Paresh Haribhakti, Managing Director of TCR Advanced, is a co-author of Failure Investigation of Boiler Tubes: A Comprehensive Approach, published by ASM International. The book's India launch was held at Boiler India 2020 in Mumbai, from 21 to 23 February 2020.
The other two authors are P. B. Joshi and Rajendra Kumar. The volume sets out how a failed boiler tube is investigated: what the fracture surface, the scale and the microstructure each record, which damage mechanism each pattern points to, and what the metallurgy obliges the operator to do about the rest of the fleet. It is a working manual for the people who have to decide whether a unit goes back into service.
Why a book on boiler tubes
A boiler tube failure is rarely a surprise in hindsight. The same handful of mechanisms recur across the fleet, and each leaves a signature that a metallurgist can read.
- Fluid-side corrosion: oxygen pitting, caustic gouging, hydrogen damage and phosphate hideout, all driven by water chemistry.
- Fireside wastage: erosion, oxidation, soot-blower damage and fuel-ash corrosion on the gas side.
- Rupture: short-term overheating against long-term creep rupture, which are distinguished by the fracture morphology and the microstructure, not by the appearance of the hole.
- Metallurgical degradation: graphitisation and sigma-phase embrittlement, which change the material before they break it.
- Fatigue and stress corrosion cracking: thermal, vibration and corrosion fatigue, and caustic or chloride SCC.
Each of these is diagnosed from the tube itself, which is why root cause failure analysis and remaining life assessment are the same conversation on a boiler island: one explains the tube that failed, the other decides what the surviving tubes will do next.
The bench behind the book
The book was written from casework, not from the literature. TCR has consolidated 1,500+ boiler tube failure investigations and 400+ boiler remaining-life assessments into its knowledge-based audit practice, within a wider archive of 9,000+ failure investigations. The same authorship reappears in ASM Handbook Volume 11A, in the chapter Failure of Boilers and Related Equipment by Haribhakti and Joshi, 2021.
That casework sits behind the power generation practice and the boiler audit service, and it is carried out under the accreditations and statutory recognitions listed on the quality page, including recognition as a Well-Known Material Testing Laboratory and a Well-Known RLA Organisation under the Indian Boiler Regulations.
The launch at Boiler India 2020
Boiler India is the triennial exhibition and conference of the Indian boiler industry. The 2020 edition ran in Mumbai from 21 to 23 February, under the Directorate of Steam Boilers of the Government of Maharashtra.
Synopsis of the book
The publisher's synopsis, with the full contents listing, is reproduced in the attachment below.
Failure Investigation of Boiler Tubes, ASM International: synopsis and contents (PDF)
Appointment as Trustee of QUNEST
TCR also congratulates Mr. Paresh Haribhakti, MD of TCR Advanced on his appointment as the TRUSTEE of the Quality Through Non-Destructive Evaluation Science and Technology (QUNEST), which is an ISNT Trust. QUNEST has been in operation for more than 22 years. QUNEST strives to evangelize the field of NDT and engage in supporting activities that promote the NDT field in India and the ISNT Charter globally.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Failure Investigation of Boiler Tubes?
Paresh Haribhakti, P. B. Joshi and Rajendra Kumar. Paresh Haribhakti is Managing Director of TCR Advanced. The volume is published by ASM International, and the same authorship appears in ASM Handbook Volume 11A, in the chapter Failure of Boilers and Related Equipment by Haribhakti and Joshi, 2021.
What does the book cover?
How a failed boiler tube is investigated: what the fracture surface, the scale and the microstructure each record, and which damage mechanism each pattern points to. It groups the mechanisms into fluid-side corrosion, fireside wastage, rupture, metallurgical degradation, fatigue and stress corrosion cracking, and works through what each finding obliges the operator to do about the rest of the fleet.
Where was the book launched?
At Boiler India 2020, the triennial exhibition and conference of the Indian boiler industry, held in Mumbai from 21 to 23 February 2020 under the Directorate of Steam Boilers, Labour Department, Government of Maharashtra.
What boiler failure experience sits behind the book?
It was written from casework. TCR has consolidated 1,500+ boiler tube failure investigations and 400+ boiler remaining-life assessments into its knowledge-based audit practice, within an archive of 9,000+ failure investigations.
Can TCR investigate a boiler tube failure for us?
Yes. Send the failed section to the Navi Mumbai laboratory and it is handled as root cause failure analysis, with remaining life assessment and boiler audit where the finding applies to the rest of the fleet. TCR is a Well-Known Material Testing Laboratory and a Well-Known RLA Organisation under the Indian Boiler Regulations; the certificates are on the quality page.