Fire Damage Screening Assessment

[FastEddy26]

I haven't yet looked at API579 for fire damage assessment. I'd like to avoid purchasing one right now. Is there any other available pipeline damage assessment guidance or checklist for screening oil and gas pipelines following a fire at a production field/facility? Events could range from a brush fire to a petroleum pool fire. Thanks for the help.

 

[TGS4]

Nope. Buy that standard. Or hire an expert to do it for you.

 

[FastEddy26]

Thanks. I believe API579 was updated in 2007 to include fire damage assessment. One would suspect that there must be other reference guidances out there to address this issue. If anyone knows of other guidance out there, that would be helpful?

 

[TGS4]

Buy the latest (2016) edition.

 

[EdStainless]

One reason that it was put into API579 is that it wasn't well addressed other places.
You can buy five other standards and get pieces of it, or ...

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P.E. Metallurgy, Plymouth Tube

 

[FastEddy26]

Thanks for your responses. Yep, I would always buy the latest copy of a standard. If there were five other standards or guidelines, I'd sure like to know what they were. I've also posted in the Chemical Engineers, Loss Prevention forum.

 

[BigInch]

Sounds a bit late for loss prevention.

Richard Feynman's Problem Solving Algorithm
1. Write down the problem.
2. Think very hard.
3. Write down the answer.

 

[KevinNZ]

Out of interest, was does one look for when a fire has gone over steel piping?

What are the indicators that the heat has adversely affected the steel?

 

[TGS4]

Colour and hardness, typically. Also, deformation (sagging). If there is (was) insulation, then whether or not the insulation is still there or not (whether or not the aluminum cladding melted, and whether or not the insulation burned off will also give indications of the temperature). Knowing the duration of the fire is very important.

During a fire event, it is critical to the recovery efforts to have video evidence of the event, showing the extent and duration of impingement. Stay out of the way of the first responders, and stay safe. But go to a safe location with a good vantage, and video record the fire, paying special attention to where the fire was and the impingement locations. Above certain temperatures, the colour of the steel won't change, so you may have to infer the temperature by other means - hence the video. And you're getting into the creep regime, so time at temperature is the important measure. Knowing whether equipment and piping was pressurized, or if the Emergency Shut Down (ESD) system depressurized it, is also important, because creep damage also needs stress at temperature and time.