expertise in action

Dr Helena Zhu

Group Leader, Plant Integrity, Reliability and Performance
Senior Engineering Consultant
Melbourne

Professional Background

Over 3 years’ experience working with the power industry. Experienced in pressure vessel inspection, third party inspection, condition evaluation and life assessment of critical components, development and maintenance of risk-based inspection program in accordance of AS3788. Also experienced in research and development of computational simulation of multi-phase flow (CFD-Fluent).

Areas of expertise

  • Risk Based Inspection of critical plant equipment.
  • Remaining life assessment and integrity examinations of boilers and associated pressure parts.
  • Root cause analysis for power plant and refineries.
  • Third party inspection/QAQC for major equipment.

Relevant Project Experience:

PROJECT | RBI - Inspection Interval Extension Review
Location: Olympic Dam
Key achievements:

  • Conduct review of equipment operation history and generate detailed risk assessment.
  • Assess the feasibility of extending the inspection interval and increasing boiler availability.
  • Investigate feasibility and support documentation for boiler inspection interval extension in accordance to AS 3788.

PROJECT | Engineering support for Major Plant Outage
Location: Millmerran Power Station
Key achievements:

  • Visual inspection of various tube panels inside the boiler for erosion damage.
  • Oxide thickness testing of header tubes for remaining life assessment. 
  • Daily update to client on findings and provide suggestions for repair.

PROJECT | Engineering Support for Major Plant Outage
Location: LYB Power Station
Key achievements:

  • Define and confirm inspection scope with client prior of outage.
  • Replica assessment for creep damages and suggestions for repair.
  • AICIP inspections of deaerator and HP heater for compliance as per AS3788.

PROJECT | Third Party Inspection for Bangladesh Plant
Location: Overseas
Key achievements:

  • Manufacturer audit and integrity inspection for major power plant equipment including boiler and steam turbine.
  • Site inspection and expert witness according to inspecting and testing plan of major equipment.
  • Coordinating between owner, EPC, and manufacturers to ensure smooth communication and project delivery.

Qualifications

  • Ph.D. of Chemical Engineering,  Monash University, AU
  • Master of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, US
  • Bachelor of  Metallurgical Engineering with honours, Missouri University of Science and technology, US

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Registered Professional Engineer with Engineers Australia

What Our Clients Say

"For certain alleged foreign matter complaints in our products we need not only the analytical services provided by the lab there at HRL, but particularly the expert opinion of scientists such as Greg Richards to give an independent opinion on the ...

Andrew Penncuick
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Our Certifications

NATA

NATA accredited AtS/NZS ISO 17025, AS/NZS ISO 17020NATA Accredited Laboratories number 561

ISO 9001 Quality Management

ISO 9001 Quality Management certified by BSI under certificate number FS605116.