Upheaval buckling of pipelines

UPHEAVAL BUCKLING OF OFFSHORE pipelines occurs as a result of axial compression induced along the pipelines due to large temperature differences and high internal pressures. This paper aims to research the causes of upheaval buckling, give an overview of the analytical methods, and develops an Excel spreadsheet for initial assessment. Several models of upheaval buckling have been identified and discussed, such as those based on idealized or perfect pipelines, which are related to the railway track analysis and those based on imperfections. The buckle temperatures of the perfect pipelines are proportional to the buckle lengths and axial forces. With the consideration of imperfections, buckle temperatures become inversely proportional to the imperfection heights, therefore larger imperfections would require smaller temperatures to propagate upheaval buckling. Increasing the downward load on the pipelines aids the prevention of upheaval buckling. Also, relevant methods to mitigate against the occurrence of upheaval buckling have been discussed. The use of finite-element analysis which considers the seabed profile and plastic deformation of pipe wall would be suitable for precise analysis

Assessment of Coating Performance on Waterwalls and Superheaters in a Pulverised Fuel-Fired Power Station

Protective coatings offer one route to increase the lives of heat exchangers in pulverised fuel power plants. A range of candidate coatings have been exposed on the waterwall and superheaters of a 500 MWe UK power station unit for periods of up to ~4 years (24,880 operating hours), during which time this unit was fired on a mixture of UK and world-traded coals. Both nickel- and iron-based candidate coatings were included, applied using high velocity oxy-fuel or arc-wire process; a selection of these also had a surface sealant applied to investigate its effectiveness. Dimensional metrology was used to evaluate coating performances, with SEM/EDX examinations used to investigate the various degradation mechanisms found. Both the waterwall and superheater environments generated their characteristic corrosion damage morphologies which depended on the radial positions around the tube. Coating performances were found to depend on the initial coating quality rather than composition, and were not improved by the use of a sealant

Potential Corrosion Issue in CO2 Pipeline

In this paper we investigate the increasing atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide originating from human activities which include burning fossil fuels for heat and electricity generation, and combustion of other fuels in industry lead to greenhouse gases (GHG) mainly CO2 which has an impact on the global climate warming. It is necessary to scale down the impact of these gases on the global climate by minimizing or preventing greenhouse gas emission to the atmosphere. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) from the source or power plant will help in reducing the emission of CO2 from the atmosphere with the means of transporting the gas through the pipeline from the captured sources or power plant to storage sites underground or for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). However, this gas has some contaminant or impurities which affect the mechanical and chemical properties of the pipeline system during transportation. This paper examines various contaminants such as CO2, H2S, CO, NOX, SOX, and H2O in carbon dioxide transmission pipelines with a particular focus on assessing how the contaminants causes corrosion in the pipeline and also considered materials that can be used as alternative to carbon steel for CO2 transportation pipeline. The materials examined ranges from weldable 13%Cr super modified martensitic stainless steel, 22%Cr duplex and 25% Cr super duplex stainless steel, 316L clad pipe or Lined carbon steel and nickel alloy, and some parameters in materials selection were examined. The alternative materials considered are 13 %Cr super-modified martensitic stainless steel, and 25 %Cr super-duplex stainless steel. Keywords: CO2 Corrosion, CO2 Contaminant, Material Selection. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-12-19 Publication date: April 30th 201

Analysis of high temperature steam oxidation of superheater steels used in coal fired boilers

The present work compares the behaviour of four steels: (T23, T92, T347HFG, Super304H) in the temperature range 600–750 °C. This study focuses on the analysis of the oxidation kinetics in terms of mass change, metal loss and thickness change of the selected materials. In order to understand the differences in oxidation rates between the selected steels, the impact of chromium and the alloying elements were considered in this work. The obtained results show that the impact of alloying elements differs with exposure conditions and importance of the synergy effect

Impact specimen geometry on T23 and TP347HFG steels behaviour during steam oxidation at harsh conditions

Ferritic T23 steel and austenitic TP347HFG steel have been studied with an emphasis on understanding the impact of specimen geometry on their steam oxidation behaviour. The selected materials were tested over a wide range of temperatures from 600 to 750°C. The tests were carried out in 100% steam conditions for 1000 hours. The tests indicated that the ‘curved-shaped’ specimens show slower mass gain, scale ticking and void nucleation rates than ‘bridge-shaped’ specimens (with flat and convex surfaces combined). Furthermore, a bridge TP347HFG sample showed the formation of lower amount of flaky oxide at 750°C.We would like to acknowledge the support of The Energy Programme, which is a Research Councils UK cross council initiative led by EPSRC and contributed to by ESRC, NERC, BBSRC and STFC, and specifically the Supergen initiative (Grants GRyS86334y01 and EPyF029748) and the following companies; Alstom Power Ltd., Doosan Babcock, E.ON, National Physical Laboratory, Praxair Surface Technologies Ltd, QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce plc, RWE npower, Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Ltd. and Tata Steel, for their valuable contributions to the project

Corrosion Behaviour of Cupronickel 90/10 Alloys in Arabian Sea Conditions and its Effect on Maintenance of Marine Structures

The composition of seawater plays a very significant role in determining the severity of corrosion process in marine assets. The influential contributors to the general and pitting corrosions in marine structures include temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity, PH, chlorides, pollutants, nutrients, and microbiological activities in seawater. The Cu-Ni (90/10) alloy is increasingly used in marine applications such as heat exchangers and marine pipelines because of its excellent corrosion resistant properties. Despite the significant advancements in corrosion shielding procedures, complete stoppage of corrosion induced metal loss, especially under rugged marine environments, is practically impossible. The selection of appropriate metal thickness is merely a multifaceted decision because of the high variability in operating conditions and associated corrosion rate in various seawater bodies across the globe. The present research study aims to analyze the early phase of corrosion behavior of Cu-Ni (90/10) alloy in open-sea conditions as well as in pollutant-rich coastal waters of the Arabian Sea. Test samples were placed under natural climatic conditions of selected sites, followed by the mass loss and corrosion rate evaluation. The corrosion rate in the pollutant-rich coastal waters was around five times higher than in the natural seawater. A case study on marine condenser (fitted with of Cu-Ni 90/10 alloy tubes) is presented, and a risk-based inspection (RBI) plan is developed to facilitate equipment designers, operators, and maintainers to consider the implications of warm and polluted seawater on equipment reliability, service life, and subsequent health inspection/ maintenance

Fireside corrosion degradation of ferritic alloys at 600°C in oxy-fired conditions

This paper reports the results of a study carried out to investigate the effects of simulated coal/biomass combustion conditions on the fireside corrosion. The 1000 h deposit recoat exposure (5 × 200 h cycles) was carried out at 600 °C. In these tests ferritic alloys were used 15Mo3, T22, T23 and T91. Kinetics data were generated for the alloys exposed using both traditional weight change methods and metal loss measurements. The highest rate of corrosion based on EDX results occurred under D1 deposit where provoke mainly by the formation of alkali iron tri-sulphate phase

Development of on-line FTIR spectroscopy for siloxane detection in biogas to enhance carbon contactor management

Activated carbon filters are used to limit engine damage by siloxanes when biogas is utilised to provide electricity. However, carbon filter siloxane removal performance is poorly understood as until recently, it had not been possible to measure siloxanes on-line. In this study, on-line Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was developed to measure siloxane concentration in real biogas both upstream (86.1–157.5 mg m−3) and downstream (2.2–4.3 mg m−3) of activated carbon filters. The FTIR provided reasonable precision upstream of the carbon vessel with a root mean square error of 10% using partial least squares analysis. However, positive interference from volatile organic carbons was observed in downstream gas measurements limiting precision at the outlet to an RMSE of 1.5 mg m−3 (47.8%). Importantly, a limit of detection of 3.2 mg m−3 was identified which is below the recommended siloxane limit and evidences the applicability of on-line FTIR for this application

Kinetics of duplex oxide growth on 9Cr steels exposed in CO2: application of dimensional metrology

Investigations into potentially extending the lives of UK advanced gas-cooled reactors have highlighted the need for improved understanding of the long-term oxidation and carburisation of 9Cr ferritic steels. These steels were used in evaporators and primary superheaters and as these are to be used beyond their original design lives, it is necessary to ensure that these degradation routes remain within acceptable levels. A dimensional metrology technique has been applied to archived autoclave samples to measure such damage. These samples had previously been exposed to a range of temperatures, pressures and gas chemistries representative of those experienced by 9Cr steels in CO2-rich AGR gases. Earlier sample assessments had focused on weight change measurements, but the dimensional technique enables measurement of duplex oxide thicknesses around samples and the extraction of related data from longer exposure times. These data also support estimation of the extent of both carbon and oxygen uptake

Stress corrosion of Ni-based superalloys

The development of gas turbines to increase fuel efficiency is resulting in progressively higher operating temperatures in the under platform regions of the blades. These regions have traditionally been considered low risk areas. However, higher metal temperatures combined with stresses and the deposition of contaminants from the cooling air system may result in complex degradation mechanisms. Static stress corrosion testing has been conducted on C-ring specimens at a range of stresses in a hot corrosion environment. Cracks were observed in C-rings after exposure times greater than 100 h. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) systems were used to image cracks and characterise deposits to improve understanding of the mechanism. Finite element analysis (FEA) has been used to model the stress intensity under test conditions. CMSX-4 specimens subject to static stresses combined with hot corrosion demonstrated significant material degradation (crack initiation and propagation) suggesting a combined stress corrosion mechanism resulting in cracking