High Temperature Hydrogen Attack (HTHA) Detection at up to 370C (698F)
Hydroprocessing Reactor Integrity
Intelligent Pigging Technology To Inspect Process Heaters Coils
New API Inspector Certification Endorsement Program (ICEP)
PMI Incidents - A Recurring Theme in the Hydrocarbon Process Industry
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Hydrochloric Acid
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Hydrofluoric Acid (HFA)
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Naphthenic Acid
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Phosphoric Acid
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Sulfuric Acid
Interview with John Nyholt - BP NDE Specialist
Long-range Ultrasonic Testing (LRUT) of Pipelines and Piping
ZETEC, Inc. Acquires Power Generation Business from R/D Tech Inc.
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Carburization
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Catastrophic Oxidation (Fuel Ash Corrosion)
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Decarburization
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: High Temperature Oxidation
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: High Temperature Sulfidation
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Metal Dusting or Catastrophic Carburization
Staying on Track in a Complex Environment
The Effect of Operating Conditions on Corrosion in HF Alkylation Units - Part 2
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI)
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: External Chloride Stress Corrosion Cracking (ECSCC)
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: External Corrosion
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Soil Corrosion
The Effect of Operating Conditions on Corrosion in HF Alkylation Units - Part 1
ASME Post Construction Subcommittee on Repair and Testing
Considering Buying Linked Inspection Database Management and RBI Programs?
Is Furnace Tube Temperature Measurement an Impossible Task?
New From the American Petroleum Institute (API) - API RP 571
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Casting Defects
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Dissimilar Weld Metal (DMW) Cracking and Other Spec Breaks
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Inadequate Overlay Weld Thickness and Chemistry
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Inadequate Postweld Heat Treatment (PWHT)
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Repair Welds
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Stress Raisers
99 Diseases of Pressure Equipment: Weld Heat Affected Zone Cracking
Transition Tank Management Programs From Reactive to Proactive
2004 Inspectioneering Journal Article Index
Though oxidation and sulfidation are quite prevalent high temperature corrosion mechanisms in many of our process units, we now come to a few that are not very common, but still deserve some attention to make sure they don’t lead to...
Casting defects are an age old problem for our industry that seems to be getting worse as foundries in the older industrialized world shutdown for economic reasons.
Catastrophic oxidation can occur when certain contaminants are present in a high temperature environment, i.e. inside furnace fireboxes, in our industry. Those contaminants are typically vanadium pentoxide with sulfur oxide or sodium sulfate.
CUI may be the most well known and widespread corrosion phenomena in our industry. It’s also one of the most difficult to prevent because by and large no matter what precautions we take, water eventually gets into the insulation and begins...
Decarburization is the antithesis of carburization and rarely results in equipment failure. However, surface decarburization is often a sign that something more serious is going on, ie high temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA), which is well covered...
DMW cracking is another fabrication issue that can and does result in equipment failure. It usually occurs at the weld juncture where carbon steel or low alloy steels are welded to austenitic (300 series) stainless steels in high temperature...
Chloride cracking of austenitic stainless steels (300 series SS) is an off-shoot of CUI, and there’s nothing really magical about it. If you have insulated solid stainless steel equipment operating in the CUI temperature range you are likely to...
For purposes of this article, external (atmospheric) corrosion is what afflicts process equipment and structural members that are not insulated and exposed to moisture associated with atmospheric conditions, ie rain, condensation from humidity,...
High temperature oxidation is not a real common type of failure in our industry, but it can and does happen when temperatures exceed design maximums. All metals oxidize, even at room temperature, and in many cases that slow oxidation process...
High temperature sulfidation is probably the most common high temperature corrosion nemesis in the refining industry, since there are very few “sweet” refineries still in operation. Sulfidation corrosion typically is of concern in sour oil...
Corrosion from HCl is a significant problem in many refining and chemical process units, and often the materials solution to HCl corrosion is rather expensive, since the lower cost, more available alloys are usually not resistant to most...
Corrosion in the refining industry from HFA is not as widespread a problem as it is with HCl because it is only associated with HF Alkylation Units, which are usually fairly carefully controlled in order to avoid potential for a toxic HFA cloud...
Equity Engineering Practices® (EEPs) are a collection of design and maintenance focused corporate standards that include >850 engineering standards, and >300 piping classes. Enhance your mechanical integrity programs, improve equipment...
When we specify that some equipment (vessels, flanges, fittings, etc.) be overlaid with a corrosion resistant alloy, we need to pay attention to making sure that the chemistry of the top layer of alloy welding, that will be exposed directly to...
Inadequate PWHT is one of our pressure equipment nemeses. We normally specify PWHT for a variety of pressure equipment integrity reasons including when we need to lower residual stresses, increase resistance to cracking or soften weld hardness. All...
Metal dusting is simply a severe form or extension of carburization in which the extensive carbides that form as a result of carburization lead to grains of metal falling out of the tube or piping and being swept away by the process...
Problems with naphthenic acid corrosion (NAC) are nearly as old as the refining industry. The first paper on the topic that I knew about was written by one of my early industry supervisors over 40 years ago.
Corrosion from phosphoric acid is another “old knowledge” corrosion issue that effects only a few processes in the chemical and hydrocarbon process industry.
Ethos has assembled a team of experts who apply what they learned through years of process safety experience in the industry and dealing with OSHA and EPA. Click here to learn more about our services.
Repair welds can be another undetected and insidious "fabrication defect" that eventually results in equipment failure. Any experienced metallurgist that has completed numerous failure analyses over the years will tell you that periodically they see...
Soil corrosion (underground corrosion) is another one of those extensively researched and documented types of corrosion, since so many pipes and pipelines are buried and nearly all storage tanks rest on the soil. An entire industry/ technology is...
Speaking of stress raisers, they are another insidious type of flaw that can and do lead to equipment failures. Stress raisers (aka stress intensification sites) can be mechanical or metallurgical notches. Undercutting, physical weld flaws,...
Unlike NAC where we’re still on a learning curve, the knowledge of corrosion by sulfuric acid has not changed much in the last quarter century, and there are many good references for it included in API RP 571.
Cracks along the toe of a weld are not uncommon during fabrication, and can occur for a wide variety of reasons involving the metallurgy and process control of the the same issues covered above on repair welds can apply to repair welds on...
Statistical techniques are meant to complement the work of SMEs and can provide deeper insights into the inspection data collected as part of a reliability program. Pinnacle has combined traditional methods, expertise, and Machine Learning to...
ASME has an active Post Construction Committee (PCC) for generating standards for in-service inspection. As such, the ASME is no longer just a "new construction" standardization organization. The Subcommittee on Repair and Testing now has 23...
Data management is an important issue in today's world. We have data all over the place. Every manager is looking for ways to migrate data from platform to platform to save on the cost of re-gathering data and ways to share output from various...
Accounts with shop validation on carbon steel samples prior to field trials, on an in-service C 1/2 Mo vessel, were reported at a recent industry conference. The studies were successful in the laboratory and appear to make sense in field trials on a...
Demanding cleaner fuels Environmental regulators drive refiners to introduce bottom-of-the barrel conversion hydroprocessing units, to produce cleaner fuels. These include hydrotreaters and hydrocrackers with reactors that operate at high...
Reliable "intelligent pig technology" is now readily available to the refining industry which can provide quick / comprehensive inspection to both "convection" and "radiant" sections in process furnace piping coils. Both tabular data formats along...
Exactly two years ago, an interview with John Nyholt appeared in the “IJ”. New ground will be covered in this interchange. We at the IJ thought it might be valuable to spend some time chatting about his background, challenges he has faced...
The title question is often asked and more often than not, impossible to answer. This paper follows on from a previous discussion (Inspectioneering Journal Volume 4 Issue 1 Jan/Feb 1998) relating to the difficulties arising whilst attempting to...
The impetus for the development of LRUT is that ultrasonic thickness checks for corrosion, erosion, etc. are localised, in that they only measure the thickness of the area under the UT transducer.
Several new API inspection recommended practices exist in which inspectors need to be knowledgeable and qualified. This article details some of those standards.
API Recommended Practice 571, Damage Mechanisms Affecting Fixed Equipment in the Refining Industry
Unfortunately there is a recurring theme of pressure equipment integrity incidents in the hydrocarbon process industry which has been identified by the API and that is leaks and fires caused by the inadvertent substitution of materials of...
In the early days (circa 1988-1991) of introducing the petroleum refining and chemical industries in the US, to the idea that RBI implementation could be valuable many fell into the trap of focusing on how much money could be saved, to the exclusion...
The "low hanging fruit" has been harvested in most places. Now comes the challenge of gathering the most bountiful harvest, that which is amongst the leaves and branches, without harming the tree. This will require practical expertise. This will...
Corrosion and fouling in HF Alkylation Units are closely linked to feed quality and operating conditions. This article outlines the relationship between key operating parameters and corrosion that has been used to develop a set of guidelines to...
The following is the final part of a 2-part series outlining the relationship between key operating parameters and corrosion that has been used to develop a set of guidelines to define an operating envelope.
Storage tank owners can reap large financial benefits by shifting from a reactive tank repair strategy to a proactive inspection and maintenance program. In reaction to well publicized tank failures in the 80's and the development of API 653...
Zetec acquired Power Generation Business assets located in the R/D Tech facilities primarily in Quebec, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Deep River, Ontario, Canada. Assets include the rights to current and planned products developed by the Power...
