Industrial chimneys and smokestacks are a crucial part of plant operations, which is why they need to remain in good repair and in proper working order. A number of factors contribute to the wear and tear of these industrial venting structures, including chemical attacks, temperature excursions, and even environmental exposure. When an industrial chimney is not maintained properly, it poses major hazards to health and safety not to mention inefficient operation which can be extremely costly for production schedules.
Having a regular industrial chimney inspection can ensure that your factory and production doesn’t come to a standstill due to the “sudden failure” of a neglected chimney system. Because the most vulnerable areas are the interior, top, and areas around breaching ducts, inspection ports, ladders, platforms, and fall-arrest systems, it is hard to identify major problems from ground level binocular inspections. As an integral part of a plant emission system, special care including regular industrial chimney inspections and testing services should be taken to ensure the structure is in perfect working order.
Deterioration can come in many forms such as cracks, masonry degradation, rust, leaks, and more. Concrete chimneys may develop hairline cracks and shrinkage cracks which will eventually lead to spalling and crumbling of masonry materials. Byproducts from the plant’s exhaust stream can wear on the liner and interior of a stack leading to rust, thinning, or de-lamination of the FRP liners or shells. Leaks from stacks which are fully or partially enclosed by a building can allow carbon monoxide to escape into the surrounding structure, posing a serious health hazard. Or worse, may cause a potential fire which can lead to an emergency shut down of the entire system.
Experienced industrial chimney contractors can create and implement a customized inspection and repair plan that meets the specific needs of your facility’s industrial chimney or stack. Because they are large in size and have a number of hard-to-reach surfaces, accessing many parts of the structure can be expensive and time consuming. That’s why rope access remains the best choice for carrying out routine inspection and testing services.
An in depth, thorough examination of an industrial chimney or smokestack is critical to identifying problems before they become expensive emergency repairs. For example, detecting areas of dangerously thin metal on a painted steel stack by visual means only is virtually impossible until the damage is well-advanced. If a lining system is not in tact or failing to operate as it should, hot & corrosive flue gases will penetrate cracks in the liner and eat away the steel structure from the inside out. A qualified chimney tech can identify these issues with a close-up, direct visual inspection.
If you have your industrial chimney or smokestack serviced regularly, you can avoid expensive problems or failures by attending to minor repairs when the problems first arise. It makes much more sense to invest in regular industrial chimney inspections than it does to wait until they become much more severe and costly.
Our goal at Industrial Access is to keep your system safe, compliant and in good working order. We offer service& maintenance plans that include a full range of inspection techniques and tools. Our rope access technicians will check, measure, verify and document the condition or your chimneys and stacks and develop prioritized, budgeted recommendations to keep them in top shape for years to come.