At American Piping Products, we pride ourselves on creating solutions for complicated situations. When an emergency situation arises for a customer, we put our creativity into high gear to do whatever it takes to meet their very immediate needs.
Recently, American Piping Products was able to assist one Midwestern power generation company with an unexpected shutdown on its hands.
The Problem
After a 2-month scheduled shutdown, this major electric utility powered up their 280 MW gas fired plant only to find a crack in a 22” OD main SA335 P91 steam line.
This posed a huge problem for the company. With no power being generated, the company was losing millions of dollars as the unit sat idle until a replacement could be installed. They needed quick, emergency repair in the form of a specific type of pipe fabricated, processed and delivered fast.
How American Piping Products handled the issue
American Piping Products received the call on Tuesday, May 7th, around 1:00pm. We immediately started solving the problem. The power company didn’t need just any pipe, though. They needed a fabricated spool manufactured to the following dimensions: 22.000” OD x 2.004” minimum wall 3R 90 Degree sweep in SA335 P91 material.
Fortunately, they contacted American Piping Products. We had the material on the ground and had the ability to consult on the design and source the bending and fabrication.
By Thursday, American Piping Products submitted drawings to the power company. Friday, we received final approval of those drawings, as well as approval of the mill test reports and the manufacturing schedule. Work began that Friday night and continued throughout the weekend until the final finish work was completed on Monday evening.
Tuesday – exactly one week after the initial contact – lifting lugs, final end preparation and RT access plugs were completed. American Piping Products then arranged for overnight shipping and delivered the completed product to their facility ahead of schedule. And we are the only steel pipe supplier who could have done it.
The end result
Within seven days of making a phone call to American Piping Products, the power generation company had its new main steam header delivered to its facility, ready for installation. Soon after, they were back, up and running at full capacity with as little loss to operating costs as possible.Quality service. Fast processing. Quick delivery. That’s what American Piping Products is all about. If we can go this far above and beyond regular service during an emergency, just think of what we can do for your company on a day-to-day basis.