What type of corrosion am I dealing with? 1

[MaterialsDude]

Here's some photos taken of a sample cut from a pipe which supplies cold process water to an ore preparation plant. The failure was detected when they observed a leak in the pipeline. Upon observing the photos you can see that there is obvious corrosion which probably led to the hole.

I am thinking that this is microbially influenced corrosion based on photos I've seen thus far but am not 100% sure. I don't know yet the conditions of the pipe (flow rate, temperature, pH) while it was in operation, so I can't provide you with that.

What type of corossion does this look like to you and what type of tests can I include in the scop of work to be done?

I appreciate your replies. I am still an inexperienced engineer and so I don't have too much experience analyzing failures.

 

[demsha]

Does any one knows where I can find literature, DVDs related to corrosion of process equipment in oil & gas industries. I apprecaite your responses.

 

[unclesyd]

demsha
You should red flag this post and start a new thread to ask a different question.
You will get a much better response than tacking it on an existing thread.

 

[Yobbo]

Hi,

I also got the MIC diagnosis on a CuNi 90-10 piped heat exchanger, that cools hot air down with raw water from a nearby canal. The expert tells me there's little one can do. Killing the bacteria off with chlorine dosage is not allowed any more due to environmental regulations. The second best would be to periodically clean the inside of the pipes. From the material analysis it resulted that the chosen material CuNi seems to be less resistant against the organisms. He recommended us to step back to the former material Al-Brass. That seems to be able to form a better passivation layer that might ward off the attack. The problem could be avoided with titanium pipes.

The reason for my reaction is:

1. to share this experience with others
2. to find out if there are proven preventive measures other than using chemicals. I am also interested in proven cleaning methods. We apply hard plastic rotating brushes, but it is very hard to determine whether the biological slime is properly being removed by that.


Any other suggestions or tips ( pipe material ) are welcome!

Awaiting your reply,

Karel

 

[brimmer]

Yobbo,

Start a new thread!

 

[Yobbo]

Hi Brimmer,

The new thread has been created