An interview question about boiler
An interview question about boiler
(OP)
I once attended an interview. There is a question " what would you do if you find the leg (shell)'s thickness is not big enough?" Could you please help me with this question?





RE: An interview question about boiler
Shut down the boiler?
Look for an error in my math?
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: An interview question about boiler
RE: An interview question about boiler
Actually, this is a general question, so you can't hardly expect useful replies. Maybe they meant "What method would you use to repair it?" Or maybe it was boiler-operator question. There's not always a good answer for that type of question.
RE: An interview question about boiler
An ethical and correct answer like Zapster's could cost you the job ... in which case you wouldn't want the job anyway.
If you suspect it's a question intended to discover any aberrant tendency toward taking the moral high road, it might be better to limit your discussion to technical issues like repair alternatives or methods for rerating for limited operation, and other technical stuff that a recruiter probably wouldn't understand.
In an interview, most engineers, because of their generally helpful nature, will actually try to teach you whatever you don't know about their product line. HR weenies, OTOH, are _only_ looking for some excuse to disqualify you.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: An interview question about boiler
The question probably contained as much information as you conveyed to us so you'd have to answer in a "if that then this" manner. I don't know about everyone else but I'd spend a little time trying to figure out why the shell is too thin, the answer to which may direct your eventual solution. Was it a botched design? Is corrosion involved? None of that will change the situation so you eventually have to explore the re-rate/de-rate avenues; does reducing the desing temperature buy you any addtion material allowable stress? Can the process be changed by generating lower pressure steam?
The interviewer was probably wanting a feel for how you would approach such situations and wanted to hear you describe a methodically and technical approach.
Of course you're much better off if you have experience to draw from. College grads or engineers from different fields could be easily derailed by these types of questions.
Did you get the job?
RE: An interview question about boiler
RE: An interview question about boiler
Cheers
Luis
RE: An interview question about boiler
RE: An interview question about boiler
BigInch
-born in the trenches.
http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com