1.

5 QUALITY OF MAINTENANCE 33

more protruded on one side than on the other. On some flanges, one
of the nuts was secured by only two or three threads (Figure 1-12).
Nobody knows why this had been done. Probably one nut was
tighter than the other, and in attempting to tighten this nut, the
whole stud was screwed through the second nut. Whatever the rea-
son, it produced a dangerous situation because the pressure on dif-
ferent parts of the flange was not the same.
In addition, stud bolts should not be indiscriminately mixed with
ordinary bolts or used in their place. They are often made of differ-
ent grades of steel and produce a different tension.
In the plant concerned, for the eight-bolt joints the bolts were
changed one bolt at a time. Four-bolt joints were secured with
clamps until the next shutdown.
(b) There was a leak on a large fuel-gas system operating at gasholder
pressure. To avoid a shutdown, a wooden box was built around the
leak and filled with concrete. It was intended as a temporary job but
was so successful that it lasted for many years.
On other occasions, leaks have been successfully boxed in or
encased in concrete. But the operation can only be done at low
pressures, and expert advice is needed, as shown by the following
incident.
There was a bad steam leak from the bonnet gasket of a 3-in. steam
valve at a gauge pressure of 300 psi (20 bar). An attempt to clamp the
bonnet was unsuccessful, so the shift crew decided to encase the valve
in a box. Crew members made one 36 in. long, 24 in. wide, and 14 in.
deep out of 1⁄4-in. steel plate. Plate of this thickness is strong, but the
shape of the box was unsuitable for pressure and could hardly have
held a gauge pressure of more than 50 psi (3 bar), even if the welds
had been full penetration, which they were not (Figure 1-13).

FIGURE 1-12 Nuts fitted incorrectly to studs.