ASM Failure Analysis Case Histories: Chemical Processing Equipment
Failure of a Weld Seam in a Heat Exchanger of an Ammonia Synthesis Plant
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Published:2019
Abstract
A heat exchanger failed five years after going into service in an ammonia synthesis plant. Its container, made of Cr-Mo alloy steel (Material No. 1.7362), operated in an environment that did not exceed 400 deg C or 600 atm of hydrogen partial pressure. X-ray examination revealed a fissure in one of the welded seams, which according to microscopic examination, originated in the base material of the container. Higher magnification revealed a narrow zone adjacent to the weld seam permeated with intergranular cracks, the result of hydrogen attack. It also showed the structure to be completely martensitic. Thus, the failure...
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Member Sign InFriedrich Karl Naumann, Ferdinand Spies, Failure of a Weld Seam in a Heat Exchanger of an Ammonia Synthesis Plant, ASM Failure Analysis Case Histories: Chemical Processing Equipment, ASM International, 2019, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.fach.chem.c9001161
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