It Doesn’t Work – Fix It!

It was early 1966 when I was assigned to a power plant nestled on the banks of the Hudson River in Orange County New York. I was on the tail end of the of a nine month training program that began in June 1965 and had taken me to plants in Pasadena, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. The plant was a coal fired power plant designed and built by my employer Foster Wheeler Corporation.

The company designed and built the coal pulverizers, coal delivery systems and steam boilers. On this job the systems and equipment were in their final phases of completion prior to being turned over to the client utility company.

A Typical Central Station Coal-fired Power Plant

When I arrived at the plant I was introduced to Pete, the senior service engineer who was managing the project. There were four other service engineers on the job as well.

As an introduction to the job, Pete took me on a tour of the plant.

In the basement were two large horizontal steel drums filled almost half way with thousands of steel balls. Coal was conveyed into the two ends of the drums by a screw conveyor. As these drums turned, the coal was pulverized into a fine powder by the action of the balls. Also coming into the two ends of the drums was heated air. The hot air picked up the coal dust and conveyed it to the coal burners located in the side of the boiler two stories above.

On the main deck of the plant were the steam turbines and generators. From this deck access to the burner deck was manifest. The burner deck accessed the eight coal burners that were arranged in two banks of four each. In the center of each burner was a long tube that conveyed atomized oil that served as an ignition source for the coal dust that came from the coal pulverizers two stories below. Opposite the burners on the burner deck was a large electrical panel that controlled the automatic ignition system for the oil igniters.

As we worked our way up the side of the ten story boiler I was introduced to a mass of equipment and accoutrements to the boiler. At each level, there were ports in the boiler wall that allowed visual inspection of the boiler internals. Finally at the top of the structure we entered the access area around the boiler drum where the steam produced in the boiler tubes was dried, processed and sent to the steam turbines below. The turbines energized by the high pressure steam turned large electric generator that produced the electric power for the utility customers.

Pete and I returned to the company trailer office where Pete introduced me to the rest of the team. They were all engineers, most of them having served in the merchant marines. All of them were two to four years my senior. Initially I was given some assignments that required me to work together with them, thus building rapport and solidifying the team. We did things like set up instrumentation, test and verify that equipment was properly installed and working per specification.

One morning after we finished our morning coffee and discussed the work plan for the day, Pete grabbed a drawing from the stack that lay on the drafting table in the trailer office. He rolled it up put it under his arm and headed for the door.

Pete turned and called to me, “Allan, come with me. I have a job for you.”

We walked to the turbine deck of the plant and up the stairs to the burner deck. He opened the large doors to the electrical panel that housed the control electronics for the automatic coal burner ignition system.

Pete handed me the drawing and said, “This system doesn’t work; fix it.”

As he turned and walked away, a sense of dread came over me like a thick black cloud. I stood shocked for a few minutes trying to collect my thoughts. Finally I sat on a wooden crate, put my head in my hands and wondered what I was going to do. Ever since I could remember, electronics and anything electrical proved to be my biggest weakness, my Achilles heel so to speak.

Suddenly, I heard the voice of my Electronics 101 professor, Dr. Brown, speaking in his thick German accent, “Allan, someday you will regret not applying a greater effort in my classes. Your grades should be much better that this exam shows!”

My thoughts at that time were, “Professor, with all due respect, I do not like electronics or anything electrical!”

Now it hit me. My failures to apply myself during my college days had at last caught up with me. I found myself at my wits end. So I quietly summoned my God and prayed for help and mercy. No sooner did I say my “Amen” and a thought popped into my head. I remembered what my high school math teacher, Mr. Hubiak, had always preached to us, “When you are faced with a problem that overwhelms you, start with basic principles.”

So I stood up, the panel drawing in hand and grabbed a roll of masking tape. I opened the drawing and taped it on the open door of the electrical panel. Then I systematically went through the drawing identifying each component and verified that it was on the panel and in the right location. Almost immediately I discovered something. There was a pattern of identical components on the drawing that revealed itself.

There were eight banks comprised of two rows each of large relays. The left hand row of each bank had the letter “A” after the part number and the right hand row had the letter “B” after the part number.  Each row had six relays. When I now looked at the panel, I found that all ninety-six relays had the “A” designation and not one relay had the “B” designation. Now I looked further to determine what made these two relays different.

The relays had a clear plastic cover so you could see the electrical contacts within. I noticed from the drawing that the electrical contacts in the “A” and “B” versions simply had the “normal open” and “normal closed” contacts reversed.
It became clear that one and hopefully the only problem was the lack of “B” relays. I searched the drawing and found the relay specification and manufacturer. Returning to the trailer office, I phoned the manufacturer. I explained the product with the product with the relay part number and asked for a local distributor. They gave me the nearest distributor’s address and phone number.

I called, introduced myself to the distributor and asked, “Do you carry these relays?” and gave him the part number.

He said, “Yes we do, but we do not have any of the “A” versions in stock.”

I replied, “Well, I have what may sound like a strange request. I have forty-eight of the “A” version relays that I would like to swap for forty-eight of the “B” version.”

Then I got an unexpected response. The gentleman said, “Who are you, really? Is this some kind of joke?”

I said, “No, this is no joke, I am serious. What makes you think it’s a joke?”

“I have a client that has been waiting for weeks to get “A” versions of this very relay. Your proposal seems incredulous. It’s just what I need! I can’t believe it!” he said.

I asked, “Well can I bring the forty-eight “A” relays for the swap?”

He replied, “How soon can you get here?”

I told him I would be there in half an hour. I rounded up a cardboard carton and when to the control panel. Carefully I extracted the “A” relays that were in the sockets that would house the “B” relays. I packed them up and headed to the supplier.

When I arrived, the man I had spoken to on the phone was ecstatic when he saw that I really had the relays and it was not a joke. That fact being confirmed, he immediately called his customer to tell him the good news. Then he retrieved my forty-eight “B” relays and profusely thanked me again.

Now excitement was building in me as I saw the potential success I was about to experience. I returned to the plant and went directly to the burner deck. I inserted the “B” relays into their proper sockets. I stood back and turned the system on. The whole panel lite up like a Christmas tree. I ran the diagnostics test and everything checked out.

I silently offered up my prayer of praise and thanksgiving and headed to the trailer, the drawing rolled up and under my arm and a smile on my face. Proudly I announce to Pete that the system was up and running. Pete’s delight was evident in the grin that burst from his face and a hearty pat on my back.

Unknown to me at the time, the senior vice president was watching me from the sidelines. Apparently Pete was asked to keep him informed as to my performance. This must have been a significant test that I passed with flying colors as evidenced by what happened a few weeks later. [See the story entitled “I Want You To Manage This Project”]

Turning Point

This was a very interesting turning point for me. As I reflected on this experience, I realized that when we ask God for His help, He doesn’t always give us what we want, but He gives us something. That “something” is a clue that leads us to a solution to the original problem we faced. God uses the resources we accumulate from our experiences and resurrects them from our personal “well” to reveal solutions at the precise moment we need them. This develops a deep appreciation for what He is willing to do for those who trust Him and ask Him.

COPYRIGHT © 2014 ALLAN E. MUSTERER