Document rB82deKrwZn72RznoGpjyJzjE

Tenneco C. aicals, Inc. (COMPANY) (CSS-76-79) INTEROFFICE COMMUNICATION Files FOR: Distribution FROM: C. S. Stutts RE: pvc Power Failure, December 2, 1978 (ESR 60214-4) DATE: June 4, 1979 INTRODUCTION On December 2, 1978, the power supply to the PVC plant failed due to a cable ground fault. The emergency power backup systems failed to operate in the desired manner as described in the attached memorandum which was issued previously. This report contains recommendations for improving the PVC electrical system to improve its reliability. The evaluation was conducted by Messrs. H. S. Thacker and L. C. Elliott and the writer, and has been reviewed by plant operating personnel. Mr. Elliott has previously issued recommendations regarding other plant emergency systems (i.e. nitrogen and instrument air supplies). SUMMARY Several modifications to the PVC plant emergency power circuits are recommended to improve the reliability of the system and to allow automatic restarting of both instrument air compressors. Thorough testing of the system is recomiended to assure conformance to design specifications. DISCUSSION The following is a summary of the status of tasks that were assigned in a joint meeting by Operations, Maintenance and Engineering held December 12, 1975. 1, Assure that NORMAL-EMERGENCY switch will not transfer to EMERGENCY unless the emergency generator is operating properly (Brown & Root, TCI Engineering) :_______________________________________________ _________________ It has been confirmed that the NORMAL-EMERGENCY switch will not transfer to EMERGENCY unless power from the emergency generator is at the proper voltage and frequency; however, the switch does shut down all equipment on the emergency generator circuit after a power failure, NORMAL power must now be reinstituted manually by a toggle switch in the motor control center. A design has been completed which will permit automatic restarting of equipment on NORMAL power if the emergency generator fails to start, or fails after starting. This modification will require the shutdown ox equipment on the emergency generator for a short period of time. It is recommended that this modification be postponed until it can be done in conjunction with a plant power outage. 2. Have the vendor check the operation of emergency generator, including testing with load applied (TCI Maintenance):__________________________ TEN 1431 The generator was tested using a water resistance load subsequent to the December 2 failure. It was determined that a partially plugged fuel fil' nrevented the engine from operating under full load. TfNNICO Tenneco . emlcals. Inc. (COMPANY) . INTEROFFICE COMMUNICATION Flies -2- June 4, 1979 3. Design an installation to permit regular load testing of emergency generator (Brown & Root, TCI Engineering); It is reconmended that load testing of the generator be conducted using an outside service. Installation of facilities by Tenneco does not appear to be financially justifiable at this time. It is recommended that testing under load be done at least quarterly. This is a lower frequency than originally recommended in Brown & Root's operating guidelines, bu^appears to be adequate when consideration is given to the possibility of a power failure occurring while the generator is out of service for load testing. Monthly inspection or replacement of the engine fuel filter is also recommended. Mr. L, Cox will include these items in his preventative maintenance program, 4. Evaluate the design for restart sequencing of equipment on the emergency power circuit, particularly considering automatic restart if the emergency generator does not operate and normal power returns. Also consider other potential malfunctions such as UPS failure, sequencer failure, etc. (Brown & Root, TCI Engineering) : The proposed system for restarting upon failure of the emergency power supply has been discussed in Item 1. Design of the entire system has been evaluated and specific comments will be discussed later. 5. Evaluate operation of the "static switch" in the UPS (switch from normal to alternate power sources) to assure it will switch to the alternate power source at the proper level of battery depletion and that it will not switch unless the alternate power supply is available (Brown & Root, TCI Engineering): The static switch will change to the alternate source if the battery voltage depletes, regardless of the status of the power from the alternate source. Since the output of the UPS is used in the control circuit for the alternate source power supply, the alternate source cannot be used unless the UPS is already operational. To correct the problem, the control circuit will be modified to enable the alternate source supply at all times. 6. Formalize operating procedures to prevent blowing the fuse on the UPS normal power supply when transferring from battery source to normal power source (TCI Operations, TCI Engineering): A recommended operating procedure is being developed by Mr, Thacker. 7. Determine why an instrument air compressor does not automatically restart on the emergency generator as it was intended to do (TCI Engineering, H, Thacker): An error in the original Brown & Root electrical design prevents automatic restarting of the air compressors after a power failure. ^32 Revisions to the circuit have been designed which will correct this error. The revisions can be made while shutting down one compressor at a time. Mo impact on plant operation is anticipated while making these ch. KNNfCOj Tenneco Ch- cals. Inc, (COfcwnNY) INTEROFFICE COMMUNICATION Files -3- June 4, 1979 8. Formalize procedure for complete testing of the emergency power system (including restart sequencing) during any scheduled plant outages (TCI Operations, TCI Maintenance):_____ Messrs. Thacker and Elliott will review the existing test procedure used by Maintenance. In addition, a "live" test is proposed later in this report. 9. Determine the time settings on under voltage time delays for all reactors and correct as needed (TCI Maintenance. TCI Operations): All reactor agitator undervoltage time delays were checked by Maintenance. 10. Determine if two instrument air compressors can operate using the emergency generator. With the expanded plant, one compressor on emergency power is insufficient (Brown & Root, TCI Engineering): It has been determined that operating loads on the emergency power motor control centers will permit the operation of two instrument air compressors on the emergency generator. Circuit modifications have been designed for this installation. 11 is recommended that the changes be made in conjunction with Item 7. 11. Improve documentation for troubleshooting the emergency power supply system for operating personnel (TCI Operations, TCI Engineering): ' Existing documentation supplied by Brown & Root has been reviewed by Engineering and appears to be adequate with some exceptions. Corrections will be made where required and the information will be reissued to the appropriate Operating personnel. In addition to the items described above, investigation of the system has lead to the additional recommendations that the entire system should be tested under closely supervised conditions by (a) tripping the NORMAL power supply breaker, and (b) using the test circuit. This should be done after modifications recommended above have been completed. This test would permit evaluation of the entire system, something which has never been done under closely monitored conditions, and would assure proper operation of modifications. The risks incurred in such a test should be minimal. It was discovered that the circuit breakers from the generator must be manually reset if they open due to an engine overcrank or overspeed. The breakers must be manually reset to correct this situation. While it is not known if such a situation existed on December 2, it would result in consequences identical to those which occurred. The circuit breakers are connected to an alarm in the motor control center. The importance of this alarm should be TEN H33 Tit !*- I/I* TfNUtCO Tenneco Cl teals, Inc, (COMPANY) INTEROFFICE COMMUNICATION Flies -4- June 4, 1979 emphasized to all operating and maintenance personnel and inspection of the breakers should be made a part of the weekly generator test procedure. CSS/cjm Attachment cc: D. C. Coldiron R. E. Harmond C, G. Thompson W. Rupp F. S. Klopp G. I. Rozand C. E. Crain L. Cox C. A. Hendricks J. F. Robins D. R. Keck E. 0, Rouse H. S . Thacker S. E. Richter L. C. Elliott D. O'Conner L. L. Bird C/ C. S. Stutts A.P. 12 u twON/ 3USINESS group Polymers (ESR 60251) Ttnnco Chemicals CAA H0 Tvdf CAPITAL APPROPRIATION REQUEST 0 70 4 7 04 ALL PROJECTS $10,000 AND LESS D<V AeSFONSlBUiTV iSSET *CCT 5 1 2 3 3 60 0 4 0 u LOCATION Pasadena. Texas title provide improved pvc emergency power instrumentation FINANCIAL SUMMARY AUTHORIZATION AMOUNT NEW SALES OR SAVINGS COSTS ANO EXPENSES NET OPERATING INCOME CASH FLOW ML. s 0.28m S (0.28M) if (0.10M) FIXED CAPITAL WORKING CAPITAL TOTAL s LJM s 2.5M am N/A PAYOUT N/A YRS. START OF EXPENDITURE On approval rvtojoi PTirtw nc FVPFwniTiiRE Six months iFRvirp nATP Six months _ **OQ^IP(TT LlFF YRS 17, PROJECT TYPE * 01 POLLUTION XX DEFENSIVE/ I------1 04 NONPROFIT 07 EXPANSIONL9_9J OTHER 02 SAFETY/HEALTH 1 liwU n nTtC OS COST HcUULl lUn 08 R& 0 dtscnbi REPLACEMENT NEW -21 & REPAIR 06 PRODUCT 09 ENERGY PROJECT DESCRIPTION & JUSTIFICATION: its CAR is for modification of the existing emergency power system instrumentation to allow for automatic switching back to normal power after a power failure. This modification would also assure that the "static-switch" will switch to the alternate power source at the proper level of battery depletion and that it will not switch unless the alternate power supply is available. controllable EQUIPMENT TAG No. %TCI LABOR CAPITALIZED (FOR RIK) PURCHASE MATERIAL REQUISITION No. WORK ORDER No. FOR CAPITAL SPARES. FOUO No. STOCK AUTH. No. MIN MAX ON HAND No. PURCHASE LAST 12 MONTHS CHECK ONE OF THE FOLLOWING: LABORATORY FACILITIES ___ SHOP FACILITIES ___ TOOLS & EQUIPMENT ___ FURNITURE ANO EQUIPMENT___ R&D ___ PURCHASE DATE CAPITAL ASSET DISPOSAL INFORMATION - CADR CONTROL No. OISPOSAL GROSS BOOK VALUE SALVAGE VALUE DISMANTLING COSTS OATE GENERAL MANAGER APPROVALS OATE No. PURCHASED LASTS YEARS i 2/&h> ' mDArTeE BUSINESS DIRECTOR OPERATIONS DIRECTOR OATE OATE OEPTHEAO ^ (Z C (a INITIATOR OATE z -ev. Ho TEN 1435ate N 3US.'N S3 C* 3 C U P ' Tenneco Chemicals CAPITAL APPROPRIATION REQUEST c n ALL PROJECTS SIO.OOO AND LESS l: -- i. i; i- - !i - 1! - : : i. ' ' LOCATION ^s.id^r.r., T i- F'NAN'C'AL S'JVVA3v NEW SALiS OR SAVINGS COSTS A NO EXPENSES NET OPERATING INCOME CASH PLOW s 5.20 s 1.10M -1 <i.10M) s .6 5>D -L" ,^!2-~~'CN -"Z . ' FIXED CAPITAL WORKING CAPITAL s s TOTAL RCl -1 =i PAYOUT 2.1-i YRS. START OF EXPENDITURE 0n Approval COMPLETION OF EXPENDITURE _6__mon_ghs IN SERVICE DATE_________________ 6 months PROJECT LIFE. YRS______________ _____________ ~ * -*---------* ^ 01 n 1 =POLLUTION VY ^SAFETY/HEALTH MM 0E=ENS1VE; NON PROFIT 07 EXPANSION 99 | 0T-E COST a 7. 02 INSURANCE 05 REDUCTION 08 iesc.':ce REPLACEMENT 03 & REPAIR 06 NEW PRODUCT 09 ENERGY PsRRCOjJEE CT DESCRIPTION & JUSTIFICATION: esentlv the emergency generator is load tested by an outside service firm at a cost of SI,300 per test. This test is performed yearly and this i? = lower frequency than recommended in the operating guidelines. A quarterly load test is recommended which would increase the probability of the generator being able to support all the equipment on the circuit. Load testing on a quarterly basis would cost $5,200 per year. Tenneco's Maintenance personnel are required to participate in the tests so little additional manpower would be required for the testing. i EQUIPMENT Tag no. % , v> b 1 CAPITALIZED (FOR RlKiJ PURCnASc MATERIAL REQUISITION No. ;vCRK OROER No. -Z^ fOUO NO. i"i = =S STOCK. AUTH. No. MIN MAX On hand No. PURCHASE LAST 12 MONTHS CHECK ONE OF THE FOLLOWING j LABORATORY FACILITIES ___ | shop facilities TOOLS & EQUIPMENT ___ ! ___ j FURNITURE AND ECUlPMENT___ R S> 0 ___ PURCHASE DATE DISPOSAL DATE GROSS BOOK VALUE SALVAGE VALUE DISMANTLING COSTS #. . APPROVALS GsNRal MANAGER ^ DATE oiJAi --- 4 - :-/r C- i C " 0 JJ DATE ^ _________ ' 2C_______________ (2l A 1; - /~V CEPT ^EAO . <? L ^ L- <. fw. PURCnAjiC LAST 5 YEARS 'DATE TEN L4|6.