Who Knows
Dear Mr. MNZunaid,
as you did not yet get a reply, I take it on to give at least an answer, however probably disappoining you. In short, to do this FAT aquire the services of a knowledgeable QA person under a legally binding agreement fixing a warrantied responsibility. You may want to contact one of the well known certification companies.
In my opinion, as your request implies (lots of) money as well as (heavy) legal responsability, you should on this forum not get any substantial reply, and in case of you getting something like an answer here or elsewhere, you from a professional point of consideration should not even try to rely on such input.
These are actionable services, and thus but available on the respective market.
Regards
R. ■
Going Through The Motions.
If you are talking about chain that chain should have a documented quoted Standard and a FAT should not be necessary.
I imagine you are referring to a scraper chain conveyor which is a more complex issue. Pumps, for instance, have very well defined performance testing criteria as part of their Standards. A reclaimer does not have any such criteria and it appears that the manufacturer doesn't either: otherwise you could have read them before accepting his bid.
It is most unlikely that material will be available for reclaim. This is due to a variety of reasons: mainly the manufacturer doesn't want the expense and inconvenience of thousands of tonnes of muck lying around his workshop. Also, material may not even exist yet. The entire subject is fraught with guesswork and best you can hope to achieve is to see that the machine has been trial assembled safely and correctly;motors can rotate correctly; all the controls work; all serial numbers match the paperwork and nothing breaks or falls off during the test duration. Performance testing is useless without material to test.
Pressure vessels demand a pre-inspection meeting where issues are raised and resolved before any manufacturing can start. Even there issues arise during subsequent fabrication. I have witnessed a pressure test, signed for it and then seen an untrained worker start drilling through the shell to rivet on the nameplate. With that in mind consider what chance does a chain scraper have?
Factory Acceptance Test means only what is says: that the machine is fit to transport to site for erection and commissioning. Then the games can begin! ■
John Gateley johngateley@hotmail.com www.the-credible-bulk.com
One Step Up - To Risk Or Not To Risk
Here's to your kind perusal (to whom it may concern)..
http://www.inspection-for-industry.c...ance-test.html (no relations)
Think its done in order NOT to be surprised when the game begins .. ;-)
Already a lot is to be done for base materials, then workmanship, then partial tests, NDT and so on.
I readily am the first to confess that in this area there's much exaggeration, someplace du to begin with. But there's a limit & everyone should know to himself exactly where to draw his / her line.
Kind regards
R. ■
See You Jimmy!
Thank you for the article Roland.
The FAT referred to there can include a performance test because the factory will have working test fluid available for most applications. But even with those tests there remains an air of uncertainty. Slurry pumps are run on water and a correction is then applied to supposedly correct for pulp properties. This correction is mentioned in sales manuals for that pump range. When the punter orders the pump & sees and approves the FAT he, or she, still doesn't know how the pump, with freshly grown pulp, is going to behave. As you say 'everyone should know the limits'. Yes, he, or she, has a good indication from the FAT....but he, or she, still isn't certain. With scraper reclaimers the uncertainty can be alarming, or interesting, however well you train for the games.
Forget scrapers for a minute & examine pumps. When a tender involves a substantial number of pumps a seriously large manufacturer, head-quartered in Bonny Scotland, has often been known to mention on the ITP that 'while the pump is being refitted between the test sequences, buyers can avail themselves of our facilities at Royal and Ancient St Andrews (golf club)'. This is literally game set and match for any pretentious aspiring golf fanatic. The chance to be photographed outside St Andrews guarantees the order & FAT approval is just a formality. That is salesmanship beyond any engineering....anybody can make a pump turn.
( A colleague of mine,from earlier days, took pleasure in mentioning that his wife was barred from playing at St Andrews. She hadn't danced on the bar, sadly enough. Her father was the groundsman & with little better to do with her childhood she learned how the get round the course better than any golfing legend...so they banned her!) ■
John Gateley johngateley@hotmail.com www.the-credible-bulk.com
Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) for Reclaimer Primary Chain
Dear Sir,
We want to check the quality / performance of a Reclaimer Primary Chain at Supplier's workshop.
What are the criteria we may check at supplier's factory/workshop during FAT (Factory Acceptance Test)
Is there any standard for manufacturing reclaimer's chain?
Thanking you in advance,
Zunaid ■