Services - Specialty Engineering

MECHANICAL PIPING ANALYSIS SUPPORT DESIGN

Since our inception, the BGA staff has been at the head of the industry in the area of piping analysis and support design, including the design of systems for facilities ranging from nuclear power plants to commercial buildings. Our experience includes the analysis of steam piping for deadweight, thermal expansion, wind, anchor point motions, seismic, vibration, steam and water hammer, ship motion and loadings in accordance with the ASME Section III and the B31.1 and B31 Codes. In addition to hand and computer static analysis, the BGA staff has performed dynamic analyses using the modal response spectrum and time history methods.

BGA designs pipe and equipment supports using techniques ranging from type charts and tables to complete integrated computer programs. The types of supports designed include rigid and spring hangers, restraints, snubbers, and resilient restraint supports. In addition, the staff has designed special restraints from applications such as the elbow replacements of cold sprung hot reheat piping and high energy line rupture.

MAINTENANCE AND LIFE EXTENSION - Failures in operating plants are costly because the repair costs can often be overshadowed by the cost of lost availability.

BGA has successfully applied our engineering expertise in evaluating remaining life in equipment and recommending maintenance or modification. BGA has performed these evaluations for equipment such as piping systems subject to creep in high temperature service and to piping subject to fatigue due to flow induced vibrations.

In addition to component maintenance and life extension, BGA has evaluated complete systems for improved reliability and enhancement. In several cases, the recommended system changes resulted in improved operation and reduced the system downtime, thereby providing cost savings to our clients.

FLUID SYSTEMS - Properly designed fluid systems go unnoticed, but are the key to efficient facilities. BGA has designed steam, water and natural gas fluid systems for power plants, industrial, and commercial facilities. In addition to designing new systems, the engineering staff has modified existing systems for new demands and has diagnosed problems with existing system performance and modified the system to correct the deficiencies. An example of this is the flow distribution problem for a cooling system that provided service for 36 separate pieces of equipment for one industrial client.

CODE AND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE - Boilers, piping, turbines and other equipment and components installed in power plants and other facilities are designed, manufactured, fabricated, erected and inspected to various national Codes and national, regulatory and proprietary Standards. These Codes and Standards have been prepared on the basis of experience with the performance of the same materials, equipment and components under the applicable operating conditions.

BGA has performed numerous audits for several utilities and industrial clients to assure Code and Regulation compliance and thus prevented costly non-compliance issues. BGA can assist in the initiation of quality assurance manuals meeting all Codes and Standards, followed with detailed implementation procedures.

HVAC - Evaluations, modifications and design of HVAC systems for existing facilities, or extensions to existing facilities is an area of specialty need, which BGA has successfully satisfied. This area has involved studies of alternative energy sources, load studies and conceptual design studies. These studies have been performed for control rooms, computer rooms, office buildings and other industrial and commercial spaces. Based on the studies and conceptual designs, detailed specifications and plans for the modified systems were prepared. These bid packages include equipment specs, data sheets, ductwork and accessories, schedules, electrical, water, steam and other interconnections and are complete and ready to issue to the customer.

CIVIL/STRUCTURAL

EQUIPMENT SUPPORT - BGA's equipment support capabilities are very diversified and include sophisticated vibration sensitive equipment, heavy weight rotating equipment, seismically supported electrical and mechanical equipment and equipment supported on indoor or outdoor platforms. We have extensive experience evaluating framing for the removal and replacement of equipment. We have also performed evaluation and stiffening of framing during maintenance such as Rotor destacking. Equipment support work has also included the design of scaffolding based on OSHA standards, during the maintenance of this equipment.

SEISMIC DESIGN - BGA's Civil/Structural Group is highly experienced in the seismic design of all kinds of structures and equipment supports. These structures and components are part of the nuclear power plants or conventional structures. Seismic criteria used are the response spectra generated for the nuclear plant or as outlined in BOCA Code and/or local building code applicable to buildings in Seismic Zones 1-4.

For Category I and II structures within a nuclear plant, forces are calculated utilizing response spectra for a particular elevation, frequency, damping factor and an amplification factor accounting for static analysis method. Category III structures and all other conventional structures are designed according to BOCA and/or local building codes. Forces are calculated at each of the story heights and then analysis and design are performed. The stability of the structure against sliding and overturning is also satisfied. We also have the capability of dynamic analysis using various computer codes.

INTEGRITY INSPECTION - BGA developed structural integrity inspection and rehabilitation capability as the need for this kind of work arose. Since the latest trend is to prolong the useful life of the existing structure, whether it is part of a power plant, commercial building, government structure, highway bridge or any other structure.

An experienced team in this field reviews existing drawing documents and plans for field trips to perform visual inspections. Where required, NDE testing is performed in the field; 1) for steel members ultrasonic testing is utilized, and 2) for concrete, core samples are taken by an authorized testing lab, which analyzes the samples to determine local area strength.

An Inspection Report is prepared categorizing and documenting all component deteriorations including location with the photograph number shown on the sketch. Repair recommendations are suggested along with repair sketches and cost estimates. All data is recorded on PC and is submitted electronically with the original field data.

This approach leads to the preparation of construction repair packages, and after repairs have been made, it helps make the structures safe and adds useful life to the structure.

COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

The group maintains state of the art computer systems and programs for engineering analysis and CAD drafting. There is extensive use of personal computers for engineering calculations for finite element and dynamic analyses, and the checking of building designs.

The drafting group utilizes AutoCAD for the preparation of construction drawings. We also are able to support production in other CAD systems such as Microstation and CADAM. When needed for construction studies and presentations, the AutoCAD 3D drafting features are utilized in conjunction with rendering and animation software such as Studio 3D. When interfacing with existing structures, the group has successfully utilized close range photogrammetry.