A detailed fracture mechanics evaluation is the most accurate and reliable prediction of process equipment susceptibility to brittle fracture. This article provides an overview and discussion on brittle fracture. The discussion covers the reasons to evaluate brittle fracture, provides a brief summary of historical failures that were found to be a result of brittle fracture, and describes key components that drive susceptibility to a brittle fracture failure, namely stress, material toughness, and cracklike defect. It also presents industry codes and standards that assess susceptibility to brittle fracture. Additionally, a series of case study examples are presented that demonstrate assessment procedures used to mitigate the risk of brittle fracture in process equipment.

Guided wave testing (GWT) is a method of nondestructive evaluation for the inspection of pipelines. This article focuses mainly on explaining GWT as it is applied in routine established use, covered by standards, in the oil and gas industry and also introduces some of the other contexts in which its use is growing in other evolving applications. It discusses the various guided wave modes and their selection criteria. The article provides information on considerations for mode control and the sensitivity of the GWT to the defect. It also shows some examples of advanced GWT.

Induction heating has the ability to concentrate the electromagnetic field and heat within a certain area of the workpiece. This article provides a detailed discussion on the end heating of bars, rods, and billets using solenoid inductors, oval inductors, and channel inductors. It reviews the importance of computer modeling in predicting the impact of different, interrelated, and nonlinear factors on the transitional and final thermal conditions of billets and bars. The article describes the most appropriate processes to improve end heating process effectiveness. Induction bending of narrow circumferential band of pipe or tube is also discussed. The article concludes with a discussion on stress relieving of pipe ends and welded areas.

Estimation of process parameters for selective heating and heat treating of simple- and complex-shaped workpieces in induction hardening can be accurately carried out using numerical simulation techniques such as the finite-element analysis and the finite-different method. Along with the significant benefits of modern numerical simulations, it is important to be able to use rough estimation techniques to develop a general understanding of the critical parameters of a particular induction heating system. This article discusses such numerical techniques for estimating the critical parameters: workpiece power estimation; estimation of electrical and thermal efficiency of the coil; and frequency selection for heating solid cylinders, tubes, pipes, slabs, plates, strips, and rectangular workpieces.

This article discusses the safety issues associated with the design and operation of thermal spray booths and spray box structures and the equipment or systems required for operating thermal spray processes. It describes the design elements necessary to mitigate sound, dust and fume, ultraviolet light, and mechanical hazards. The means selected for safeguarding personnel must be based on a formal risk assessment that meets ANSI/RIA standards. The safeguards include sensing devices, barriers, awareness signals, procedures, and training. It also provides guidelines that are intended to increase the safety awareness and the use of safety practices for gas and liquid piping and electrical equipment within thermal spray installations.

External corrosion direct assessment (ECDA) is a structured process intended for use by pipeline operators to assess and manage the impact of external corrosion on the integrity of underground pipelines. This article focuses on four steps of ECDA, namely, preassessment, indirect examinations, direct examination, and post assessment. The ECDA tool selection matrix used to determine the tool choices is also presented.

A close-interval survey (CIS) is a series of structure-to-electrolyte direct current potential measurements performed at regular intervals for assessing the level of cathodic protection (CP) on pipelines and other buried or submerged metallic structures. This article describes the equipment required to perform the CIS. It provides a discussion on the activities that should be performed during the preparation and execution of the CIS. The dynamic stray current identification and compensation by CIS is discussed briefly. The article also explains various factors involved in the validation of CIS data. It concludes with information on CIS data interpretation.

Steel storage tanks are the primary means for storing large volumes of liquids and gaseous products. The stored fluid could be water, but it could also be volatile, corrosive, and flammable fluid requiring special precautions for storage as well. Corrosion is generally worst where the tank is in contact with the soil. This article describes the soil characteristics and addresses cathodic protection (CP) criteria for submerged metallic piping systems. It provides information on the data required for designing a CP system, alone or in conjunction with a protective coating system. These data are collected from predesign site assessments, tank electrical characteristics, and soil-resistivity measurements. The article addresses NACE Standard RP0169, which gives requirements and desired characteristics for coating in conjunction with CP. It also explains the methods of protecting aboveground storage tanks and underground storage tanks.

This article describes the control of water chemistry in the steam cycle of a power plant for achieving corrosion control, deposition prevention, and higher cycle efficiency. It discusses the materials requirements of the components exposed to supercritical water in supercritical (SC) and ultrasupercritical (USC) power plants. These components include high-pressure steam piping and headers, superheater and reheater tubing, water wall tubing in the boiler, high-and intermediate-pressure rotors, rotating blades, and bolts in the turbine section. The article reviews the boiler alloys, used in SC and USC boilers, such as ferritic steels, austenitic steels, and nickel-base alloys. It provides information on the materials used in turbine applications such as ferritic rotor steels, turbine blade alloys, and bolting materials. The article explains various factors influencing steamside corrosion in SC power plants. It also deals with the role of overall efficiency in the USC power generation.

This article focuses on the environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) of structural materials in boiling water reactors (BWRs), reactor pressure vessels, core internals, and ancillary piping. It discusses the effects of water chemistry on materials degradation, mitigation approaches, and their impact on aging management programs. The article reviews the effects of materials, environment, and stress factors on the cracking susceptibility of ferritic and austenitic structural alloys in BWRs. It describes the methods, such as data-based life-prediction approaches and mechanisms-informed life-prediction approaches, for predicting cracking kinetics in BWRs. The article provides information on several EAC mitigation techniques for BWR components, namely material solutions, stress solutions, and environmental solutions.

This article describes the corrosion of principal parts of mining equipment such as mine shafts, wire rope, rock bolts, and pump and piping systems. It discusses the diagnosis and prevention of various types of corrosion including uniform corrosion, pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, erosion-corrosion, and intergranular corrosion. The article explains the corrosion in tanks, reactor vessels, cyclic loading machinery, and pressure leaching equipment.

This article describes the mechanisms of differential corrosion cells corrosion, microbiologically influenced corrosion, and stray direct current corrosion. It discusses the most common causes and contributing factors for corrosion and stress-corrosion cracking, as well as prevention, mitigation, detection, and repair processes.

This article discusses the effects of parameters on corrosivity and explains why it is critical to examine the parameter interactions prior to capturing the synergistic effects of the parameters on corrosion. It examines the methods of internal corrosion prediction for multiphase pipelines. The article reviews methodologies to perform internal corrosion direct assessment for pipelines. Real-time monitoring techniques for assessing actual corrosion at critical locations are discussed. The article also presents the case studies for multi-technique electrochemical corrosion monitoring.

The inhibitors currently in use are generally complex mixtures of reaction products and have been formulated to meet the demands of a very competitive industry. This article discusses these demands on inhibitor formulation. The varying characteristics and number of organic inhibitors are explained by the varying characteristics of oil wells and gas wells. Water injection systems and pipelines are also discussed. The article describes the factors that influence the corrosivity of produced fluids and the various treatments applicable for oil, gas, and pumping wells. It examines the primary causes of corrosion inhibition in waterfloods: oxygen contamination and acid gases dissolved in the brine. A discussion on the bacteria-induced corrosion is provided. The article also explains various tests available for field corrosion monitoring. It details the methods used to monitor corrosion rates and inhibitor effectiveness. The article concludes information on the computerization of inhibitor treating programs.

This article focuses on the mechanisms of microbially induced or influenced corrosion (MIC) of metallic materials as an introduction to the recognition, management, and prevention of microbiological corrosion failures in piping, tanks, heat exchangers, and cooling towers. It discusses the degradation of various protective systems, such as corrosion inhibitors and lubricants. The article describes the failure analysis of steel, iron, copper, aluminum, and their alloys. It also discusses the probes available to monitor conditions relevant to MIC in industrial systems and the sampling and analysis of conditions usually achieved by the installation of removable coupons in the target system. The article also explains the prevention and control strategies of MIC in industrial systems.

This article describes the failure characteristics of high-pressure long-distance pipelines. It discusses the causes of pipeline failures and the procedures used to investigate them. The use of fracture mechanics in failure investigations and in developing remedial measures is also reviewed.

This article provides information on the development of finite element analysis (FEA) and describes the general-purpose applications of FEA software programs in structural and thermal, static and transient, and linear and nonlinear analyses. It discusses special-purpose finite element applications in piping and pressure vessel analysis, impact analysis, and microelectronics. The article describes the steps involved in the design process using the FEA. It concludes with two case histories that involve the use of FEA in failure analysis.

Composites, particularly fiber-reinforced polymer materials, are increasingly being adopted or considered as alternatives to conventional materials for civil infrastructure applications, such as bridges, buildings, waterfront structures, waste treatment facilities, and facilities for transmission and transport of utilities. This article provides information on seismic retrofit applications and discusses the repair and strengthening of components, such as beams, slabs, large-diameter pipes, and bridge decks.

This article provides an overview of the safety aspects and integrity concept for pressure vessels, piping, and tubing. It focuses on the fracture mechanics approaches used to validate components with longitudinal cracks and circumferential cracks and to analyze crack growth behavior under cyclic loading. Full-scale testing facilities and the typical test results required for various applications are discussed. The article also presents information on the transferability of mechanical properties of materials.

This article discusses the classifications, specifications, applications and methods for producing welded and seamless steel tubular products, including pipes and tubes. Common types of pipes include standard pipe, conduit pipe, piling pipe, pipe for nipples, transmission or line pipe, water main pipe, oil country tubular goods, water well pipe, and pressure pipe. Pipes in suitable sizes, and most of the products classified as tubing, both seamless and welded, may be cold finished. Pressure tubes are given a separate classification by both the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and producers. The term tube covers three groups, including pressure tubes, structural tubing, and mechanical tubing.