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Corrosion Control Documents (CCDs)

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A Corrosion Control Document (CCD), sometimes also known as a corrosion report, corrosion manual, or critical process variable, is a document responsible for summarizing a unit's process description and its corrosion circuits. This includes the damage mechanisms in each circuit, as well as startup and shutdown corrosion influences. CCDs are an essential part of any risk-based inspection plan, allowing facilities to keep track of every element of operation, and allowing top efficiency and minimal shutdown times.

While the document is called a “corrosion control document," it can cover mechanisms aside from just corrosion. Mechanisms such as fatigue cracking, hydrogen embrittlement, and brittle fracture are covered as well. These documents are incredibly useful because they are able to provide an understanding for how to spot and avoid these mechanisms and how the mechanisms could afflict fixed equipment in service should they appear. This can help users avoid unexpected deterioration or damage of equipment and materials.

A proper CCD will usually include at least the following information:

  • A description of the unit;

  • Any operating conditions, such as shutdown or startup, that may affect certain damage mechanisms;

  • Process flow and corrosion loop diagrams;

  • A list of probable damage mechanisms and failure modes, along with information on each;

  • Recommended inspection practices; and

  • Applicable integrity operating windows (IOWs)

API RP 970 is a recommended practice that provides users with the basic elements for developing, implementing and maintaining CCDs for a refinery, and at the owner's discretion, may be applied at petrochemical and chemical process facilities.

In a way, CCDs are similar to API RP 571, which provides an in-depth look at over 60 different damage mechanisms that can occur to process equipment in refineries. This is nearly every damage mechanism known to the refining and petrochemical manufacturing industries. A CCD on the other hand will cover a small fraction of those mechanisms (those which apply to the equipment the document covers), but will cover those mechanisms in much greater detail, and in ways that apply specifically to the piece of equipment being covered. 

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Articles about Corrosion Control Documents (CCDs)
July/August 2023 Inspectioneering Journal

It is important to know what damage mechanisms to look for and where to look for them. We will review the link between damage mechanism assignments and RBI.

March/April 2023 Inspectioneering Journal

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September/October 2021 Inspectioneering Journal

This article discusses an approach to implementing a corrosion management system using commonly developed documents in most facilities as part of their corrosion control practice.

January/February 2021 Inspectioneering Journal

If I suddenly accepted the position of site manager at your operating site, one of the first things I would do is trot on down to the FEMI group and ask questions to assess what we need to be doing to avoid the potential for big FEMI events.

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Auto-refrigeration can impose low temperatures onto process vessels and piping causing them to be at risk of brittle fracture, the sudden break-before leak phenomena that can result in catastrophic rupture of the equipment.

May/June 2019 Inspectioneering Journal

CCDs are critical components of a well-maintained MI program and encompass all necessary and relevant MI information for a given process unit. This article defines the value of having CCDs and addresses how to effectively develop and implement them.

January/February 2019 Inspectioneering Journal

This article provides a summary of the 2019 API Inspection & MI Summit keynote address, which offers a past, present, and future outlook on fixed equipment mechanical integrity from an industry professional with 50+ years of experience.

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September/October 2018 Inspectioneering Journal

Corrosion control knowledge and resources can be applied more effectively through the development and implementation of a corrosion management system (CMS). A CMS better-connects management system elements to the process of managing corrosion...

September/October 2018 Inspectioneering Journal

Whether implementing a comprehensive AIM strategy for the first time or looking for ways to create overlap between AIM activities and documents that historically have acted as information silos, consider utilizing CCDs. They serve as a useful...

November/December 2015 Inspectioneering Journal

Once upon a time in the land of Ooze, there were two processing plants that boiled oil to make fuels and various other valuable petrochemical products. On one side of the river, rests a site called Perfecto Process Plant, while just across the river...

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Pinnacle's data-driven reliability framework ensures the right data is fueling the right intelligence, helping you make confident, strategic decisions.

September/October 2014 Inspectioneering Journal

Based on my 45+ years of experience working with fixed equipment mechanical integrity (FEMI) issues in the refining and petrochemical processing industry, this article summarizes what I believe are the top 10 reasons why pressure vessels and piping...

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Fixed equipment mechanical integrity (FEMI) failures are not caused by damage mechanisms; rather, they're caused due to failure to create, implement, & maintain adequate management systems to avoid failures. Nearly all failures that have occurred...

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I will emphasize the systems, work processes and procedures for identifying and controlling the rate and types of deterioration in pressure equipment. These are not in any particular order, as they are meant to operate interdependently.

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September/October 2012 Inspectioneering Journal

Perhaps the most important work process to achieve success in fixed equipment PEI&R is to create Corrosion Control Documents (CCD’s) for each process unit. In this article, I expand upon that work process in order to guide the interested...

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May/June 2010 Inspectioneering Journal

Clearly, corrosion prevention and control has a major role in achieving excellence in Pressure Equipment Integrity and Reliability (PEI&R). But there is a lot more to PEI&R than just corrosion control. This article will show how corrosion control...

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      Inspectioneering has teamed up with The Equity Engineering Group to bring you "Understanding the CCD/IOW Implementation Process," a 60-minute webinar presented by Brian Jack, Principal Engineer at E²G.

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