Boiler Slagging Named Cause of Chita CHPP-2 Failure

The failure at CHPP-2, which left residents in parts of Chita freezing in their apartments, was caused by slagging in one of the boilers. The power company TGC-14 decided to shut it down for cleaning, and severe frosts struck during this period. This was reported on the air of the GTRK «Chita» TV channel on February 1 by Alexey Goncharov, deputy chairman of the government of Zabaikalsky Krai.

“There was slagging in one of the boilers, which was stopped in order to clear it of this slag formation. The issue is that, of course, this is not a quick process; stopping the boiler requires that it must first cool down so that work can be done. That takes time. Then, the actual clearing. Then the boiler startup. All of this takes time. And here it is -38 degrees Celsius (-36.4°F) outside. My colleagues from TGC-14, I gather, were happy that one day the temperature dropped to minus 15–19 degrees Celsius (5 to -2.2°F). They decided to try and rush through, but they miscalculated,” he said.

But the problem, as Goncharov noted, was not that the weather “threw a wrench in TGC«s plans.” The Chita CHPP has two powerful 25 MW hot-water boilers that are currently not operational. If at least one of them were in working order, it could replace the active boilers and provide a power reserve. In that case, it would not have been necessary to reduce the temperature.

At a staff meeting concerning TGC-14, it was decided to demand that these boilers be brought into working condition and repaired.

“This situation, in my understanding, is an oversight, insufficient preparation for the heating season on the part of TGC-14,” said Goncharov.

Residents of Chita on January 29 reported temperatures cooling to 16–18 degrees Celsius (60.8–64.4°F) in their apartments. TGC-14 explained that they had reduced the underheating of the network water at CHPP-2, but it still did not meet the required temperature schedule.

The cold in school No. 49 in Chita became known on December 27. Children had to sit in class in their outerwear. The education committee then reported that elementary school students would switch to remote learning from January 28, and then the rest of the schoolchildren. The committee also sent a letter to TGC-14 demanding that the heating parameters, which had indeed dropped, be brought into compliance with norms. School director Elena Azbukina recorded a video address speaking about switching the children to remote learning and said the school is waiting for TGC-14 to fix the heating problem. TGC-14 itself, in its Telegram channel on January 29, explained the disruptions in Zabaikalsky Krai and the Republic of Buryatia by “abnormally low temperatures.”

The previous failure at CHPP-2 was on December 4. Residents of several houses in the 1st microdistrict and on Promyshlennaya Street complained about the cold. The management company reported problems in 21 buildings. TGC-14 then responded that there were technological problems with the thermal mechanical equipment at CHPP-2, which caused the parameters in the heating networks to be lowered.