MMAE Seminar - Dr. Paul Desch - Failure Analysis of Components in Industrial Water Systems

Armour College of Engineering's Mechanical, Materials & Aerospace Engineering Department will welcome alumnus Dr. Paul Desch, Nalco, an Ecolab Company, on Thursday, April 28th to present his lecture, Failure Analysis of Components in Industrial Water Systems.

Abstract

Reliability of systems is a major concern in industrial plants, as failure of components can result in safety issues, loss of production, and unexpected business expense. Identifying the failure mechanism on a component, combined with background knowledge about the system, is required to determine root causes and appropriate corrective actions.

An overview of the failure analysis program at Ecolab will be briefly presented, which will include highlighting various industries served and the analytical capacity of the Metallurgy Group. The failure analysis approach will be discussed, with focus on developing an understanding of mechanical, operational, and chemical factors that may have contributed to failures. The approach is illustrated by case histories that highlight overheating, corrosion, and cracking issues on components.

Biography

Paul B. Desch obtained a B.S. degree in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1988. He pursued graduate studies at Illinois Institute of Technology with Professor Philip Nash and completed a Ph.D. degree in Metallurgical Engineering in 1996 with a thesis investigating the processing and properties of mechanically alloyed metastable aluminum alloys. Prior to joining Nalco, an Ecolab Company, he held positions at the Center for Material Science and the Metallurgy Group in the Material Science Technology Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Desch has been with Ecolab since 1997 as a member of the Metallurgy Group. He has completed over 1250 failure analyses on a wide variety of components, primarily related to water systems. He has authored or co-authored over 25 papers, and was a co-author of The Nalco Guide to Boiler Failure Analysis, 2nd edition and The Nalco Guide to Cooling Water Systems Failure Analysis, 2nd edition. He has made presentations at professional societies such as the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) and the International Water Conference (IWC). He has also contributed to the material compatibility program at Nalco for over 15 years.