Session: DA-08-02 FFS Involving Piping and Pipelines

Paper Number: 106290

106290 - Level 3 Fitness for Service Assessment of Carbon Steel Piping Component having Local Metal Loss 

Carbon Steel (CS) lines operating under susceptible temperature range can have highly localized thickness loss due to Corrosion under Insulation (CUI), through penetration or entrapment of water or moisture and contamination due to external source (i.e. rain, marine environment etc.) underneath the external jacketed insulation. Thickness loss in the piping component beyond its corrosion allowance limit or minimum required thickness value (as per code requirements), requires Fitness-For-Service (FFS) assessment to ensure the mechanical integrity of the piping component, in order to continue the operation safely. In this work, the FFS assessment was performed for a Carbon Steel Line in Hydrocarbon service, having local metal loss beyond its minimum required thickness value at the vicinity of the structural discontinuity i.e. branched connection and its bracing to header weld joint. Level-3 assessment was performed considering Limit Load Analysis Method through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) as per acceptance criteria specified in API-579 Part-2 & 5. Where, all applicable loads were factored at multiple load steps, and the convergence of the solution was ensured up to the acceptable load limit step. The results of the analysis then used to predict the remaining life of the piping component, ensuring the protection against plastic collapse due to low thickness.

Presenting Author: Muhammad Raheel Rafique Petrochemicals

Presenting Author Biography: Lead Static Equipment Engineer with 15 Years of experience in Mechanical Design (Code Rules & Analysis) and Detailed Engineering of Static Equipment and Piping for Oil & Gas, Power Plant, Petrochemical and Refineries.

Practical knowledge of Fitness for Service (FFS); Failure Mode Effect and Analysis (FMECA); Asset Life Assessment (ALA); material selection/ evaluation; and participation in reliability methodology studies as SME.

Authors:

Muhammad Raheel Rafique Petrokemya Arabian Petrochemical Co.