INSTALLATION:

Fabrication deviations may become evident during ferrule installation (requiring costly field
repairs) but most often do not become apparent until repeated tubesheet lining failures and
root cause analysis. In order to have quality ferrule installation, following sequence of
tubesheet Inspection and ferrule trial fit up should be ascertained.
1. Geometry and dimensional check of the tubes and welds

2. Trial Fit-up of the ferrules

3. Planarity of the tubesheet

Measure dimensions of the tubes and weld geometry:

The dimensions of the tubes and welds will impact the ferrule design and may necessitate
small changes to ferrule. Hence following inspection should be done before mass
manufacture of ferrules

a. The tube ID should be measured for 10% of the tubes. This measurement can
be done prior to fabrication. This measured tube sizes to be forwarded to ferrule
supplier. Test batch of 50 ferrules to be manufactured based on the smallest tube
ID.

b. Post tube-to-tubesheet welding, verification of tube ID should be done across the

entire face of the tubesheet. We should confirm the ID to ensure that the ferrules
will fit as per design.

i. If ID is significantly larger than expected, extra wraps of ceramic fiber

insulation may be incorporated into installation guidelines.
ii. If ID is lower than expected, we will need to redesign ferrule OD/ID to
ensure fit. Sufficient advance notice of these details are required
before fabrication of the ferrule.

Depending on delivery schedule, ferrule manufacture to proceed only after site

test fit verified.

c. The geometry of the tube welds should be examined. Typically, these are
specified at <3mm thickness/width and ferrule undercut is made to accommodate
this specification. If welds are larger than design, then we may need to redesign
ferrule undercut to ensure that ferrule sits flush against the tubesheet. This is
critical to ensuring correct temperature profile across the installation.

d. The inside of the tubes should be inspected for debris, ridges etc that could
impact or restrict the insertion of the ferrules. Any debris would need to be
removed and ridges would need to be filed down prior to installation.

Trial fit-up of the ferrules:

Following approach to test fitting of the ferrules may be applied:

1. A set of 20 ferrules as per design should be on hand for test fitting along with
extra layers of 1, 1.5 and 3mm ceramic fiber paper. Also we should have extra
 ferrules on hand with smaller OD/ID combinations. Typically, these would be
1mm smaller. This would be in case of fit issues.

2. The tubesheet should be sectioned into 4 equidistant sections. This could be 12,
3, 6 and 9 O' Clock as well as the center of the tubesheet.

3. The 20 ferrules should be test fitted into holes in each of these sections.

4. The fit of the ferrule should be recorded, i.e good fit, loose fit, no fit etc.
a. In the event of loose fit, ferrules should be reinserted with extra layer of 1mm
ceramic fiber paper and result re-recorded.
b. If it is a no-fit, then the smaller ferrules should be used to determine the
required OD/ID + ceramic fiber paper combination.

5. Depending on the results of 3 & 4 we may decide to expand test fitting to include
more areas.

6. In addition to test fitting the ferrules into the tubes we need to assess the pitch
and ensure that there are no issues due to pitch variation.

a. For each quadrant all 20 ferrules should be inserted into adjacent holes.

b. A layer of cellotape should be used around the periphery of the ferrule

bundle; to tighten up the bundle.

c. The spacing between each of the heads should be recorded to ensure there
are no visible gaps. Similarly, the spacing between the square / hexagon
head corners should be noted.

d. In the event visible gaps exist, squares of 1, 1.5 or 3mm ceramic fiber paper
should be inserted to fill these gaps.

e. The required thickness should be recorded and specifically incorporated and

illustrated in the installation guidelines.

7. Specific installation guidelines based on the above testing/observations will be

developed for each unit combination.

Planarity of the tubesheet:

Planarity of the tubesheet is to be recorded, pre and post hydro-test, to look for any
tubesheet warping.