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In-Service Inspectors Pressure Equipment

Senior In-Service Inspectors Pressure Equipment

Lesson No 6

ASSESSMENT OF PRESSURE EQUIPMENT

INTEGRITY
 Les Cowley/AWS CE In-service Inspectors

Contents
Subject Page

Basic design of pressure equipment (calculation pressure 3

design temperature e.g. Design life and design thickness)

Acceptance criteria for imperfections 4

Investigation of nonconformance, defects, deterioration and 5

failures

Determination of maximum working pressure or allowable 5,

thickness

Determination of safe remaining life 6

Investigation methods 7

Hazard identification and risk assessment 8

Concessions 8

Determination of when an engineering assessment may be 8

required.

Assignment 9

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 Les Cowley/AWS CE In-service Inspectors

6.1 Basic design of pressure equipment (calculation pressure,

design temperature, e.g. design life and design thickness)
(AS 1210,AS 4041 & AS 1228)

6.2.1: Wastage
(Clause 5.3.6 AS/NZS 3788)

Wastage When pressure equipment suffers metal

loss, and will continue to do so, the rate of metal
loss at the location having the most severe effect
on safe operation shall be determined and the
remaining safe life calculated using the following
equation:

Remaining Life = T M T M
WR

Where:

Tm = actual mean thickness in millimetres

Tm = allowable minimum mean thickness, in

millimetres

WR = realistic or conservative wastage rate based

on current wastage rate corrected for future
operation, in millimetres per year.

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6.2 Acceptance criteria for imperfections.

(Clause 5.2.1 & 5.2.2)

Introduction Defects which occur in pressure equipment include

reduced wall thickness, weld defects, corrosion, erosion, cracks,
gauges, leakage, bulges, dents, and metallurgical deterioration

The normal approach with operating pressure equipment is to accept

only those imperfections which are within the limits specified in the
appropriate pressure equipment Standard. In some instances, this leads
to unnecessary condemnation of pressure equipment. In other
instances, repairs may be carried out without regard to the high level of
integrity required for specific pressure equipments integrity more than
the presence of some unrepaired defect.

New pressure equipment is generally designed to a conservative

standard so that pressure equipment can operate safely under
foreseeable conditions. Basic design has in-built requirements
to cover fatigue, but the pressure equipment may be subject to
negligible stress/temperature cycling. All of these facts should
be recognized when considering specific situations with regard
to defect, pressure equipment and operating conditions. Clause
5.2 sets out criteria for some defects that can be accepted safely
for short- or long-term service. If defects exceed the limits given
in this Clause, a more detailed study may be undertaken.

Initial review When defects, which fall outside the limits of the
pressure equipment Standard are observed in pressure
equipment, the owner may elect to ensure the continued safe
operation of the pressure equipment by the following :

(a) Repair of defects or replacement of defective

components Repair procedures are covered by Clause
6.2. Repair or replacement is the normal and preferred
method where this is practical and economic.

(b) Determine acceptability of defect Investigate to

establish if the defect can be safely allowed to remain
unrepaired or with minor repair. This action may be
preferable where repair is not possible, not practical or
not economic. It is often used as an interim measure to
provide time for major repair and replacement.

(c) Rerate the pressure equipment Rerating procedure is

given in 5.4. This action sometimes may be adopted in
addition to or as an alternative to the options in Items (a)
and (b).

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 Les Cowley/AWS CE In-service Inspectors

6.3 Investigation of nonconformance, defects, deterioration and

failures.
(31 Clause 5.2.3.)

Investigation of defects As part of the overall assessment, an

investigation which is sufficiently searching to locate all
associated defects shall be made. The defects shall be sized
and located using techniques having a demonstrated high level
of confidence. The following shall be investigated:

(a) The extent, location, direction, position and type of

defects.

(b) The materials in the region of the defect and their

probable actual properties.

(c) The pressures, temperatures and stresses occurring in

the defect region. This will require realistic stress analysis
of actual dimensions.

(d) The most probable cause(s), factors and conditions

contributing to the defect development.

(e) The feasibility of changing service conditions, pressure,

temperature, cycles, temperature differences (e.g. by
slower operation changes).

(f) The prognosis of the defect and, where necessary, the

action desirable to reduce future degradation.

(g) The desired short- or long-term life (before repair or

replacement).

(h) Proposals to ensure safety against abnormal conditions,

e.g. significant cracking of furnaces or tube plates of fire
tube boilers is permitted provided added precautions are
taken to prevent a low water condition which could result
in catastrophic rupture at the cracked area. Similarly,
there are additional limits on defects in transportable
vessels.

6.4 Determination of maximum working pressure or minimum

allowable thickness.
( Clause 5.4) or Refer to AS 1210 Sec 3 )

Introduction The method given in this Clause (5.4) may

provide a higher or lower re-rated pressure than if assessed to
the original design Standard.

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Presence of defects Normally many of the defects described in

Clause 5.2 will be shown to have a minimal effect on pressure
equipment integrity and will allow pressure equipment to
continue to be operated at its design pressure, i.e. maximum
allowable operating pressure. In other cases, where the extent
of defect is greater than the limits given in Clause 5.2, a new
reference pressure for calculated minimum wall thickness may
have to be established before the limits in Clause 5.2 are
applied and repair is avoided.

In the assessing of the effect of defects on pressure equipment

integrity, the pressure or operating temperature, or both, may
have to be changed in order to maintain the safety margin on-

(a) crack size, position, shape and direction;

(b) material thickness; or

(c) rate of crack growth.

NOTES:

1 Increase in operating temperature may result in increase of KIC (for

some materials and this may increase the size of critical crack.

2 Decrease in pressure will decrease stress which will allow an

increase in the size of critical crack, and also decrease the rate of
crack growth in situations where fatigue or creep is a concern.

6.5 Determination of safe remaining life.

( Clause 5.3.)

General Pressure equipment which is subject to an

environment likely to cause deterioration by fatigue, creep or
wastage will have a finite life time. Clause 5.3 provides direction
for assessment of the condition of pressure equipment in order
to establish safe remaining life. A description of the terms used
is given in Clause 1.4. Remaining life assessment shall be
carried out by competent personnel and due care must be taken
to consider the significance of inaccuracies involved in
assessment (e.g. temperature or stress inputs ). The extent and
accuracy of investigations will influence the confidence in the
estimate of safe remaining life.

NOTES:

1 Common modes of deterioration and failure are described in

Appendix M.

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2 A cost-effective, three-stage remaining life assessment procedure is

described in Appendix U.

Investigation Method

General Investigation for determination of safe remaining

life shall use the following techniques and suitable
guidance shall be sought to determine which techniques
are appropriate at any inspection stage. A life
assessment shall be first carried out when the component
has reached 60% of its design life. Components which
have no qualified design life shall be assessed before
100,000 operating hours. Information gained from each
stage of assessment is used to complement the next
stage. Investigations should be carried out in critical
areas having the lowest expected service life. The owner
shall ensure that for such pressure equipment

(a) a comprehensive record of temperature, stress

history and maintenance is maintained; and

(b) the condition of the pressure equipment is regularly

monitored to detect the initial signs of damage.

Stage 1 life assessment Stage 1 life assessment

involves-

(a) review of design calculations or reassessment of

components in respect of service life temperature
an cyclic loads using applicable pressure
equipment Standards; and

(b) review of experience with other similar pressure

equipment.

Stage 2 life assessment Stage 2 life assessment

involves the following:

(a) Non-destructive examination, e.g. magnetic particle

inspection, ultrasonic, liquid penetrant and visual
examination. Note that conventional NDE
techniques often fail to detect incipient creep
damage and microstructural damage which can be
the precursors to rapid, unanticipated failures.

(b) Measurement or checking actual temperatures and

strains and known specific defects.

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(c) Review or estimation of pressure and temperature

history of critical components. Assessment of the
effect of design/service temperature differences
and external forces.

(d) Measurement of wall thickness, out of roundness

and other important geometric features.

(e) Review of inspection, maintenance, repair or

replacement records.

(f) Surface micro-examination by direct or replica

methods.

Stage 3 life assessment Stage 3 life assessment

involves the following:

(a) Mechanical testing and metallurgical examination

of samples removed from service, e.g. accelerated
creep testing, fracture toughness testing and the
like.

(b) Other special tests, e.g. accelerated corrosion or

erosion.

(c) Assessment using detailed stress information, e.g.

strain gauging and finite element analysis.

Fatigue Determination of fatigue effects on

pressure equipment shall consider assessment of
both the defect-free structure and any specific
defects.

During investigation of a specific defect in a Class

1, Class 2 or Class 3 vessel (AS1210), recourse
can be made to fracture mechanics (see Clause
5.2.5.2); or, if a thorough investigation of such
pressure equipment at all high stress locations
shows the equipment to be free of imperfections
not permitted by the Standard, AS 1210
Supplement No. 1 may be applied.

6.6 Hazard identification and risk assessment. (AS/NZS 4360 )

6.7 Concessions.

6.8 Determination of when an engineering assessment may be

required.

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ASSIGNMENT

1. A pressure vessel has a recorded mean thickness of 30.mm

The allowable minimum mean thickness is 22.mm.
The current wastage is 1.5mm per year
Calculate the remaining life span of the vessel.

2. You have inspected a pressure vessel

Your findings are:-
2.1: The vessel was manufactured in 1979
2.2: The actual thickness in most parts was 14.5mm
2.3: The required minimum allowable thickness (MAT), away from the
welds is 9mm
2.4: The actual corroded thickness at the bottom of the vessel is
11.mm.

Estimate which year the vessel would reach MAT and when would you
require the next inspection assuming no corrective action can be taken

3. What do you understand by the terms.

3.1: Minimum allowable thickness after forming (MAF) of dished
ends.
3.2: Corrosion allowance (CA)

4. A safe life evaluation shall be conducted on a class 1 pressure vessel

As a In-Service Inspector answer the following:-
4.1: When is the first periodical inspection required.
4.2: What information is required by the owner.
4.3: Explain the 3 stages for review of the remaining life of a vessel
to the requirements of AS/NZS 3788

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