Welding inspection for heating coil in crude tanks

[fe2386]

Hi all,
Now I am facing a problem regarding to inspection the welds of the heating coil(LP Steam) in the crude tanks.
My new tanks are designed in accordance with standard API 650. And in this standard I can not find where it requires for inspection the welds of the heating coils.
Wiht other steam pipeline in my project it is regulated to be inspected at least 10% of the welds by NDT, but the tanks are designed as a package so it does not follow other requirements other than API 650.
And the contractor is now refusing to perform inspection for the welds of the heating coils, and they just perform the hydrotest.
Any help is approciate!
Thanks.

 

[JoeTank]

This isn't going to help much, but API-650 does not address NDE of heating coils. It's a tank standard. If the NDE issues were important to you, you should have addresses that in your spec by requiring that the coils be constructed to the code or standard of your preference. That said, I think it's pretty shabby of a contactor to refuse the request for NDE. Can't you negotiate the terms for the extra NDE?

Joe Tank

 

[IFRs]

API does have piping codes...were they part of the scope of work?

 

[ndeguy]

Have you asked your contractor WHY they are prepared to hydrotest yet refuse to perform NDE on the coil welds? Is it down to safety/access problems or a money issue? Perhaps they dont want to send their techs into such tanks?

Have you drawn up a detailed plan for what work the NDE of the coils will actually involve and how the work is to be scheduled. If you can find people within your own organisation to prepare everything properly (cleaning of tank and of coil, regulation of safety issues, etc) so that the NDE techs can access immediately the coil for the inspections, then the situation may be recoverable.

Dont you want also to carry out thickness surveys of the coil to check for internal corrosion?





Nigel Armstrong
Karachaganak Petroleum
Kazakhstan

 

[fe2386]

Thank you for your all replies!
It is unlucky that our tanks are designed according to API Standards and Project Standards but all of them do not address NDT Test for the heating coils.
The cause that the contractor refused to perform NDT Test was money.
They claimed that if the NDT Test would have been performed they had paid some more money to their subcontractor due to change in scope of work.
Another cause could be the progress. We have six new tanks and they are not erected in the same progress, some tanks almost finish while the others are still hydrotesting or blasting so I guessed that if they had performed NDT Test it would have affected to their overall guarrantee progress.
Thank you again for concering my issue.