Dr Russell Coade

Principal Engineering Consultant
Plant Integrity, Reliability and Performance
Melbourne

Professional Background

Over 35 years' experience in inspection, condition assessment and remaining life of high temperature high-pressure static and rotating components, and major plant.  Specializing in run, repair, replace decisions, materials selection, and outage planning.  Research and development to improve techniques for the life assessment of creep degraded structures.

Areas of Expertise

• the planning, organisation and management of major plant inspections and life studies
• lead risk based inspection development (RBI) for clients, culminating in robust, well documented inspection regimes for HRSG plant, conventional boilers and turbines
• participate as an expert witness for clients and insurance companies
• failure investigation, run, repair, replace decision making
• condition and integrity assessment of boiler plant and the effects of more flexible operation and cycling on such plant
• development of software systems to record plant items, detail inspection requirements and frequencies, record all inspection and NDT information and graph any appropriate results and document a dynamic plan for inspection and preventative maintenance to ensure compliance with legislation.

Relevant Project Experience

• Project: Failure of a steam turbine 13 months after commissioning
  Client: PT Freeport, West Papua
  Role: Investigation and determination of root cause of failure
  Key achievements:
  Site inspection and identification of key factors relevant to failure.
  Laboratory metallurgical investigation and determination of failure mechanism.
  Compilation and management of skills including vibration analysis, finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics to determine the root cause of failure.
  Preparation of expert's report for PT Freeport's lawyers to contest liability of manufacturer.
  Successful outcome with manufacture paying for redesign and repair.
   
• Project:  Alumina Refinery Cold Condensate Tank
  Client: Alcoa Australia Limited
  Role: Visual inspection of a large condensate tank and subsequent non-destructive examination and failure investigation of cracks found in the welds.
  Key achievements:
  Site inspection identified multiple cracks in the welds of the tank wall.
  NDT used to define extend of cracking and determine the depth of larger cracks.
  Metallurgical analysis identified the failure mechanism as stress corrosion cracking but determined the cracks were now dormant.  Operational history investigated to determine when and why the cracking initiated.
  Critical crack size was calculated confirming these cracks were presently innocuous.
  Tank was able to be returned to service as cracks were stable, driving force for cracking was no longer present and extremely unlikely to be present in the future.  Crack monitoring implemented.
   
• Project: Risk Based Inspection (RBI) program facilitation and implementation culminating in the development of inspection scopes and frequencies
  Role: Facilitate RBI workshops, undertake risk assessments (RA) and from RA develop inspection programs that match minor and major maintenance outage intervals while adequately mitigating risk.
  Key achievements:
  An inspection program that focuses resources on high-risk areas, can increase inspection intervals while maintaining plant integrity and reduce online failures.

Qualifications

• B. Eng (hons)
• PhD (Monash University)
• AICIP Senior Pressure Equipment Inspector, No. 030
• NATA signatory for pressure vessel inspection
• Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Weld Australia Senior Microstructural Replica Assessor

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Weld Australia
• Materials Australia