KIMBLE J. CLARK, Ph.D.
Mechanical Engineer – Thermosciences
and Vice President

He has conducted many investigations into the origin and cause of complex fires and explosions in chemical process plants, industrial facilities and commercial and residential buildings. Dr. Clark is also experienced in providing testimony for deposition, mediation, arbitration and trial.

SPECIALIZED PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

EQUIPMENT

INDUSTRIES

RECENT WORK

Fires and Explosions — Investigation of origin and cause of numerous fires and explosions in chemical plants, refineries, steel and metal heat treating plants, warehouses, commercial and residential buildings, and ships involving a wide range of fuels and explosives including wood, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, coke oven gas, gasoline, oil, epoxy, hydraulic fluid, bunker fuel, methanol, hydroxylamine, ammonium perchlorate, ammonium nitrate, sodium hydrosulfite, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, HMX, and metals (aluminum, titanium).

Boilers, Heaters, and Furnaces — Investigation of equipment design defects and improper operation which cause waterwall and steam tube failures, burner and structural failures, fires and explosions, and carbon monoxide poisoning. Development of methods to prevent these failures; equipment includes utility boilers, heat recovery boilers, industrial furnaces and boilers, and commercial and residential water heaters and furnaces; fuels include coal, oil, gas, municipal waste, agricultural and wood waste, and mixtures thereof.

Engines and Turbines — Investigation of stationary, truck and marine diesel engine failures; marine and land-based combined cycle and cogeneration steam and combustion turbine failures; determination of equipment impact due to use of off-specification fuels.

Petrochemical and Process — Investigation of ethylene plant heat exchanger shell catastrophic failure, geothermal steam well casing failure, urea reactor vessel failure, oil well fires and explosions; natural gas pipeline regulator failure; analysis of precision metering pump patent dispute; process analysis and testing of synthetic and biomass fuels in engines, turbines, and boilers; analysis of heat and mass balances for combined cycle power plants; analysis of oxygen cylinder fires.

Agricultural — Industrial refrigeration performance testing and system failure investigations; assessment of thermal insulation in growing room.

EARLIER WORK

Research and development in the aerospace industry. Specific examples include aircraft fuel crash fire modeling; testing of fire-resistant fabrics; testing and analysis of intumescent paint heating response; electric arc plasma analysis and design; testing of transpiration cooling for heated metal surfaces; development of models for the properties of high-pressure, high-temperature reacting gas mixtures; thermochemical ablation of spacecraft and missile reentry heat shields and rocket engine nozzles; and development of advanced temperature and heat flux instrumentation.

EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

• B.S. (Mechanical Engineering), Stanford University (1964)
• M.S. (Mechanical Engineering), Stanford University (1965)
• Ph.D. (Mechanical Engineering), Purdue University (1971)
• Research Assistant, Thermosciences Division, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
• Research Assistant, Thermodynamics Instructor, and Post Doctoral Researcher; High Temperature Gas Dynamics Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University

Member:

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics National Fire Protection Association
• National Association of Fire Investigators
• Pi Tau Sigma (Mechanical Engineering Honorary Society)

Patents:

• U.S. Patent: Method of Extending the Useful Life of Boiler Tubes
• U.S. Patent: Method for Reduction of Sulfur Oxides and Particulates in Coal Combustion Exhaust Gases

SELECTED REPORTS, PUBLICATIONS, AND INVITED LECTURES

Report on Investigation of Cause of Explosion and Fire at the Mutuvi Residence on April 16, 2004, APTECH Report AES 04075458-4-1 (July 2005).

Investigation of Silica Exposure from A.P. Green Industries, Inc. Refractory Materials, APTECH Report AES 04095525-4-1 (December 2004).

Investigation of Explosion at Concept Sciences, Inc. on February 19, 1999, APTECH Report AES 04075461-4-1 (August 2004).

Investigation of Diesel Engines Exposed to Contaminated Fuel, with E. Sullivan and S. Torbov, APTECH Report AES 04045401-4-1 (May 2004).

Investigation of Propane Tank Explosion Incident, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 02054762-4-1 (October 2003).

Review of Expert Reports and Opinions Concerning an Explosion and Fire Aboard the MAERSK TOKYO on February 4, 1999, with S. Kohan and S. Torbov, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 03075112-4-1 (July 2003).

Investigation of Portable Oxygen Cylinder Fire Which Occurred at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on February 11, 2001, with E. Sullivan and C. Lee, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 03014954-4-2 (May 2003).

Investigation of Natural Gas Migration, Accumulation, and Ignition in Storm Drain at N. Dwight Avenue, Dallas, Texas, on May 24, 2001, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 03035010-4-1 (April 2003).

Expert Report on the October 12, 1999 Power Outage at the Marroking Cold Storage Facility on Avenue 56 in Earlimont, California, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 02044735-4-1 (April 2002).

Investigation of Building Explosion at 851 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, on April 25, 2001, with E. Sullivan, APTECH Report AES 01054396-4-1 (December 2001).

Expert Report on the April 13, 1994 Digester Rupture at the Stone Container Paper Mill in Panama City, Florida, with M. Cronin, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 01034346-4-1 (September 2001).

Expert Report on the January 8, 1998, Fire at the Lonza, Inc. Fire Chemical Processing Plant, with S. Kohan, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 01034317-4-1 (June 2001).

Expert Report on the Explosion at Napp Technologies Involving Technic, Inc. 9031 Gold Precipitating Agent, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 00023891-4-1 (April 2000).

Preliminary Investigation of Apartment Door Lock Failures, with E. Sullivan, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 00074067-4-1 (July 2000).

Investigation into the Origin of the Explosion at the Terra Fertilizer Plant, Port Neal, Iowa, Limited Distribution Report, with Q.A. Baker, et. al., APTECH Project AES 94122340-4 (April 2000).

Expert Report on the June 7, 1999 Explosion in the FV-102 Fractionator at Caribbean Petroleum Refinery, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 00104169-4-1 (October 2000).

Engineering Evaluation of Fluor Daniel's Delay Claim Related to the Heat Recovery Steam Generators Rabigh Steam Power Plant Extension Phase IV, with S. Paterson and S. Nelson, APTECH Report AES 97113242-4-2 (May 2000).

Review of Eight Stainless Steel Fragments From ICI Canada, Inc., with P. B. Lindsay, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 99123862-4-1 (April 2000).

Engineering Investigation and Analysis of the Explosion in the Humberto Vidal Building, San Juan, Puerto Rico, with R. J. Schreiber and A. Parra, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 97073121-4-5 (March 1999).

Preliminary Analysis of Propane Gas Leak, Migration, Accumulation and Explosion in Humberto Vidal Building, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 97073121-4-1 (May 1998).

Report on the Potential Origins of Fugitive Natural Gas at 901 Post Street at the Time of the Incident On June 2, 1994, with R. Schreiber, APTECH Report AES 94062217-4-1 (October 1996).

Analysis of Epoxy Exothermic Reaction, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 96052746-4 (June 1996).

Investigation of Scrubbed Coke Oven Gas Pipeline Leak at AK Steel Middletown Works, with P. Lindsay and C. Lee, APTECH Report AES 96022675-4-2 (May 1996).

Evaluation of Utah Power and Light Company's Hunter 3 Boiler Waterwall Circulation and its Role in 1986 Corrosion Incident, with S. Torbov, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 91011382-4-1 (December 1993).

Quantum Chemical Corporation, Morris, Illinois Ethylene Plant Vessel Fragmentation, September 12, 1989, Failure Analysis Report, with M. Cronin, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Project AES 90031221-4 (July 1993).

Field Evaluation of Cofiring Gas with Coal for Quantifying Operational Benefits and Emissions Trim in a Utility Boiler, Two Volumes, GRI-92/0456, Gas Research Institute, with S. Torbov, R. Impey, K. Hara, and T. Burnett, APTECH Report AES 89021010-5-2 (February 1993).

Improved Superheater Component Longevity by Steam Flow Redistribution, EPRI TR101697, Electric Power Research Institute, with K. Hara, C. Lee, R. Moser, and T. Rettig, APTECH Report AES 89041059-5-1(December 1992).

Gas Explosion at Rich's in Fresno, California, on August 15, 1992, APTECH Report AES 92081751-4-1 (November 1992).

Investigation of Chemical Reaction Between Sodium Hydrosulfite and Air and Water, with S. Kohan, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 92011614-4-1 (February 1992).

SO2 and Particulate Emissions Reduction in a Pulverized Coal Utility Boiler Through Natural Gas Cofiring, 1991 SO2 Control Symposium, Washington, D.C., with S. Torbov, et al. (December 1991).

Summary of Industrial Refrigeration Evaporator Performance Tests, with C. Lee and R. Schreiber, Limited Distribution Report, APTECH Report AES 90041241-4-2 (March 1991).

Cofiring with Natural Gas: Case History, CIBO Technical Conference, Current Developments in Control Systems for SO2 Emissions, Washington, D.C., with S. Lefton, et al. (July 1990).

Redistribute Steam to Extend Boiler-Tube Life, Power, with C. Lee, et al.) (April 1990).

Field Evaluation of Cofiring Gas with Coal for Quantifying Operational Benefits and Emissions Trim in a Utility Boiler, GEN-UPGRADE '90, International Symposium on Performance Improvement, Retrofitting, and Repowering of Fossil Fuel Power Plants, Washington, D.C., with R. Impey, et al. (March 1990).

Assuring Increased Reliability of Superheater and Reheater Tubing and Headers by Optimization of Steam Side and Gas Side Temperatures, GEN-UPGRADE '90, International Symposium on Performance Improvement, Retrofitting, and Repowering of Fossil Fuel Power Plants, Washington, D.C., with S. Lefton, et al. (March 1990).

Improved Superheater Component Longevity by Steam Flow Redistribution, Electric Power Research Institute Conference on Plant Maintenance Technology, Houston, Texas, with K. Hara, et al. (November 1989).

Remaining Life Assessment of Superheater and Reheater Tubes, EPRI CS-5564, Electric Power Research Institute, with S.R. Paterson, et al. (May 1988).

Stress Intensity Factors for Cracked Metallic Structures Under Rapid Thermal Loading, Report for Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, with R. Cipolla, APTECH Report AES 8609709F-1 (October 1987).

Methodology for Assessing the Remaining Useful Life of Critical Power Plant Components, Electric Power Research Institute Conference on Life Extension and Assessment of Fossil Plants, Washington, D.C., with S. Lefton, et al. (June 2-4, 1986).

Creep Damage and Remaining Life Assessment of Superheater and Reheater Tubes, Electric Power Research Institute Conference on Life Extension and Assessment of Fossil Plants, Washington, D.C., with S. Paterson and T. Rettig (June 2-4, 1986).

Boundary-Layer Aspects of High-Temperature Flows in Concrete Ducts-Equilibrium Chemistry Model, DNA 4832F, Defense Nuclear Agency, Washington, D.C., with C. Wolf, et al.) (December 1978).

A Study of the Feasibility of Investigating Radiation/Turbulen- Mixing-Layer Interactions in a Constricted Arc, Aerotherm Final Report 75-167, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, Contract NA51-13666, with E. Nelson, et al.) (October 1975).

Correlation for the Viscosity of Air Including Effects of Dissociation, AIAA Journal, Vol. 13, No. 10, pp. 1406 1407, with A. Anderson (October 1975).

Analytic and Experimental Evaluations of Flowing Air Test Conditions for Selected Metallics in a Shuttle TPS Application, NASA Contractor Report CR-2531, Langley Research Center, Washington, D.C., with J. Schaefer, et al. (August 1975).

Analytical and Design Study for a High-Pressure, High-Enthalpy, Constricted Arc Heater, AEDC-TR-75-47, Arnold Engineering Development Center (DY), Air Force Systems Command, Arnold Air Force Station, Tennessee, with W. Nicolet, et al. (July 1975).

Methods for the Analysis of High-Pressure, High-Enthalpy, Constricted Arc Heaters, AIAA Tenth Thermophysics Conference, Denver, Colorado, AIAA Paper 75-704, with W. Nicolet, et al. (May 27-29, 1975).

Intumescent Coating Modeling, Journal of Fire and Flammability, Vol. 6, pp. 205-221, with D. Cagliostro, et al. (April 1975).

Exploratory Development of Heat Resistant and Nonflammable Fibrous Materials, Technical Report AFML-TR-74-233, Air Force Materials Laboratory, Air Force Systems Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, with B. Laub and E. Chu (February 1975).

Cooling by Discrete and Porous Injection Into a Turbulent, Supersonic Boundary Layer, AIAA 12th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, Washington, D.C., Paper 74 98 (January 30February 1, 1974).

AIAA Journal, Vol. 12, No. 12, pp. 1679-1686 (with C. Nardo, et al.) (December 1974).

Analytical Modeling of Intumescent Coating Thermal Protection System in a JP-5 Fuel Fire Environment, Aerotherm Final Report 74-101, NASA Contract NA52-7709, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, with A. Shimizu, et al. (June 1974).

Analysis of the Thermal Response of Parachute Fabrics in Crash Fire Environments, Technical Report ASD-TR-74-25, Air Force Systems Command, Aeronautical Systems Division, Life Support Systems, Program Office, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, with B. Laub and K. Green (February 1974).

Procedure for Simultaneous Analysis of Multiproperty Data, ASME Sixth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, Atlanta, Georgia, with W. Leidenfrost and P. Liley (August 5-8, 1973).

Analysis of the Thermal Response of Protective Fabrics, Technical Report AFML-TR-73-17, Air Force Materials Laboratory, Air Force Systems Command, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, with H. Morse, et al. (January 1973).

The Multipurpose Instrument Used for Computation of Thermophysical Properties and Production of Self Consistent Tables and Mollies Charts, Physica, Vol. 66, with W. Leidenfrost and P. Liley (1973).

Thermochemical Nonequilibrium in an Argon Constricted Arc Plasma, AIAA Fourth Fluid and Plasma Dynamics Conference, Palo Alto, California (June 21-23, 1971).

AIAA Journal, Vol. 10, No.1, pp. 17-18 (with F. Incropera) (January 1972).

Electron Ion Recombination - A Critical Review of Theories and Experimental Results for an Argon Plasma, ASME Fifth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, Newton, Massachusetts, with F. Incropera (September 30, 1970).

Thermochemical Ablation of Rocket Nozzle Insert Materials, NASA Contractor Report NASA CR-66632, NASA Langley Research Center, Washington, D.C., with R. Rindal, et al.) (February 15, 1968).

Experimental and Theoretical Analysis of Ablative Material Response in a Liquid Propellant Rocket Engine, NASA Contractor Report NASA CR-82301, NASA Lewis Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, with R.A. Rindal, et al. (September 1, 1967).

Experimental and Analytical Evaluation of the Apollo Thermal Protection System Under Simulated Re Entry Conditions, Aerotherm Final Report 67-16, NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas, with J.W. Schaefer, et al. (July 15, 1967).

Calorimetric Techniques of Plasma Jet Temperature Measurement, Technical Report SU247-10, Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University, with F. Incropera (October 1965).