When the Power Plant Goes South

Me at the South Pole carrying the flag of the Green Mountain Boys and the Vermont Republic which is still flown by the Vermont National Guard

I made it to the Pole!

It took a pipe exploding and a flood of antifreeze but I made it.

Last week some maintenance was being done on one of the exhaust gas heat exchangers that pull heat from the hot generator exhaust so it can be used to heat the station. The exchanger needed to be put offline for a while while some checks could be run on it. Unfortunately (according to the mechanic) the engineer running the check didn't ask the mechanic about how to properly cut off the flow of exhaust and check to make sure it had been cut off. When the coolant flow was cut off the still-flowing exhaust continued to heat the coolant in the exchanger. The coolant trapped inside the exchanger was heated to 5 times it's normal temperature, overwhelmed the safety valves and caused a seam between 3" pipes to let go.

This meant the 2300 gallon coolant loop that carries heat to the station from the generators and their exhaust could now pour into the power plant (which is below the rest of the station) Some of the coolant landed on the running generator and was burned/boiled into smoke/steam that filled the power plant. The generator was shut down but the smoke detectors cut off fuel to the power plant preventing another generator from starting so the lights on station went out until the backup generators came online. Only about half of the coolant did pour out before it could be valved off but the damage was done.

Some of us from the McMurdo power plant have come down south to help out. The generator was a little sticky with antifreeze in the air filters but otherwise OK, the main casualty was the control electronics for two of the generators. The cabinets which are only designed to protect electronics against dust and curious fingers got drenched with antifreeze and some made it inside. In a battle between electronics and antifreeze, antifreeze usually wins. For most of the past week I have been helping the electrician carefully remove electronic components wire by wire and replace them. Since it is the South Pole parts are a little hard to come by but one generator (which didn't get hit with coolant) was already down for routine maintenance so we could borrow some parts from that one until the replacements come down in a couple of weeks.

By the time I head out today the station will be in about the same operating condition that it was
before this whole mess happened. I've been up to my elbows in antifreeze soaked electronics for a few days but I haven't stopped smiling since I got here. The electricians and mechanics have appreciated the help and are calling me "the engineer who has a clue." Considering an engineer has been given the blamed for this whole mess it's probably the biggest compliment they could give me.