Degradation Mechanisms affecting Petrochemical and Chemical Industry 1

[rscosta1976]

Good morning all,

We all know that many degradation mechanisms active at Petrochemical and Chemical indsutrial units are common to the Refining Industry. Still, I wonder if there are any clear literature references addressing typical degradation mechanisms and corresponding mitigation strategies specifically formulated for the most common Petrochemical and Chemical industrial units. Your input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[mk3223]

In general, the ASM Handbooks may be a good reference for the material issues and solutions for the O&G and Chemical industries.
Also, you may research for a specific article and solution based on the detail process of the particular plant application.

 

[mrfailure]

You need to get a copy of API RP 571 (i.e. American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 571). This is exactly what you are looking for and it covers many mechanisms not discussed elsewhere that are refining-specific. It is a great reference!

 

[EdStainless]

And then when you want to know more about a specific mechanism you can find books that focus on that exclusively.
I have individual volumes on SCC, Fatigue, High Temperature Corrosion, as well as individual volumes addressing corrosion by a dozen major chemicals.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[shvet]

In (petro)chemical industry such info is not shared knowledge and is know-how or even proprietary. You should give up searching a comprehensive source as random info is available mainly leaked from relevant symposiums&conferences where only invited participants are allowed.
EdStainless might be one of those.

Capitalism does not work such way. Money, you have no idea what an incredible amount of money such info does cost. There is no an independent body to collect and publish industry experience like API does.

 

[mrfailure]

1. Good reference materials such as the ones Ed and I discussed indeed do cost money - you are paying for the intellectual property to develop those resources. Someone who performs failure analysis but refuses to pay for access to the reference materials probably will not be able to provide a good evaluation. While a little pricy, API RP 571 is available for $423 and is pretty comprehensive on an overview level (Personally, I find it worth it). As Ed suggests, you should then obtain additional materials for the situations you specifically work with.
2. We in the failure analysis community are pretty open about discussing how things fail. We have a society (ASM Failure Analysis Society) and a journal (Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention). Yes, they cost money to to access. We are open to everyone and that includes in the petrochemical industry. Never heard of participation by secret invitations only!

 

[Dhurjati Sen]

All the above posts are true though some of them might seem a bit contradictory.

To explain my point above, I would say that one can always buy ASME Handbooks and API Recommended Practices (not taking about unauthorised versions), but there are innumerable failure analysis reports generated by various organisations (like refineries, gas plants, upstream oil companies etc.) which are proprietary in nature. But when you have worked in quite a few such organisations, you get access to those which can be used as a data bank to explain similar failures.

DHURJATI SEN
Kolkata, India

 

[EdStainless]

There are some online sources that are worth remembering.
Such as

https://www.csb.gov/

Watch the videos, if you have similar equipment then go read the written report.
Most of these areas are so obscure that that there is just little publicly available information.
Are you employed by a company that has US operations?
Are they a member of MTI?
If so find out who your representative is and connect with them.

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P.E. Metallurgy, consulting work welcomed

 

[TomEun]

The mechanism of Material Degradation is not simple because there are many issues from Mechanical (cyclic service, vibration, friction, overload), Process (upset conditions, wrong operation), Corrosion & Erosion design (with material selection)/prevention/monitoring/cleaning/fatigue corrosion, Aging (creep, overheating, thermal fatigue), Fabrication & Welding/Heat treatment, and Incorrect Repair.
As seen above good answers, ASM handbooks, API standards, NACE (AMPP) standards & papers, MTI publications, WRC publications, several other publications (books), JIP reports, case studies in several journals & conferences, and company own reports will be helpful.

There is no income without investment.

Thomas Eun,

https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030364298

 

[rscosta1976]

Thank you all for your comments and valuable feedback

 

[myname_earl]

I'm still very new to FEMI but there are some great resources that have helped me:

https://inspectioneering.com/

- Your company may already have a corporate subscription, but there is also a bountiful amount of free information here.

https://www.corrosionpedia.com/

- Also good information but seems to be less kept up with than inspectioneering.

API RP 571 is great, but confused me quite a bit just because of my lack of experience.
AMPP (NACE) - corrosion certifications that are most likely useful
E2G - a consulting group that specializes in FEMI. We've used them for bigger issues and use their engineering practices. super involved in the industry, specifically FEMI.

This site - there are some pretty kick-ass people on here that are more patient and forgiving than what they should be..