Corrosion Under Insulation and Touch Point Corrosion - There Are No Silver Bullets

Inspectioneering and PinnacleART hosted their most recent 'Meeting of the Minds' roundtable discussion in San Antonio, Texas this May. The meeting, in which a small group of leading mechanical integrity subject matter experts gathered over dinner, explored several pertinent topics focusing on how owners extract value out of their mechanical integrity programs.

Readers may recall from our Recap of the Fall 2018 Meeting of the Minds that the discussion centered around risk-based inspection and the value it brings to sites. This time around, participants discussed numerous different themes ranging from corrosion under insulation (CUI) programs, to integration of integrity operating windows (IOWs), and corrosion control documents (CCDs), to getting the most out of internal site assessments.

This article will focus on the two topics that consumed the majority of the conversation: how sites are managing corrosion under insulation and corrosion under pipe supports (also referred to as touch point corrosion). Below is a quick recap of the questions that were asked, as well as some of the key takeaways.

Are sites’ CUI programs baked into routine inspections or designated as special emphasis programs?

Most participants agreed that, due to the additional resources needed for CUI programs, special emphasis programs are a must. CUI is so pervasive, problematic, and costly that special attention needs to be paid to the program and it should be represented by a separate line item in a plant’s budget. One participant added that each of their CUI programs were initially funded at the corporate level, but they are now each owned and managed by the inspection/maintenance group at the facility level.