Power Plant Designs 3

[elinwood]

Hi everyone,

I'm a new entry level structural engineer in the power industry my boss has told us to find vendors to get catalogs from, to expand our database. Being an entry level, I'm clueless on what kind of materials I should be looking for. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on what kind of items I should look for vendors for.

 

[ztengguy]

Vendors for what? Equipment?, Buildings? Pumps? Hangers? pipe?

 

[ToadJones]

You work for the power company? A design firm?

 

[elinwood]

He didn't give us any details, but my assumption would be any items pertaining to the structural discipline in power plant designs. My ideas so far:

1. Anchor bolts
2. Hangers for cable trays
3. Concrete/Structural Steel (But these are more location specific to the project, whereas I think we're really looking for general vendors)

I know this is very general, which is probably why I don't really know where to start. Being new doesn't really help either.

 

[ToadJones]

You are likely not going to find "catalogs" for many of the items you listed as these items are usually designed specifically for the job.

 

[elinwood]

I work for a design firm, not the power/utilities company.

I realize that a lot of the items are project specific. I think we're looking for something like this:

http://www.us.hilti.com/holus/page/...l.jsf?lang=en&nodeId=-60249&selProdOid=368439

Where we will get the general spec for the item and design based on that. I'm doing a lot of proposal work where we don't have a lot of specific information so more information is always better

 

[ToadJones]

Sounds like your boss is just trying to keep you busy and/or get you familiar with some products.

 

[ztengguy]

Yes, Get the Hilti catalogs for anchors, epoxies, etc. Simpson too. Get grating and perhaps FRP catalogs. Dayton Superior for rebar stuff.

 

[msquared48]

Also for Precast Concrete companies for Utility Vaults, and Manhole lids and sections, hand holes, pull boxes, etc...

Insulators, tranasmission wire, etc, etc.

Just think what is used in the industru you are designing for and research it. You will get more items as you liik and find out how the industry is put together. I had to do the same thing, but in a different way. I had to research 50 years of drawings for three dam projects to compile a summary of each project for a FERC submittal. Made me realize the complexity of the projects and got me hooked on Civil engineering.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

http://mmcengineering.tripod.com

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Vulcraft for steel bar joists and decks. MacElroy metal for sheathing and metal roofs

 

[Lemony]

I would look into regional suppliers in your neck of the woods rather than focusing on Vulcraft or Hilti (they will already have those).

Find some local manufacturers of industrial structural products and contact them.

 

[rb1957]

i'd look at the hardware parts you use in designs.

i think your boss is either

1) trying to see how well you can swim, or
2) clueless

 

[ToadJones]

I guess I assumed you were strictly doing structural design since you are here as a (Structural)...

I worked in the power (mostly coal) industry for several years. We were strictly the structural design engineers so there was never any need to do what your boss has asked you. If we were designing the pipe supports, boiler support steel, the hangers and hardware were by others and they supplied us with that information on a case by case basis. Same goes for equipment. Often some other entity (owner's engineer, architect) will specify things like sheathing and roofing. As others have stated, concrete decking is so commonly used I'm sure your office has the literature already.

 

[Tmoose]

"has told us"

There are a few of you folks on this same quest?

In the interest of making myself look good I would sneak a peak at the Bills of Materials of the last few jobs to see what was actually sold.
Are there "last few jobs" to refer to?

 

[elinwood]

Thanks for all the answers!

There are quite a few of us doing this. There's no "last few jobs" to refer to, unfortunately, thus the quest for vendors.

I am a structural, but the projects are typically turnkey projects so we do everything from procurement of equipment to completion. Structural is in charge of the supports, so those include anchor bolts, hangers, roofing, decking, etc.

 

[dhengr]

Elinwood:
From an older fellow....

Go to the library and take a look at some old “Sweets Catalogs” and “Thomas Registers” on products and services. Get yourself a few general purpose catalogs from companies like McMasters. They are a real education in themselves. The hard copies are much more satisfying to us older guys, at least this one, but I’m sure most of this stuff is on the internet now too. You can Google any subject, topic, product, construction material, structural system and start looking for variations on a theme and suppliers. Don’t be afraid to call them, many of them do still try to be helpful. But, have a list of a few intelligent questions, so they are forced to, or want to, switch you to one of the more experienced engineering reps., not just the sales types, or to their cheaper help, with no more experience than you have. When you get the receptionist, and only ask for the catalog, you’ll likely get the 5 page version of who we are and what we sell, without much good engineering info. Don’t be afraid to admit that you are young, starting out, and want to learn to understand their products or systems, etc. But, you have to show a little knowledge and interest to get the good stuff.

Talk to older engineers in your company or community and ask them what materials they would suggest, or share, or even better, would they be your mentor. Is your company starting from scratch, yesterday, that nobody has any earlier plans to look at? Again, another engineer out in the community or at an ASCE, NSPE, AISC, AWS, ACI, etc. meeting might be of help here too. I think you will find that older catalogs have much more meaningful design and product info. in them, from which you can learn and gain valuable insight, if you can get your hand on them. They may not exactly comply with today’s codes, that you do have to interpolate, but they will give you more meaningful design reasoning and product info. than the newer catalogs, which seem to have become tabulations from which you pick a product, part or size, without gaining much real engineering knowledge.

 

[JedClampett]

I used to work in the power industry (large firm-Chicago, take a guess), and this sounds like the kind of mindless task that we started with.
Try Unistrut

http://www.unistrut.com/index.php?P=home

Hilti

http://www.us.hilti.com/holus/

When I started there were "only" about 200 engineers in the structural department. Anytime we heard of a freebee, we would land on it, hard. Usually, whoever was answering the phone would figure out pretty quick (after the first 50 calls) that they were coming from the same company and tell us to ask on of our co-workers for the book, catalogue, whatever.
Next they will ask you to count the ceiling tiles. Don't worry, you'll be busy soon enough.

 

[hokie66]

If they offer you a CD, ask for a hard copy instead. Your shelf space will impress the boss more than a pile of CD's.

 

[msquared48]

Always thinking (I assume it is called that) Hokie...

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

http://mmcengineering.tripod.com

 

[ToadJones]

I agree with Jed (I think I have had the privileged or working with that Chicago company a time or two on power jobs...they were usually the owners engineer).
I recall starting with even more mindless tasks....then doing some design work I thought was difficult at the time and then having the supreme privileged of checking shop drawings for months and months and months and months and months ......






...and months