Reliability & Maintenance
Root Cause Analysis for Boiler and Steam-Cycle Failures
A case-based programme on investigating boiler tube, steam system and water-chemistry failures — evidence preservation, metallurgical and chemistry interpretation, causal analysis and corrective actions that actually stop repeats.
Industry focus: Power Generation & Electrical Engineering
Who Should Attend
Designed for these roles
- Boiler, mechanical and reliability engineers in power and process plants
- Inspection and integrity engineers handling tube failure investigations
- Plant chemists supporting failure analysis
- Maintenance managers accountable for repeat forced outages
Delivery formats
- Customised in-house training at your plant or office
- Public classroom delivery, subject to schedule
- Live online delivery where suitable
- Recommended group size: 8–20 participants
Problems Solved
What this course fixes
Tube failures repaired quickly and repeated within months
Samples cut, cleaned or discarded before evidence is captured
Investigations that stop at the physical mechanism and never reach the system cause
Corrective actions closed out without effectiveness verification
Learning Outcomes
What participants can do after the programme
Outcomes are written as tasks, not topics — so managers can verify capability back at work.
- Preserve and select failure evidence, including correct sample removal practice
- Identify the major boiler tube failure mechanisms from appearance and data
- Link chemistry, operating and design evidence into a defensible causal chain
- Separate physical, human and latent system causes
- Write corrective actions with owners, verification and effectiveness review
Course Outline
Detailed programme content
Day 1 — Evidence & Mechanisms
- Investigation initiation, scene control and sample removal
- Creep, fatigue, erosion, overheating and corrosion signatures
- Chemistry-driven mechanisms: hydrogen damage, caustic gouging, pitting
Day 2 — Analysis Method
- Causal tree construction and hypothesis testing
- Using operating data, chemistry logs and inspection history
- Metallurgical testing: what to request and how to read it
Day 3 — Corrective Action & Cases
- Latent causes: design, procedure, competency and spares
- Action planning, tracking and effectiveness verification
- Workshop: full investigation on a participant failure case
Practical Work
Practical exercises and case studies
Sessions are built around calculations, data interpretation and technical decisions. Case material is generic or anonymised — no client-confidential project data is used.
Sample removal and evidence preservation planning for a tube failure
Mechanism identification from failure appearance, chemistry logs and operating data
Causal tree construction to physical, human and latent system causes
Full investigation exercise on a boiler failure case pack
Trainer Profile
Delivered by Sathish Kumar
Senior Trainer — Reliability, Maintenance & Rotating Equipment
19 years industry experience
Sathish builds maintenance strategies that survive contact with a real budget. His workshops use participants' own failure history, so teams leave with a revised task list rather than a certificate alone.
Real project exposure
- RCM implementation across critical pumps and compressors at a combined-cycle power plant
- Root cause failure analysis on repeat bearing failures in a boiler feed pump train
- Spare parts and criticality review for a palm oil refinery group
Certifications
- CMRP — Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional
- Vibration Analyst Category III (ISO 18436-2)
- RCM2 Practitioner
Trainer allocation is confirmed in your proposal. Substitute trainers hold equivalent certification and sector experience.
Next Step
Run this programme for your team
We will confirm available dates, trainer, duration and HRD Corp claimable investment — and adjust the outline to your equipment and standards at no extra cost.
No obligation. Proposals include HRD Corp claim guidance.
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