At the facility where I work it is common practice to place our reaction furnace flame scanners in bypass for shift after shift until parts can be obtained for a repair. I have questioned this practice and cautioned that we are potentially leaving ourselves unprotected should a flame failure occur. The site chem. engineer has informed me that it is impossible for acid gas to accumulate in the furnace in concentrations that would lead to an explosion because the SRU operates sub stoichiometric. Is he correct?