Beaumont Technical Services News

New Projects

• The design and manufacture a 16.5m high vent which will be installed on a new ventilation system at Hunterston Nuclear Power Plant on the west coast of Scotland.
• The design, manufacture and erection of a 17m high chimney for a new encapsulation project at AWE Aldermaston.
• The design and installation for replacement flues and ducting at the British Library where new boilers and an economiser are to be installed. F E Beaumont Ltd had originally manufactured and installed the ducting when the Library was built in the late 1980’s. The contract also called for the pressure testing of the original vertical liner to which the equipment is to be fitted and an internal CCTV inspection.

On-going Projects

• A design review of an existing chimney at Seal Sands in the NE of England which was suffering fatigue problems from the original design having numerous inaccuracies. Following this a specification was prepared for a replacement chimney and after placement of the order with a contractor their design and drawings have been reviewed.
• A distillery in Paisley, Scotland required upgrading their dryer system and at the same time taking account of the fact that they would be replacing the boiler plant in the foreseeable future. The insulcore chimney had been originally designed, manufactured and erected by F E  Beaumont Ltd back in the early 1970’s but required a new stainless steel liner. A design review of the existing chimney was undertaken and a specification prepared for the required works which also would include the fitting of a damper, shot blasting and painting the chimney windshield internally and various strengthening works. At the same time a specification was prepared for the replacement of some of the current flues. After the Horizon Specialist Contracting Ltd were appointed for the contract Beaumont Technical Services Ld have been retained to review their calculations and drawings for the works.
• Provision of drawings for past projects to a wide variety of customers.
• Calculations and manufacturing drawings for an approximately 8m high stainless steel vent mounted on a 36m high building at Sellafield in Cumbria.
• The replacement of 2no metallic bellows and other remedial works to the horizontal flues and liners within a structure serving the sludge incineration plant at Crossness, London. The works were determined as necessary remedial works following an inspection in 2008. The flues and liners were originally designed, manufactured and erected by F. E. Beaumont Ltd

Recent Projects

• Produce calculations to confirm the maximum pressure that the vertical liners, at both St Thomas’s and Guy’s hospitals, London, could withstand before they would rupture. The vertical liners were originally designed, manufactured and installed by F. E. Beaumont Ltd.
• At both of EDF’s West Burton and Cottam power stations in Nottinghamshire the design, manufacture and installation of a steel structure and stair access over a conveyor serving a bio-fuel power plant. Our client Western Air Ducts of Midsomer Norton in Somerset are supplying a complete package to control dust caused by the plant.
• The design, supply and erection of a 7m high mast, to carry 3no twin wall flues, to a new school being built at Dursley in Gloucestershire.
• To design and draw, for others to manufacture, a 15m high chimney to serve plant at AWE Aldermaston.
• To provide the specification for a new 41m high 3 core multiflue chimney and horizontal flues at Kettering General Hospital and to inspect during manufacture and erection.
• A chemical plant in the north east of England was experiencing problems with a 30m vent pipe, partially supported by a structure, which had been observed to oscillate in certain wind conditions. The suggested solution was for a damper to be fitted.
• It had been found that after twenty five years service the exhausts serving the emergency generators at the Thames Barrier had corroded to a point where they needed replacing. The contract, with the Environmental Agency, called for the replacement of the existing equipment over a phased programme to ensure that two generators were always available. Included in the contact was the requirement for aesthetically acceptable terminations plus a dummy one to complete the symmetry of the building.
• The design, supply and erection of a 30m multiflue chimney complete with 4no stainless steel liners and monitoring platform to serve new power generation plant at a large sewage plant in north east England.
• For a remedial project at the La Collette power station in Jersey, the supply of 3no replacement liners in short sections for others to undertake a phased installation with the plant remaining partially on-line.
• To supply replacement parts for a tuned mass damper system that was undergoing refurbishment after 15 years service. The original chimney and damper had been designed, manufactured and erected by F. E. Beaumont Ltd.
• The inspection of 2no chimneys at a leisure centre at Wimborne in Dorset.
• A design review of the addition of a davit arm for lifting gas monitoring equipment on a large power station chimney.
• The design of a number of chimneys and support brackets for a project a client was under taking at Solihull hospital.
• To provide design calculations and outline sketch for an 8m mast to carry twin wall flues at a site in Swansea.
• A viability and cost study for the University of Bath with regard to a new multiflue chimney due to proposed building works which would impinge on the existing mast and chimneys.
• The inspection of brick chimney at a school in Ferndown, Dorset. The inspection was both external and an internal CCTV inspection. For the same client the steel chimney at another nearby school was inspected at the same time.
• The supply of replacement parts for a tuned mass damper following a recent inspection. The chimney was originally designed, manufactured and erected by F E Beaumont Ltd in 1994.
• The inspection of a 70m high chimney at Edenderry in Eire; for what was the largest peat burning power station in Europe at the time it was built in the late 1990’s. The chimney was originally designed, manufactured and erected by F E Beaumont Ltd.
• At the University of Bath the inspection of 4no chimneys attached to a guyed steel mast. The chimneys and connecting boiler flues, but not the mast, were originally supplied by F.E. Beaumont Ltd over a number of years.

Sampling Platforms on Chimneys

Since sampling of flue gases has increased and the Environmental Agency published Technical Guidance Notice M1 Sampling Requirements for Monitoring Stack Emissions to air from Industrial Installations which meant that sampling platforms, where fitted, became far larger the writer has been extremely concerned with the safety aspects especially when retro-fitted, and voiced his concerns at ATLAS (Association of Technical Lightning and Access Specialists) meetings.

ATLAS realising possible dangers to operatives

ATLAS realising the possible dangers to their operatives, when fitting or inspecting chimneys, to which those platforms and access had been fitted, decided to bring this to the Public Notice and started a campaign to this end. A series of articles and letters appeared in Contract Journal and following this the Environmental Agency, ATLAS and Source Testing Association had a very productive meeting and the EA took on board all that ATLAS said and a revised edition of TGN M1 should hopefully be published this summer.

It is surprising how many platforms and access ladders have been fitted to chimneys without a structural analysis being undertaken to ensure that the additional forces can be accommodated by the original and in the view of the writer it is only a matter of time before there is a catastrophic failure due to an owner/operator not realising this. Most chimneys have been designed with little additional capacity to allowable stresses, a matter of design being maximised against cost.

For more information as to whether a sampling platform is required, it is surprising how often sampling can be undertaken in the flue run, contact Dave Curtis of the Source Testing Association.

If you require a structural analysis of your chimney to check that it can accept the imposed loads of ladders and platforms complete the contact form on the contact us page.