An engineer with a major Houston E&C firm had concerns about the effect the temperatures in the furnace his company was designing would have on the coils in the spring supports used to support the tubing. PT&P engineers put the same question to the major suppliers of coils in the U.S.A. No one seemed to have the data to prove the coils would withstand the temperatures. The E&C firm included a requirement to test for relaxation of the coils with their purchase order to PT&P.
A random sample of coils of the size required was selected from PT&P’s inventory. The loads required to compress the coils through ten inches of travel were recorded and the coils were placed in a furnace at a controlled temperature of 176 degrees F for forty-eight hours. After the coils were cooled they were again compressed. No difference in the loads required was observed.
We did not expect any relaxation of the coils, but it was nice to have the experimental data to back our judgment.
