Inspection of Pressure Vessels

Cairo Inspection Company

Eng. Ibrahim Eldesoky
ASNT NDT-- LEVEL III ASME AUTHORIZED INSPECTOR API AUTHORIZED INSPECTOR

Types of Pressure Vessels

4.1 DESCRIPTION A pressure vessel is a container designed to withstand internal or external pressure. The pressure vessels may have been constructed in accordance with the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, other recognized pressure vessel codes, or as approved by the jurisdiction. These vessels typically are subject to an external or internal operating pressure greater than 15 lbf/in.2 (103 kPa). External pressure on a vessel can be caused by an internal vacuum or by fluid pressure between an outer jacket and the vessel wall.
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4 Types of Pressure Vessels

4.3 MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION

Carbon steel is the most common material used to construct pressure vessels. For special purposes, a suitable austenitic or ferritic alloy, Alloy 400, nickel, titanium, high nickel alloys or aluminum may be used. Copper and copper alloys (except Alloy 400) are seldom used in refinery vessels but may be found in petrochemical plant vessels.
Materials used to construct the various parts of exchangers are selected to safely handle the service and the heat load required. Materials that will most economically resist the type of corrosion expected are selected.
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4 Types of Pressure Vessels

4.3 MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION

Nonmetallic liners may be used to resist corrosion and erosion or to insulate and reduce the temperature on the walls of a pressure vessel. The most common nonmetallic lining materials are reinforced concrete, acid brick, refractory material, insulating material, carbon brick or block, rubber, glass, and plastic.

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4 Types of Pressure Vessels

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4 Types of Pressure Vessels

4.4 Internal Components and Equipment Many pressure vessels have no internals. Others have internals such as baffles, distribution piping trays, mesh or strip type packing grids, catalyst bed supports, cyclones, pipe coils, spray nozzles, demister pads, and quench lines. Large spheroids may have internal bracing and ties and most vacuum vessels have either external or internal stiffening rings. Some pressure vessels have heat exchangers or reboilers located in the lower shell area. Exchangers have internal tube bundles with baffles or support plates, which vary with the service and heat load the exchanger is designed to handle.
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Reasons for Inspection

5.1 GENERAL

The basic reasons for inspection are to determine the physical condition of the vessel and to determine the type, rate,and causes of deterioration. This information should be carefully documented after each inspection. With such data, safety can be maintained, the period of operation without a shutdown can be extended, the rate of deterioration can sometimes be reduced, and future repair and replacement requirements can be estimated.

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Reasons for Inspection

5.2 SAFETY Periodic scheduled inspections can reveal conditions that might result in an emergency or unscheduled shutdown, a leak or even a vessel failure if not corrected. 5.3 Reliability and Efficient Operation mechanical integrity of pressurized equipment can be maintained and Fitness-For-Service or RBI evaluations can be performed 5.4 Regulatory Requirements

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6 Inspection Plans 7 Frequency and Extent of Inspection 8 Safety Precautions and Preparatory Work API 510

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9.2 Thickness Measurements

There are many tools designed for measuring metal thickness. The selection of tools used will depend on several factors: a) the accessibility to both sides of the area to be measured, b) the desire for NDE methods, c) the time available, d) the accuracy desired, e) the economy of the situation.

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9.2.2 Limits of Thickness

The limits of wall loss, due to corrosion and other deterioration mechanisms, that may be tolerated must be known, or an inspection will lose much of its value. The two most important factors of this problem are the following: a) the retiring thickness of the part considered, b) the rate of deterioration

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9.3 External Inspection external inspection can be made while the vessel is in operation. 9.3.2 Ladders, Stairways, Platforms, and Walkways 9.3.3 Foundations and Supports 9.3.4 Anchor Bolts 9.3.5 Concrete Supports 9.3.6 Steel Supports 9.3.7 Rivets 9.3.8 Guy Wires 9.3.9 Nozzles 9.3.10 Grounding Connections 9.3.11 Auxiliary Equipment 9.3.12 Protective Coatings and Insulation
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9.3.13 External Metal Surfaces 9.3.14 External Evidence of Corrosion

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9.4 Internal Inspection Local conditions and materials should be assessed to determine satisfactory protection measures required during downtime. Not all internal inspections have to be carried out from the inside of the vessel. Techniques are available to inspect aspects of the vessel nonintrusively using acoustic emission, magnetic scanning and AUT systems. 9.4.3 Preliminary Visual Inspection

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9.4.4 Inspection of Degradation 1 Thinning and Pitting 2 Cracking 3 Erosion 4 Blistering 5 Deformation

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9.4.5 Inspection of Components The supports for trays, baffles, screens, grids, piping, internal stiffeners, and other internal equipment should be inspected carefully. Most of this inspection will be visual. Light tapping with a hammer can be used as a check for soundness. If there appears to be any metal loss, the thickness of the support should be measured and checked against the original thickness. Transfer or direct-reading calipers, micrometers, or UT thickness instruments can be used for these measurements.

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9.4.5.4 Nozzles Nozzles connected to the vessel should be visually examined for internal corrosion. 9.4.5.5 Linings UT inspection performed from the outside of the vessel can be used to locate and measure the extent of disbond and cracked areas.

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9.5 Special Damage

Methods

of

Detecting

Mechanical

Etching of small areas may sometimes be used to find small surface cracks Sample removal can be used to spot-check welds and to investigate cracks, laminations, and other flaws.

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9.6 Metallurgical Changes and In-situ Analysis of Metals In-situ metallography can be used to detect metallurgical changes with portable polishing equipment and using replica transfer techniques. Hardness, chemical spot, and magnetic tests are three methods of detecting metallurgical changes.

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9.7 Testing 9.7.1 Hammer Testing In hammer testing, an inspectors hammer is used to supplement visual inspection. The hammer is used to do the following jobs: a) to locate thin sections in vessel walls, heads, etc.; b) to check tightness of rivets, bolts, brackets, etc.; c) to check for cracks in metallic linings; d) to check for lack of bond in concrete or refractory linings; e) to remove scale accumulations for spot inspection.

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9.7.2 Pressure and Vacuum Testing 9.7.3 Testing Exchangers A leak may be detected by observation at a drain point, such as at a disconnected lower nozzle or an open bleeder

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10 Condition Assessment and Repair Condition assessment should be a formal part of every inspection, and the determination of acceptable vessel condition should be formally documented. The condition will generally be defined as: 1) like new condition, not requiring any additional actions before the next scheduled inspection; 2) requiring minor repairs such as repainting, cleaning, or minor surface work; 3) requiring major repair or replacement of all or a section of the vessel

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10.2 Visual Inspection

The inspector should evaluate if the vessel meets the original construction parameters by inspecting the condition of the vessel walls, welds, internals, supporting equipment, etc.
10.3 Thickness Measurements Thickness measurements should be used to confirm thinning rates or lack of thinning when possible.

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10.4 Remaining Life

Once the vessel condition has been identified as sufficient, the remaining life should be evaluated to ensure the vessel can safely continue operation at least until the next scheduled inspection 10.5 Methods of Repair 10.5.1 Welding Repairs Repairs made by welding to the vessel should be inspected After repairs are completed, a pressure test should be applied if the API authorized pressure vessel inspector believes that one is necessary
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Sections of shell plates may be replaced to remove locally deteriorated areas Cracks in vessel walls or heads may be repaired by chipping, by flame, arc, or mechanical gouging, or by grinding the crack from end to end and then welding Scattered pits in pressure vessels are best repaired by welding Repairs of metallic linings require welding 10.6 Repair of Supporting Vessel Equipment Repair of appurtenances such as platforms, ladders, and stairways will usually consist of replacing excessively worn parts.

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11 Records and Reports a) basic data (i.e. permanent records per API 510), b) field notes, c) the data that accumulates in the continuous file (i.e. progressive records per API 510).

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