An HRSG running makeup water at 1% of feedwater flow and one running at 6% both show steam on the gauge, but the second is telling you there's a leak somewhere in the system that nobody has traced yet. Drum levels, sodium tracking, and attemperator spray all sit downstream of that same water chemistry, which is exactly why a round only means something if all four get read together, in order, every shift. Sign up to see how a digital HRSG round runs on your own units.
Why It Matters
Most HRSG tube failures and drum-level trips trace back to a water chemistry signal that was drifting for shifts before anyone connected the dots — sodium creeping up in one drum, makeup water climbing to compensate for an unlocated leak, an attemperator spray valve working harder than it should to hold outlet temperature. None of these are alarms on their own. Read together on a fixed round, they're the clearest early picture of what's happening inside the pressure parts before it becomes a forced outage.
What A Complete HRSG Round Actually Covers
Five checkpoints make up a proper round. Miss one and the sign-off still looks complete while that system runs unmonitored until the next shift.
Drum Levels
HP, IP, and LP drum levels cross-checked against transmitters at each pressure stage, not read from one screen only
Makeup Water
Makeup flow rate checked as a percentage of feedwater flow, flagging any rise that suggests an unlocated leak
Sodium Tracking
Sodium levels logged per drum against baseline, since a rising trend signals condenser or chemistry issues early
Attemperator
Spray valve position and outlet temperature checked together, since excess spray demand points to upstream drift
CMMS Sign-Off
Every reading timestamped and attributed to the operator, with out-of-range values flagged automatically
Walking The Round In Order
1
Start At The HP Drum
Check level here first, then work down through IP and LP, since HP drum behavior often signals a system-wide issue before it appears elsewhere.
2
Check Makeup Water Flow
Read makeup as a percentage of feedwater right after drum levels, so a rising figure can be connected to level behavior in the same round.
3
Log Sodium Per Drum
Record sodium at each pressure stage against baseline, since a rise here often correlates with the makeup water trend just checked.
4
Read The Attemperator
Check spray valve position against outlet temperature, since high spray demand can trace back to steam quality issues found earlier in the round.
5
Close Out In The CMMS
Sign off the round digitally so every reading is timestamped, and let the system flag anything outside range to the next shift automatically.
A Round That Connects The Chemistry Before It's A Trip
Sign up for a free trial to build your HRSG round checklist in minutes, or book a demo to see how out-of-range readings get flagged to the next shift automatically.
Where HRSG Rounds Break Down
Only HP Drum Level Gets Checked
IP and LP levels get skipped under time pressure, and a developing issue at either stage goes unnoticed
Makeup Water Read In Isolation
A rising makeup percentage isn't connected to sodium or drum level trends, so a leak stays unlocated
Sodium Checked Per Stage, Not Trended
A single reading within limits can still be climbing steadily toward the alarm band without anyone noticing
Attemperator Spray Assumed Normal
A slowly increasing spray demand is treated as routine instead of checked against what's upstream
Paper Sheets With No Timestamp
Without a timestamp attached to each reading, nobody can tell how long a warning sign was sitting there
Round Order Changes Shift To Shift
Without a fixed sequence, comparing today's readings against yesterday's stops being reliable
Frequently Asked Questions
Q
Why check makeup water and sodium together on the same round?
A rising makeup water percentage often points to a leak somewhere in the cycle, and sodium levels can rise alongside it if the leak is bringing in contaminated water. Reading both together, in the same pass, is what connects the two readings into one signal instead of two separate numbers.
Q
How is a digital round different from a paper log for the HRSG?
A paper sheet records that a check happened. A digital round in a CMMS timestamps each reading, attributes it to the operator, and can flag out-of-range values automatically so the next shift sees the exception without hunting through the log.
Q
Can the checklist be adjusted for a specific HRSG configuration?
Yes. The five core checkpoints apply broadly, but fields like number of pressure stages, drum count, or attemperator layout can be set per unit so the round matches the actual HRSG on site.
Turn The Clipboard Round Into A Timestamped Record
Oxmaint builds your daily HRSG round into a mobile checklist that captures drum levels, makeup water, sodium, and attemperator readings with a timestamp on every entry, and flags exceptions before they reach the next shift. Sign up for a free trial to set up your first round, or book a demo to see it against your own HRSG configuration.
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