Combustible Dust Testing

Laboratory testing to quantify dust explosion and reactivity hazards

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Gas and Vapor

Laboratory testing to quantify explosion hazards for vapor and gas mixtures

UN-DOT
Classification of hazardous materials subject to shipping and storage regulations
Hydrogen
Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen
Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Thermal Stability

Safe storage or processing requires an understanding of the possible hazards associated with sensitivity to variations in temperature

Adiabatic Calorimetry
Data demonstrate the consequences of process upsets, such as failed equipment or improper procedures, and guide mitigation strategies including Emergency Relief System (ERS) design
Reaction Calorimetry
Data yield heat and gas removal requirements to control the desired process chemistry
Battery Safety

Testing to support safe design of batteries and electrical power backup facilities particularly to satisfy UL9540a ed.4

Safety Data Sheets

Develop critical safety data for inclusion in SDS documents

Cable Testing
Evaluate electrical cables to demonstrate reliability and identify defects or degradation
Equipment Qualification (EQ)
Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions
Water Hammer
Analysis and testing to identify and prevent unwanted hydraulic pressure transients in process piping
Acoustic Vibration
Identify and eliminate potential sources of unwanted vibration in piping and structural systems
Gas & Air Intrusion
Analysis and testing to identify and prevent intrusion of gas or air in piping systems
ISO/IEC 17025:2017

Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 in the field of Testing

ISO 9001:2015
Fauske & Associates fulfills the requirements of ISO 9001:2015
Dust Hazards Analysis
Evaluate your process to identify combustible dust hazards and perform dust explosion testing
On-Site Risk Management
On-site safety studies can help identify explosibility and chemical reaction hazards so that appropriate testing, simulations, or calculations are identified to support safe scale up
DIERS Methodology
Design emergency pressure relief systems to mitigate the consequences of unwanted chemical reactivity and account for two-phase flow using the right tools and methods
Deflagrations (Dust/Vapor/Gas)

Properly size pressure relief vents to protect your processes from dust, vapor, and gas explosions

Effluent Handling

Pressure relief sizing is just the first step and it is critical to safely handle the effluent discharge from an overpressure event

FATE™ & Facility Modeling

FATE (Facility Flow, Aerosol, Thermal, and Explosion) is a flexible, fast-running code developed and maintained by Fauske and Associates under an ASME NQA-1 compliant QA program.

Mechanical, Piping, and Electrical
Engineering and testing to support safe plant operations and develop solutions to problems in heat transfer, fluid, flow, and electric power systems
Hydrogen Safety
Testing and consulting on the explosion risks associated with devices and processes which use or produce hydrogen
Thermal Hydraulics
Testing and analysis to ensure that critical equipment will operate under adverse environmental conditions
Nuclear Safety
Our Nuclear Services Group is recognized for comprehensive evaluations to help commercial nuclear power plants operate efficiently and stay compliant
Radioactive Waste
Safety analysis to underpin decomissioning process at facilities which have produced or used radioactive nuclear materials
Adiabatic Safety Calorimeters (ARSST and VSP2)

Low thermal inertial adiabatic calorimeters specially designed to provide directly scalable data that are critical to safe process design

Other Lab Equipment and Parts for the DSC/ARC/ARSST/VSP2 Calorimeters

Products and equipment for the process safety or process development laboratory

FERST

Software for emergency relief system design to ensure safe processing of reactive chemicals, including consideration of two-phase flow and runaway chemical reactions

FATE

Facility modeling software mechanistically tracks transport of heat, gasses, vapors, and aerosols for safety analysis of multi-room facilities

Blog

Our highly experienced team keeps you up-to-date on the latest process safety developments.

Process Safety Newsletter

Stay informed with our quarterly Process Safety Newsletters sharing topical articles and practical advice.

Resources

With over 40 years of industry expertise, we have a wealth of process safety knowledge to share.

Published July 16, 2014

Cable Health Aging Management Program (CHAMP) Basics

 


Fauske & Associates LLC (FAI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Westinghouse Electric Company,Cable Conduit hot pipe separation LLC, has extensive experience in evaluating, testing and assessing cable performance. FAI established our Cable Health Aging Management Program (CHAMP) to evaluate and support Cable Condition Monitoring programs. One of the most effective CHAMP processes for evaluating cable performance is via performing visual walkdowns.

For the nuclear power industry, the Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report, NUREG-1801, Section XI.E1 provides guidance to applicants for a renewed operating license to develop a program for the management of aging for Non-EQ Insulated Cable and Connections. Our CHAMP program is intended to support plants in complying with the GALL and related License Renewal requirements. In addition, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and other organizations have established procedures, recommendations and best practices for the implementation of effective cable walk down programs.

The FAI CHAMP walkdown program utilizes all of these resources along with lessons learned from previous walkdowns to effectively evaluate and catalog the plant’s cable assets. (Pictured right, an interesting cable conduit hot pipe separation). 

Walkdown Process
A CHAMP cable walkdown assessment to evaluate cable assets, support Maintenance Rule functions, License Renewal Aging Management Programs and/or for other applications involves evaluation of all plant locations that have the potential to have cables located in Adverse Localized Environments (ALEs). This typically involves performing walkdowns both inside containment (during outages) and outside containment (typically during power operation or non-outage).

CHAMP walkdowns are a visual inspection of the ALEs in which observations are made, Infrared thermographs are employed (if allowed) and digital pictures will be taken. Areas of interest that are not readily accessible (i.e., cables within cabinets, cables located in “out of reach” locations, etc.) should be identified in advance, if possible, with the best attempt made to grant access to these during the walkdown (outage or non-outage as appropriate).

A CHAMP walkdown procedure is developed and reviewed with the client prior to initiating the walkdown. The walkdown procedure provides the specific locations and information to be gathered during the walkdown. As a minimum the following information is gathered during the Thermally Degraded Cable Jacketwalkdowns:


• Identification of any damaged cables
• Visual inspection notes
• Infrared temperature of areas that warrant measurement
• Infrared thermography pictures (if permitted)
• Digital photographs of the cables under evaluation
• Potential sources that could be detrimental to the cables under evaluation (i.e., heat sources, moisture, etc.)
• Cataloging of the cable assets 


Throughout the duration of the walkdown process, regular updates of the walkdown findings are provided to the client. If any cables are found to be damaged, or any other conditions are identified that could be detrimental to plant operation or safety, this information is transmitted to the client as soon as possible. At the completion of each walkdown, a walkdown report is issued to the client. (Pictured left, Thermally Degraded Cable Jacket)

Recent Experience, Activities & Capabilities:

• CHAMP Walkdown at a dual unit PWR in the USA – Unit-1 inside & outside containment
and Unit-2 outside containment (complete)
• Cable fire, PRA & performance walkdown at several European BWR & PWR plants (complete)
• Cable fire, PRA & performance walkdown at several USA plants (complete)
• Numerous BWR, PWR & other types of nuclear plant walkdowns to support various programs including cable, PRA, and plant specific issues (complete and ongoing)
• CHAMP Walkdown (continuation project) at a dual unit PWR in the USA – Unit-2 inside containment (Fall 2013)
• CHAMP Walkdown at a dual unit PWR in the USA: Both units inside and outside containment (2014)Un insulated accumulators next to Cable Conduit

Quality Assurance
As requested, work can be performed under FAI’s QA program which is regularly audited and is compliant with 10CFR50 Appendix B and FAI’s ISO 9001 certification. Typically the CHAMP walkdowns are not performed to our QA program. However, they can be if requested. (Pictured right, Un-insulated accumulators next to Cable/Conduit)

The Cable Health Aging Management Program (CHAMP) of Fauske & Associates LLC (FAI), an affiliate of the Westinghouse Electric Company, provides several services including experience performing plant cable walkdowns. To discuss your specific issues and how we can assist you, please contact us at info@fauske.com, (630) 323-8750, www.fauske.com.

 

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