Where has Jeff been?

I have been traveling around the West coast working for Covanta Energy. My primary role is to perform boiler inspections and find any problems. There are 15 boilers in my region that I try to inspect twice a year. The challenge is not only in finding the need for repairs but to work with the management team to fix outside of the budget or plan for the next fiscal year. The plan is to reduce tube failures and unscheduled downtime by 20% this year. Tube failures cost about $50,000 per day not to mention the safety aspect of such a high energy release.


Some areas of the boilers are more accesible then others. They are all confined spaces though. I need to wear a respirator due to the fine ash everywhere. The picture below is one of the most challenging inspections due to the amount of ash on the tube surface. It is these tubes that if get thin enough can rupture and take the boiler down.


Most of the inspections are performed during the Fall and the Spring. Summer is peak power months and the plants have an incentive to run 100% during the summer. I will start traveling quite a bit again after Labor Day.