On Wednesday 29th July, 2015 the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) hosted its second Root Cause Failure Analysis Seminar at the Centre For Enterprise Development (CED), Innovation Avenue, Freeport. Due to the overwhelming demand for this session - the first of which was held at Cara Suites, Claxton Bay - CARIRI decided to host a follow up seminar to accommodate the requests from corporate Trinidad and Tobago.
CARIRI has recognized the demand and importance for awareness in metallurgical failures around the country and specifically in the Industrial sector. According to the Chief Executive Officer of CARIRI, Mr. Liaquat Ali Shah, the working plants today have been in operation for many years, and as a result, deterioration and corrosion is a major safety concern. Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) investigates not just the problems and issues that we face, but includes the contributing factors to such dilemmas that are a starting point of corrosion and industrial upheaval.
For this reason CARIRI has sought out Dr. Devendra Deo Narain Singh of India, a metallurgical expert since 2003. He has come to Trinidad to work together with CARIRI’s Metallurgy Unit to enlighten companies by workshops, seminars and site visits. In his presentation, Dr. Singh gave his expert advice on Metallurgy, stating that because of meteorological factors, Trinidad and Tobago is highly prone to corrosion of carbon steel. He also stressed on choosing an effective agency that would study these corrosions and give proper recommendations to their clients. CARIRI is proud to say that it has been ISO certified for many years and guarantees prompt and effective methods of testing and reporting.
Marco Nunes, a Metallurgy expert from CARIRI explained the different stages of Failure Analysis and the principles of root cause issues. He illustrated the different equipment that CARIRI has invested in, and how they are able to perform some of the most impressive calculations and results on different types of metals. In order to test thoroughly, different machinery is used at the various stages to give the client the most accurate readings on metallurgical compounds.
Frank Byron, also a Metallurgy expert at CARIRI, displayed and explained some of the case studies CARIRI has encountered over the years. He gave examples of different scenarios and how the analysis was performed by thorough investigation of what caused the corrosion.
The Chairman of CARIRI, Mr. Hayden Ferreira, spoke about the reality of problems that companies face on a day to day basis. He suggested that the problem will never come “packaged with specific remedies, but will instead come in many complex forms”, for which the client and the agency must understand. He added that as CARIRI continues to progress, it will identify more issues taking place in the country; whether in business development or technical services, and CARIRI will be there to create positive and continuous change.
This seminar was well received by representatives of numerous companies throughout the country, all of them interested in the presentations that were given, as was seen in an intriguing question and answer session that took place at the end of the presentations.
CARIRI and CED continues to fulfil its mandate of Research, Development and Innovation, not only in scientific research but also entrepreneurial development by providing services such as the Business Hatchery programme and the newly launched IAS (Idea Advisory Service) just to name a few. As the Chairman of CARIRI said, “CARIRI is not only about general research rather it is about applied research”.
The Caribbean Industrial Research Institutes (CARIRI’s) Metallurgy department recently hosted a “Root Cause Failure Analysis Seminar” on Wednesday 15th July 2015 at the Cara Suites Hotel and Conference Centre. The aim of the seminar was to introduce Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) as a new concept for analyzing failure and suitable measures to prevent such recurrences.
The seminar was well attended by approximately 100 persons. Senator the Honourable Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development who delivered the featured address. Dr. Tewarie spoke of the importance of CARIRI’s Metallurgy department in relation to Failure Analysis as statistically 75% of failures occur due to corrosion related problems. The cost of corrosion and even the maintenance of corrosion can prove to be a financial strain for the country. He also touched on the pioneering work being done by CARIRI in terms of its Corrosion Mapping within Trinidad.
CARIRI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Liaquat Ali Shah gave the opening remarks which spoke of CARIRI’s operations specifically its Centre for Enterprise Development (CED) and its international partnerships with organizations such as WAITRO, National Metallurgy Laboratory (NML) of India and the Danish Technological Institute in particular which influenced the Inventor Advisory Service (IAS). Mr. Shah explained that CARIRI recognizes the fit between the DTI’s approach to IAS and CARIRI’s efforts at the CED and the benefits a programme of this nature can have to the national economy.
The featured speaker was international expert Dr. Devendra Deo Narain Singh, Chief Scientist and Consultant on Metallurgical and Corrosion Failures of India. Dr. Singh spoke on the need for Metallurgical Failure Analysis in Trinidad and Tobago. The theme of his discussion was “Learning from Failures makes us wiser.” His presentation highlighted how prone Trinidad is to corrosion and gave the example of the Point Lisas Industrial Estate which has an abnormally high rate of corrosion and possible reasons for this. Dr. Singh also spoke on Metallurgical failures and states the main human reasons for this are ignorance, negligence and greed. He closed off his presentation by urging companies to approach expert companies such as CARIRI for Root Cause Failure Analysis instead of simple Failure Analysis.
CARIRI’s own Metallurgy experts Mr. Marco Nunes and Mr. Frank Byron were presenters at the seminar. Mr. Marco Nunes spoke on CARIRI’s capabilities in Metallurgical Failure Analysis as well as the state-of-the-art analyzers, specialized tools and equipment to properly conduct Failure Analysis and Root Cause Failure Analysis. Mr. Nunes ended by touching on the cadre of human intelligence specifically the engineers with 20 years experience as well as support from external consultants through CARIRI’s partnerships with laboratories in Malaysia, India and Egypt.
Mr. Frank Byron focused his presentation on “Case Studies of Metallurgical Failures.” He discussed failures on Sucker rod from oil wells, Socket head cap screws for Trunnion cap valve, 2” and 3” Ø Steam pipelines connected to steam generators and three heat recovery seam generator tube samples (HRSG). His presentation highlighted issues such as design deficiencies and inadequate maintenance, material and processing deficiencies and lastly service conditions and improper operations.
