Developing the Inspection and Test Plan for Fiberglass Pipe and Duct Systems

Introduction

The Fiberglass Reinforced Plastics Institute (FRPI) has just published its first standard practice for fiberglass aboveground pipe and duct system inspection. These procedures were cloned from recognized procedures for fiberglass aboveground storage tank inspection discussed in the July/August 2024 Inspectioneering Journal article “Fiberglass Storage Tank Inspection Procedures Gain Traction in the US” [1]. This new pipe and duct system practice enables the development and implementation of inspection and test plans for these systems, often transferring hazardous substances, such as chlorine dioxide liquid and gas. Please refer to Figure 1.

The FRPI inspection procedures were developed to be consistent with the American Petroleum Institute (API) Standard 570 Piping Inspection Code: In-service Inspection, Rating, Repair, Alteration of Piping Systems [2]. API 570 was introduced in 1993 to help establish requirements and guidelines needed to maintain the safety and mechanical integrity of commissioned pipe systems. Like API 570, FRPI procedures help with asset management and cost optimization. Additionally, they provide the ability to identify and lower the risk of environmental and safety incidents through improved inspection effectiveness, consistency, and equipment reliability. 

This article highlights typical challenges with developing inspection and test plans (ITPs) for fiberglass pipe and duct systems. Means for overcoming the challenges are then introduced, with an ITP case history presented to show a basic plan at work.

Planning Challenges

The fiberglass pipe and duct system industry in the United States is a 70-year-old fragmented niche business that is remarkably smaller than the 165-year-old steel industry. Inspection codes and standards for fiberglass pipe and duct systems have been previously nonexistent, causing commercial challenges that have led to asset integrity issues for owner-operators over decades. This long-term absence of procedures has been problematic; a sense of acceptance has set in, and these matters have cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars in lost opportunity.

Finding someone to inspect fiberglass pipe and duct systems has generally not been a challenge for owner-operators. The bigger problem has been obtaining inspection results of consistent quality from the inspector community. The root cause of this problem is seeded in the fact that the industry has not had fiberglass inspection procedures available. The absence of standardized procedures and acceptance criteria has caused inspection companies to independently develop private practices that may work for some, but have often proved inconsistent from inspector to inspector and caused hardship for owner-operators.

The list of ITP development challenges for pipe and duct system owner-operators and other stakeholders is too long to cover in one article. Noteworthy problems are disclosed in the following sections addressing design basis selection, materials traceability assessment, installation shortcomings, and repair deviations.