A large steam pipe under the pavement on York Street in central London burst at about 2pm on Friday, October 29, 2021, creating thick plumes of steam that looked like smoke. There was no fire and no one was injured, but police closed roads in the area and evacuated buildings. (Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press)
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The explosion that rocked a central London steam main last fall, forcing a block-wide evacuation, was traced by the company that owns it to a faulty cap on the system and a tilted pipe, according to the Free Press.
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Enwave, the industry giant that bought London District Energy’s high-pressure steam pipeline network in a sale five years ago, said both the faulty end cap and the “low point” in the system – together, the factors that caused the explosion, according to an investigation – were installed before he took over and were not properly documented. A summary report, based on third-party research conducted for Enwave, was provided to the Free Press to explain the findings. The company also examined the rest of the 10km network in the city center after the blast, saying there was no indication a repeat blast was looming elsewhere. “Our review indicates that this was an isolated situation caused by two anomalies in the system,” the report notes.
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“LDE’s (London District Energy) in-depth review found no evidence that the issues present in this unit exist anywhere else in the system.” The explosion on Oct. 29, 2021 blew a two-meter-deep hole in the sidewalk outside an auto dealership at 210 York St., spewing concrete and dirt. The blast forced the evacuation of the Via train station and Citi Plaza, among other nearby buildings. The steam that poured into the street was initially mistaken for a fire. No one was injured. A police officer stands in the middle of York Street in central London as steam from a burst pipe pours from the ground Friday, Oct. 29, 2021. Roads in the area were closed and buildings were evacuated. (Staff of the Free Press) Barbara Malley, head of the Downtown London traders’ group, said she had not heard ongoing concerns from her members about the risk of further explosions. “I haven’t heard any of our members talk about it,” he said.
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“I hope they’re right,” he said of Enwave’s findings. “If this were to happen again, it would essentially shut down these businesses.” Enwave called in engineers specializing in steam systems, forensics and expert metallurgists to identify the source of the problem. It was found in a dead end in the system below the explosion site on York Street, which was covered. A photo of the 30cm end cap shows the ‘failed weld’ and the top third of the cap is missing. “The point of failure was a poorly designed and installed pipe end cap,” Enwave wrote in the summary report. “It appears to have been implemented to isolate an abandoned section of steam pipe that was no longer serving customers, without documentation and without adequate condensate removal.”
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An adjacent low spot — where steam pipes sloped down to avoid a collision with other utility equipment at the northwest corner of York and Clarence streets — was also to blame, the inquest found. Together, these conditions allowed condensation to form. This is normal for steam pipes, but the proper materials to remove them were lacking, according to Enwave’s report. Improper equipment – both the end cap and the inclined tube – allowed those water droplets to be propelled by the steam and break the end cap in what’s called a “water hammer,” according to the findings. The “problematic module” was taken offline and will remain offline until the problems are fixed, Enwave said in its summary report. The company also used thermal imaging to check all the steam pipes under the central London core – it serves around 60 customers using high-pressure lines – to check for any similar problems. The company responded to a series of additional questions about the summary report by deadline. After the explosion, city hall called for an “independent inspection and evaluation of their assets.” Enwave said the results were sent to the town hall in May 2022. Neither Mayor Ed Holder nor Downtown District Coun. John Fyfe-Millar could be reached for comment on Friday. [email protected] Twitter.com/MeganatLFPress
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