Hydrogen damage detection by an NDT technique

Conference · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6664527

Kawano, K ^[1]; Birring, A S ^[2]

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1. Idemitsu Engineering Co., Ltd., 3-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda Ku, Tokyo 100 (JP)
2. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (US)

Hydrogen attack in steel components is a major problem in petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants that operate under high temperatures. Hydrogen attack weakens the steel by decarburization and microcracking and can lead to unexpected catastrophic failure. To avoid this problem, the American Petroleum Institute (API) issued API Standard 941, however, recent failures of low-alloy steels from hydrogen damage has caused a reevaluation of the Standard. One approach to assess hydrogen attack in a plant is to use nondestructive ultrasonic testing (UT) techniques for inspection. This paper discusses three UT techniques based on velocity change, attenuation, and backscatter that can be applied to detect hydrogen attack. Actual hydrogen-damaged samples were examined from vessels and piping. It was found that ultrasonic velocity change and backscatter techniques could detect early stages of hydrogen attack.

• OSTI ID: 6664527
• Report Number(s): CONF-890437--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
022000* -- Petroleum-- Transport
Handling
& Storage
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103 -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
360105 -- Metals & Alloys-- Corrosion & Erosion
42 ENGINEERING
420500 -- Engineering-- Materials Testing
ACOUSTIC TESTING
ALLOYS
BACKSCATTERING
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CORROSION
CORROSION PROTECTION
CRACK PROPAGATION
EMBRITTLEMENT
HIGH TEMPERATURE
HYDROGEN EMBRITTLEMENT
IN-SERVICE INSPECTION
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INSPECTION
INTERGRANULAR CORROSION
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
MATERIALS HANDLING
MATERIALS TESTING
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
SCATTERING
STEELS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
TESTING
ULTRASONIC TESTING