component failures, analyze process and other systemic factors that contributed to the failure, and, when applicable, estimate how long these detrimental conditions existed. We often distinguish between failures that resulted from design of the component or process/system, manufacturing or fabrication method, material deficiency or incompatibility, or as the result of outside factors (e.g., temperature or stress).
Ruptured Braised Aluminum Heat Exchanger in Gas Processing Plant
Our team was retained to investigate a braised aluminum heat exchanger used in natural gas processing that ruptured due to manufacturing and design defects.
Failure of Molecular Sieves in Landfill Gas Purification Plant
Our team was retained to investigate the cause of degradation of molecular sieves that failed due to poor process design and exposure to contaminated landfill gas.
Assessment of Explosion & Fire Damage to Oil Refinery Equipment
Our team was retained to assess extensive damage to storage and reactor vessels, heat exchangers, and rotating equipment which included field metallography, portable hardness testing, thickness measurements, and the removal of test coupons for mechanical testing.
Assessment of Potential Damage to Historical Commercial Office Building Exposed to Contaminated Steam
Our team was retained to investigate the extent of damage to the interior of a building following contamination from storm floodwater that entered a steam tunnel connected to a historical office building. Extensive sampling was performed to determine what effects, if any, were experienced by components as a result of exposure to the contaminated steam. Components evaluated included electrical and telecommunication conduits and receptacles, plumbing and light fixtures, and fireproofing material.
Damage Assessment of Refinery Equipment After Exposure to Contaminated Process Fluid
Due to human error, process fluid contaminated with high levels of caustic was introduced to process piping and circulated through a process unit that had just undergone a multi-billion-dollar upgrade. Our team collected samples from throughout the unit to determine the extent of piping replacement required as a result of stress corrosion cracking that developed due to the exposure.
Failure Analysis of a Through Air Dryer in a Tissue Mill
Our team was retained to investigate the cause of fatigue cracks that developed at the clamped locations of a divider that spanned the length of a Through Air Dryer (TAD) in service at a Tissue Mill. The clamped connection imposed tensile mean stresses in excess of the material’s yield strength. This high mean stress, coupled with the white water environment in which the TAD operated and the alternating stresses due to normal operation, led to the initiation and propagation of high cycle fatigue cracks in the dividers.
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