KnightHawk Engineering

Corrosion Failure of a Spool Piece Case study: A pipe spool piece that was operated at 75 PSI and temperatures between 80 and 90 oC experienced numerous leaks. Plant operations noted that the leaks tended to occur during or immediately following acid cleaning of the spool piece interior. After each leak, the pipe was repaired with a fiberglass wrap and placed back in service. KML was contracted to determine the cause of the repeated leaks in the pipe. Click the link below to see how KHE determined the root cause: https://knighthawkmaterialslab.com/corrosion-failure-of-a-spool-piece

Pump Fire Root Cause Failure Analysis Case Study
Problem: A plant experienced a fire at one of their centrifugal pumps that pumps oil. The fire was safely put out, but the plant required a root cause failure analysis to determine why the fire occurred. Solution: KHE applied its Integrated Systems Approach to this project employing process, mechanical, and metallurgical analyses. While the failed pump parts displayed significant wear damage to the impeller and impeller housing, KHE metallurgical analysis was able to trace the failure to a defective bearing. Please click the link for the rest of the case study: https://knighthawk.com/case-studies/pump-fire-root-cause-failure-analysis

Piping Vibration with 2-Phase Flow Case Study:
Problem: A plant was experiencing excessive piping vibration on a line that was downstream of a heat exchanger train. Several existing pipe supports had been broken, and plant personnel were concerned about the safety of the line. Due to process conditions two-phase (gas and liquid) flow was likely present in this line, particular downstream of the pressure control valve. Click the link below for the rest of the case study and to see KHE’s Solution to the problem: https://knighthawk.com/case-studies/piping-vibration-with-2-phase-flow

CASE STUDY: Stress Corrosion Cracking of Stainless Fl**ge
Background: Cracks were detected on floating fl**ge spool piece during routine inspection using snoop liquid test. A metallurgical failure analysis was conducted to identify the failure mechanism.

Summary: This fl**ge failure was associated with stress corrosion cracking attack under a polythionic acid environment. The floating fl**ge was used for loading methyl mercaptan into a rail car storage tank and possibly a gasket leak led to exposure of wet HXSOY when reacting with atmospheric moisture…. Click the link for the entire case study: https://knighthawkmaterialslab.com/scc-of-stainless-steel-floating-fl**ge-spool-piece

CASE STUDY: TLE Tube Failure
Background: TLE inlet tubesheet tube failure associated with localized material loss. A metallurgical failure analysis was conducted to identify the failure mechanism. Summary: TLE tube-tubesheet failure was associated with excessive localized metal loss due to high temperature erosion and metal dusting. Please Click the link to read the rest of the case study: https://knighthawkmaterialslab.com/case-studies/tle-tube-failure

Rotordynamic Case Study: Is Your Fan Balanced?
Double suction draft fans are prone to problematic vibrations when operated under imbalanced conditions. Often when the topic of imbalance is brought up, it is conceived as mass imbalance. On the other hand, a thermal imbalance can cause similar and even more severe rotordynamic consequences when overlooked. KnightHawk Engineering (KHE) witnessed such a problem with a double suction draft fan. Please click the link to read the rest of the case study written by Dr. Farzam Mortazavi: https://knighthawk.com/case-studies/rotordynamic

KnightHawk MATERIALS Lab is pleased to announce the launch of our new Materials Lab Website. Please take a look at our new services and capabilities, KML strives to be your best in class and go to lab for all your metallurgical and materials science needs. https://knighthawkmaterialslab.com/

KnightHawk Engineering is pleased to announce the launching of our new company website. Please take a moment and check out the latest and greatest videos and content of our team. KnightHawk is committed to being your “One Stop Shop” for all your Engineering Solutions needs. https://www.knighthawk.com/

KnightHawk Engineering Materials Lab (KML), an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited lab, offers customized mechanical and chemical testing. Our universal testing machines are capable of doing a variety of computer controlled tests from standardized tensile testing to highly customized compression, bending, low cycle fatigue, creep and relaxation testing. Whether you need to determine corrosion rates from standard corrosion coupons, or design a corrosion test to screen materials for your process, we can take care of your testing needs.