During nuclear refueling outages, it is important to move quickly and safely, but also to protect vital equipment while doing maintenance tasks. In boiling water reactors (BWRs), the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) flange is one component that can be damaged during maintenance but doing so can lead to additional maintenance and costly setbacks. Preferred Engineering’s Lightweight Disposable Flange […]
Preferred Utilities Announces Upgrade to the Fuel System Controller, FSC-120
Preferred Utilities announces FSC-120-B, an upgrade to its FSC-120 Fuel System Controller. The FSC-120-B offers stronger performance, better connectivity, and improved safety. The FSC-120-B, upgraded from the FSC-120 Fuel System Controller, is designed to monitor and control emergency generator fuel oil supply, pumping, and storage systems. It provides faster processing, quicker reporting, and has a larger memory capacity, […]
Two Burners, One Heater, Zero Wasted Space
Preferred recently completed a combustion and controls package for a cryogenic facility in Canada. The scope covered burners, burner management and combustion controls, power distribution, and fuel gas piping for a dual-chamber water bath heater, all designed, built, and supplied by Preferred as a single integrated system. Project at a glance Burners and heater configuration Water bath heaters […]
Answering the Call: Morning, Noon or Night
Another round of equipment just left our facility in Danbury, CT: pump skids, day tanks, flow control manifolds, jockey skids, and filtration skids, all headed to yet another data center client. It’s become a familiar sight on our shipping floor, and there’s a good reason for that. Data centers don’t get to have a bad day. When a […]
How Fuel Quality Disrupts Filtration & Circulation
As seen in Facility Management. The fuel oil system is fundamental to the proper working of your facility’s burner. When your facility places a fuel oil system service call due to low flow, the first component blamed is often the pump. This is understandable since the pump moves the fuel; a circulation problem could indicate that the pump […]
Streamline Your RPV Head Installation
Anytime you can streamline a process during a nuclear outage is a win. It often leads to reduced critical path time and lower worker dose – both top priorities. This is exactly Preferred Engineering’s goal when we design new tools. The RPV Nut and Washer Centering Tool is one of those tools designed to support both reduced critical […]
A Simpler Approach to Reactor Cavity Sealing
The Preferred Engineering Cavity Seal System provides nuclear facilities with a practical solution for sealing the reactor annulus while simplifying installation and verification. The system uses segmented EPDM extrusions that are custom-made to fit your reactor annulus. Polished stainless-steel cover plates work with stainless-steel J-bolts and cam-actuated toggle nuts to compress each seal securely. Unlike systems that depend […]
Making Waste-to-Energy Plants More Reliable With Burner Retrofits
As seen in POWER Magazine Inconsistent fuel quality puts constant strain on aging waste-to-energy boiler systems. Modernizing startup burners, combustion controls, and flame detection can restore reliability and keep plants code-compliant—without the cost of a full replacement. Waste-to-energy (WTE) infrastructure turns municipal garbage into usable power. In theory, the process is efficient, reliable, and sustainable. Unfortunately, the reality […]
Place ALARA Shielding Right Where You Need It
Preferred Engineering’s custom designed products are built, originally, for the needs of a specific customer. However, once they are designed, our customers find them useful in many other situations for many other nuclear facilities. One great example is the Portable Cavity Shield Frame, which was initially designed for a customer who needed to create an ALARA zone inside […]
Fuel Storage Warning Signs You Should Not Ignore
A fuel oil system is only as reliable as the condition of the fuel inside it. For facilities that depend on backup generation or continuous fuel supply, catching problems early is the difference between a maintenance call and an emergency. Here are four warning signs that your fuel storage system needs attention: Water in fuel samplesWater intrusion is […]