A thermal power plant that uses heavy oil fuel is under construction. One boiler in the plant was commissioned and put into operation in May 2018 to generate power for use around the rest of the construction site. A few weeks after testing and commissioning, an induced draft fan used to exhaust combustion gases from the boiler to the chimney suffered a catastrophic failure which shut down the system. Initial investigation revealed that the 24 blades used in the fan have broken.
Five days later, another induced draft fan failed in a similar manner, with all 24 blades breaking off at the root. CEERISK consulting was instructed by the insurers to work with the loss adjuster on investigating the root cause of failure.
A site investigation was performed by CEERISK experts, during which time they interviewed engineers from the manufacturer, the supplier of the fan, and the contractor of the construction site. CEERISK engineers examined the fractured roots of the broken fans and identified a number of fan roots that have been preserved and secured to transport to testing laboratories in the UK for forensic testing.
