KarlwithaK
Nuclear
- Jul 14, 2018
- 8
A leak developed on a weld at my station.
What we have is a 52" horizontal run of High Pressure Turbine Extraction Steam piping. At the bottom of the line is welded a 12x12x4 tee. The Tee is vertical, one 12" end welded to the invert of the 52", the other reduced to 2" for a manual drain valve. The 4" branch is horizontal, gravity pitched and runs to the main condenser. (under vacuum)The purpose of the line you probably guessed is to remove condensate from the line during start-up and Cool-down and any collected entrained condensate in the HP Turbine exhaust.
What we have for a leak is manifested as multiple pinhole leaks in the TOP 1/4 of circumference of the weld joining the 123x12x4 tee and the 4" horizontal run to condenser.
What sorts of failure modes would fail this weld at the top? I am currently waiting for NDE/UT inspection reports. This does not sound like FAC modes I am familiar with. See attached sketch.
Also, I used to have a cute little handbook with nice color photos of many examples of FAC found in typical suspect locations. Can anyone recommend a text, handbook or online source of outside symptoms as observed and then cut-pipe photos showing the causes? Maybe with example UT maps, too?
What we have is a 52" horizontal run of High Pressure Turbine Extraction Steam piping. At the bottom of the line is welded a 12x12x4 tee. The Tee is vertical, one 12" end welded to the invert of the 52", the other reduced to 2" for a manual drain valve. The 4" branch is horizontal, gravity pitched and runs to the main condenser. (under vacuum)The purpose of the line you probably guessed is to remove condensate from the line during start-up and Cool-down and any collected entrained condensate in the HP Turbine exhaust.
What we have for a leak is manifested as multiple pinhole leaks in the TOP 1/4 of circumference of the weld joining the 123x12x4 tee and the 4" horizontal run to condenser.
What sorts of failure modes would fail this weld at the top? I am currently waiting for NDE/UT inspection reports. This does not sound like FAC modes I am familiar with. See attached sketch.
Also, I used to have a cute little handbook with nice color photos of many examples of FAC found in typical suspect locations. Can anyone recommend a text, handbook or online source of outside symptoms as observed and then cut-pipe photos showing the causes? Maybe with example UT maps, too?