Power Plant Fire Recovery: Restoring Critical Control Systems After Soot Contamination

CASE PROFILE / Cause of Incident
Power Plant Fire: Electronics Recovery. An electrical fault in the battery room of a power plant triggered a fire and released soot and smoke into adjacent areas. As a result, critical equipment in the Distributed Control System (DCS) room became contaminated when airborne particles entered the cabinets through ventilation openings at the bottom of the enclosures.

Immediate Actions Taken:
The customer engaged BELFOR to perform an emergency inspection and assess the extent of contamination. Based on the findings, BELFOR provided immediate loss mitigation recommendations to minimize equipment damage and reduce operational downtime.

Electronics Recovery After a Power Plant Fire

Preliminary Assessment:

• BELFOR conducted rapid contamination testing and laboratory analysis of collected samples. The results confirmed a high level of contamination.
• Laboratory measurements remained within the IPC contamination standard of 1.56 μg/cm² NaCl.
• During the inspection, BELFOR recorded a relative humidity level of 61%.
• Because relative humidity exceeded 40%, the risk of corrosion on metallic and electronic components increased significantly.
• Therefore, immediate decontamination was essential to prevent long-term damage and potential system failures.

Mitigation Recommendations:

• BELFOR recommended immediate decontamination of all affected electrical and electronic equipment to prevent corrosion, equipment deterioration, and future operational disruptions.

Loss Mitigation Measures:

• BELFOR technicians decontaminated 13 electrical server cabinets, 43 wiring cabinets, 66 TXS system cabinets, and approximately 5,000 printed circuit boards (PCBs) and electronic modules.
• Following the initial assessment, BELFOR recommended a two-step aqueous decontamination process as the most effective recovery method.
• However, the customer selected a one-step dry decontamination process because the aqueous method required additional approval procedures that would have delayed the restoration timeline.
• To ensure a rapid response, BELFOR immediately mobilized specialized personnel and recovery equipment.
• In addition, the team deployed five air scrubbers, anti-static vacuum cleaners, dry ice blasting equipment, ionized air guns, and other anti-static tools to remove contamination safely and effectively.
• Before starting the decontamination process, technicians removed all electronic modules from the racks. This approach helped prevent electrostatic discharge and protected sensitive electronic components during recovery.

Benefits of BELFOR Recovery Services

• Recovery Duration: 25 days | Estimated Replacement Timeframe: 12 months
• Business Interruption (BI) was reduced by approximately 11 months, allowing the customer to resume operations significantly faster.
• Recovery Cost: USD 298,000 | Estimated Replacement Cost: USD 3,700,000
• The recovery solution generated estimated cost savings of approximately USD 3.4 million.
• As a result, the customer restored operations quickly and avoided an extended shutdown. BELFOR’s electronics recovery expertise minimized downtime, reduced financial losses, and helped protect critical industrial assets from permanent damage.

As this Power Plant Fire: Electronics Recovery Case Study demonstrates, professional electronics decontamination and recovery can significantly reduce downtime, avoid costly equipment replacement, and help industrial facilities return to operation faster after a fire incident.