Case Studies

Chemical Plant Boilers

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Cadogans acted as expert witness on a dispute relating to the design and performance of new boilers at a chemical plant.

The owner of the chemical plant contracted for the design, procurement, erection, commissioning and testing of the boiler project with a well-known boiler supplier. The equipment comprised three boilers and demineralised water plant with associated conditioning and distribution systems and equipment. The function of the boilers was to provide steam to the chemical plant and burn gas generated by the process, with natural gas back-up.

During commissioning and testing, it was found that there was a number of fundamental problems with the design and hence the performance of the boilers. The boiler supplier carried out a series of modifications over a period of years and the final configuration was therefore non-standard. There were also cracks and failures in some components. The project was severely delayed and there were doubts about the long-term reliability.

Cadogans was able to mobilise a sizeable team of engineers and scientists to meet the tight time scale of the case proceedings. Meetings were held with the client, solicitor and experts for the claimant. On the basis of the evidence collected by both parties a settlement was reached before the hearing.

Engineering Discipline

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