Mechanical Damage
Sr. No
Phenomena
1 Temperature Embrittlement Reduction in ductility
2 Thermal Fatigue
3 Erosion/Erosion – Corrosion Metal loss
4 Atmospheric Corrosion
Corrosion under
5 insulation(CUI)
6 Cooling Water Corrosion
7 Boiler Water Condensate
Corrosion
Damage Type
cracks originating from
external surface. Wide and
oxid fills.
Metal loss
Pitting/cracks
General corrosion, pitting,
fouling and stress corrosion
cracking
General corrosion, pitting
Materials Prevention/Mitigation
1- Slow start up and shut down. 2- control
Low alloy steels, high strength low
of 'j' factor for base and 'x' factor for weld
alloy(Cr.Mo. V rotors) steels
metal.
Design and operation control. Prviding
All material of construction sufficient flexibility to accommodate
differential expansion.
Improvement in design, increasing
All metals, alloys and refractories hardness, Improving material.
Carbon steel, low alloy steels and
Surface preparation and proper coating.
copper alloyed aluminum
Carbon steel, low alloy steels, Coating/insulation in good condition.
stainless steel,duplex stainless Suitable material for coating and
steel. insulation,
Proper design, operation and chemical
Carbon steel, all grades of stainless treatment of water, inlet side
steel, copper, aluminum, titanium temperature control, Max. and Min.
and nickel base alloys. velocity maintained, Metallurgy
upgradation, Cleaning of tubes.
Primarily carbon steel, some low Oxygen scavenging treatments.Corrosion
alloy steel, some 300 Series SS and protection in the boiler is accomplished
copper based alloys. and continuously maintaining a layer of
protective Fe3O4 (magnetite).

8 Caustic Corrosion
9 Sulfidation
10 Chloride Stress Corrosion
Cracking (Cl SCC)
-
11 Corrosion Fatigue
Caustic Stress Corrosion
12 Cracking (Caustic
Embrittlement)
13 Hydrochloric Acid (HCl)
Corrosion
Localized corrosion
uniform thinning but can also
occur as localized corrosion or
high velocity erosion-corrosion 300 Series SS and 400 Series SS,
damage
Surface initiated cracks
Cracks at corrsion pit
surface-initiated cracks
general uniform thinning,
localized corrosion or
underdeposit attack and Pitting construction used in refineries.
Primarily carbon steel, low alloy
steels and 300 Series SS.
All iron based materials including
carbon steel and low alloy steels,
Nickel base alloys, Copper base
alloys
SS-300 series
All alloys and metals
Carbon steel, low alloy steels and Proper design, Stress relieving, use of
300 Series SS
All common materials of
proper design, Damage can
be minimized by reducing the amount of
free caustic, by ensuring adequate water
flooding.
Resistance to sulfidation is generally
achieved by upgrading to a higher
chromium alloy, Aluminum diffusion
treatment of low alloy steel components
is sometimes used to reduce sulfidation
rates and minimize scale formation,
use of resistant materials, hyrotesting
with low chloride water, Avoid designs
that allow stagnant regions
Proper design, coating, slow star-up and
shut down of boilers
more resistant alloy e.g. nickel.
Proper design and operating guidelines,
reduce chloride in the feed Upgrading
carbon steel to nickel base alloys or
titanium, Minimize carryover of water and
chloride salts from upstream units
 use of 300 steel below 140F. Use of
14 Sour Water Corrosion General or localized thinning Primarily affects carbon steel.
copper and nickel alloys.

PWHT all carbon steel welds in piping and

15 Amine Stress Corrosion
Cracking
cracks that initiate on the ID of
equipment. Use solid or clad stainless
piping and equipment primarily Carbon steel and low alloy steels
steel, Alloy 400 or other corrosion
in the weld HAZ.
resistant alloys in lieu of carbon steel.

use of cladding and coatings. preheat,

16 Wet H2S Damage Blisters, cracks Carbon steel and low alloy steels. PWHT, weld procedures and control of
(Blistering/HIC/SOHIC/SCC) carbon equivalents.

17 High Temperature Hydrogen
Attack (HTHA
Bubbles, cavities, Cracks
carbon steel, C-0.5Mo, Mn-0.5Mo,
1Cr-0.5Mo, 1.25Cr-0.5Mo, 2.25Cr-
1Mo, 2.25Cr-1Mo-V, 3Cr-1Mo,
5Cr-0.5Mo and similar steels with
variations in chemistry.
Use alloy steels with chromium and
molybdenum to increase carbide stability
thereby minimizing methane formation,
Normal design practice is to use a 25oF to
50oF (14oC to 28oC) safety factor
 Inspection Remarks

installation of blocks of original heat

of alloy and impact testing.

VI,MT,PT

VI, UT, RT, IR scans for refractory loss,

insllation of corrosion coupons.

VT,UT.

VT,UT, profile RT, Neutron back

scattering, Deep penetrating ET, IR
thermography, Guided wave UT.

ET or IRIS of tubes, checking of

velocity of flow, Periodic calculation of
U-factor.

Water analysis. utilizing properly

applied wet
fluorescence magnetic particle
inspection.
Documen
UT thickness gauging, UT scans and
radiography,Steam generation
equipment may require visual
inspection with the use a boroscope

Process condition and temperature

monitoring,Proactive and retroactive
PMI programs are used for alloy
verification and to check for alloy mix-
ups

VI, PT, EC phased array,

UT,MT,WFMT

WFMT, EC, RT or ACFM

Evidence of locally thinned areas can

be found using automatic ultrasonic
scanning methods or profile
radiography, pH check, water
anallysis, installation of corrosion
probes/coupon
scanning ultrasonic thickness. Process
and corrosion monitoring. periodically
to measure pH. Properly placed
corrosion probes and corrosion
coupons

VI, WFMT or ACFM

Process conditions should be

evaluated, WFMT, EC, RT or ACFM
SWUT, AET

Visual inspection, WFMT and

RT,Ultrasonic techniques, In-situ
metallography,