Classification: Internal Use

SI DAMAGE Affected Materials Affected Units/Equipments Related Mechanisms

NO MECHANISM
CUI  Carbon steel o CUI can be found on equipment with damaged Atmospheric corrosion,
 low alloy steels insulation, vapor barriers, weatherproofing or oxidation and chloride
 300 Series SS mastic, or protrusions through the insulation or at SCC
 Duplex stainless insulation termination points such as flanges.
steels o Equipment designed with insulation support rings
welded directly to the vessel wall (no standoff);
particularly around ladder and platform clips, and
lifting lugs, nozzles and stiffener rings.
o Piping or equipment with damaged/leaking steam
tracing.
o Localized damage at paint and/or coating systems.
 Locations where moisture/water will naturally collect
(gravity drainage) before evaporating (insulation support
rings on vertical equipment) and improperly terminated
fireproofing
o Vibrating piping systems that have a tendency to
inflict damage to insulation jacketing providing
a path for water ingress.
o Deadlegs (vents, drains, and other similar items).
o Pipe hangers and other supports.
o Valves and fittings (irregular insulation surfaces).
o Bolted-on pipe shoes.
o Steam tracer tubing penetrations.
o Termination of insulation at flanges and other
piping components.
o Insulation jacketing seams located on the top of
horizontal piping or improperly lapped or sealed
insulation jacketing.
o Termination of insulation in a vertical pipe.
o Caulking that has hardened, has separated, or is missing.
o Bulges or staining of the insulation or jacketing
system or missing bands. (Bulges may indicate
corrosion product buildup.)
o Low points in piping systems that have a known
breach in the insulation system, including low
points in long unsupported piping runs.
o Carbon or low-alloy steel flanges, bolting, and
other components under insulation in high-alloy
piping systems.
o Locations where insulation plugs have been
removed to permit piping thickness
measurements on insulated piping and equipment
should receive particular attention.
o These plugs should be promptly replaced and
sealed.
o Several types of removable plugs are
commercially available that permit inspection and
identification of inspection points for future
reference.
 The first few feet of a horizontal pipe run adjacent to the
bottom of a vertical run.

Atmospheric  Carbon steel, a) Piping and equipment with operating temperatures Corrosion under
Corrosion sufficiently low to allow moisture to be present. insulation
 low alloy steels
b) A paint or coating system in poor condition.
 copper alloyed
aluminum. c) Equipment may be susceptible if cycled between

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Classification: Internal Use

ambient and higher or lower operating temperatures.

d) Equipment shut down or idled for prolonged periods
unless properly mothballed.
e) Tanks and piping are particularly susceptible. Piping
that rests on pipe supports is very prone to attack due to
water entrapment between the pipe and the support.
f) Orientation to the prevailing wind and rain can also be
a factor.
g) Piers and docks are very prone to attack.
h) Bimetallic connections such as copper to aluminum
electrical connections

1) Erosion  All metals,  All types of equipment exposed to moving fluids  Specialized
And  alloys and/or catalyst are subject to erosion and erosion- terminology
Erosion-  refractories corrosion. This includes piping systems, has been
Corrosion particularly the bends, elbows, tees and reducers; developed for
piping systems downstream of letdown valves various forms
and block valves; pumps; blowers; propellers; of erosion
impellers; agitators; agitated vessels; heat and erosion-
exchanger tubing; measuring device orifices; corrosion in
turbine blades; nozzles; ducts and vapor lines; specific
scrapers; cutters; and wear plates. environments
 Erosion can be caused by gas borne catalyst and/or
particles or by particles carried by a liquid such as services. This
a slurry. In refineries, this form of damage occurs terminology
as a result of catalyst movement in FCC includes
reactor/regenerator systems in catalyst handling cavitation,
equipment (valves, cyclones, piping, reactors) and liquid
slurry piping (Figure 4-43); coke handling impingement
equipment in both delayed and fluidized bed erosion,
cokers (Figure 4-44); and as wear on pumps fretting and
(Figure 4-45), compressors and other rotating other similar
equipment. terms
 Hydroprocessing reactor effluent piping may be
subject to erosion-corrosion by ammonium
bisulfide. The metal loss is dependent on several
factors including the ammonium bisulfide
concentration, velocity and alloy corrosion
resistance.
 Crude and vacuum unit piping and vessels
exposed to naphthenic acids in some crude oils
may suffer severe erosion-corrosion metal loss
depending on the temperature, velocity, sulfur
content and TAN level.

 Chloride  All 300 Series SS  All 300 Series SS piping and pressure vessel
Stress are highly components in any process units are susceptible
Corrosion susceptible., to Cl- SCC.
Cracking  Duplex stainless  Cracking has occurred in water-cooled condensers and
(Cl-SCC) steels are more in the process side of crude tower overhead condensers
resistant.  Drains in hydroprocessing units are susceptible to
 Nickel base alloys cracking during startup/shutdown if not properly
are highly resistant, purged.
but not immune  Bellows and instrument tubing, particularly those
associated with hydrogen recycle streams
contaminated with chlorides, can be affected.
 External Cl–SCC has also been a problem on insulated

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surfaces when insulation gets wet.

 Cracking has occurred in boiler drain lines

 Caustic  Carbon a) Caustic embrittlement is often found in piping Amine cracking

Stress steel, and equipment that handles caustic, including (see 5.1.2.2) and
Corrosion low H2S and mercaptan removal units, as well as carbonate
Cracking alloy equipment that uses caustic for neutralization in cracking (see
(Caustic steels sulfuric acid alkylation units and HF alkylation 5.1.2.5) are two
Embrittle and 300 units. Caustic is sometimes injected into the other similar
ment) Series feed to the crude tower for chloride control. forms of alkaline
SS are b) Failures have occurred in improperly heat-traced SCC.
suscepti piping or equipment as well as heating coils and
ble. other heat transfer equipment.
Nickel c) Caustic embrittlement may occur in equipment
base as a result of steam cleaning after being in
alloys caustic service.
are more d) Traces of caustic can become concentrated in
resistant. BFW and can result in caustic embrittlement of
boiler tubes that alternate between wet and dry
conditions due to overfiring.

 Amine
Carbon  All non-PWHT carbon steel piping and equipment in Amine cracking is
Stress
steel lean amine service including contactors, absorbers, more properly
Corrosion
and strippers, regenerators and heat exchangers as well as termed amine
Cracking
low any equipment subject to amine carryover. stress corrosion
alloy cracking and is a
steels. form of Alkaline
Stress Corrosion
Cracking (ASCC).
Caustic stress
corrosion cracking
(see 4.5.3) and
carbonate stress
corrosion cracking
(see 5.1.2.5) are
two other forms of
ASCC that are
similar in
appearance.

2) Fatigue  All  Thermal Cycling Vibration induced

Cracking engineering o Equipment that cycles daily in operation such as coke fatigue
alloys are drums.
subject to o Equipment that may be auxiliary or on continuous
fatigue standby but sees intermittent service such as
cracking auxiliary boiler.
although the o Quench nozzle connections that see significant
stress levels temperature deltas during operations such as
and number water washing systems.
of cycles  Mechanical Loading
necessary to o Pressure Swing Absorbers on hydrogen purification
cause failure units.
vary by o Rotating shafts on centrifugal pumps and
material compressors that have stress concentrations due
to changes in radii and key ways.
o Components such as small diameter piping that
may see vibration from adjacent equipment
and/or wind. For small components, resonance
can also produce a cyclical load and should be
taken into consideration during design and

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Classification: Internal Use

reviewed for potential problems after installation.

o High pressure drop control valves or steam
reducing stations can cause serious vibration
problems in connected piping.

 Sulfidatio
n a) All iron a) Sulfidation occurs in piping and equipment in Sulfidation is also
based high temperature environments where sulfur- known as sulfidic
materials containing streams are processed. corrosion. High
including temperature
carbon steel b) Common areas of concern are the crude, FCC, sulfidation in the
and low coker, vacuum, visbreaker and hydroprocessing presence of
alloy steels, units. hydrogen is
300 Series covered in 5.1.1.5.
c) Heaters fired with oil, gas, coke and most other
SS and 400 sources of fuel may be affected depending on
Series SS. sulfur levels in the fuel.
b) Nickel base d) Boilers and high temperature equipment exposed
alloys are to sulfur-containing gases can be affected.
also affected
to varying
degrees
depending
on
composition,
especially
chromium
content.
c) Copper base alloys
form sulfide at
lower temperatures
than carbon steel.

 Boiler  Primarily carbon Corrosion can occur in the external treatment system,  CO2 corrosion,
Water steel, some low deaerating equipment, feedwater lines, pumps, stage corrosion fatigue
Condens alloy steel, some heaters and economizers as well as the steam and erosion/erosion-
ate 300 Series SS and generation system on both the water and fire sides and corrosion
Corrosion copper based alloys. the condensate return system.

Most
 Microbiol a) MIC is most often found in heat exchangers, Cooling water corrosion
common
ogically bottom water of storage tanks, piping with (see 4.3.4)
materials of
Induced stagnant or low flow, and piping in contact with
construction
Corrosion some soils.
including
(MIC)
carbon and b) MIC is also found in equipment where the
low alloy hydrotest water has not been removed or
steels, 300 equipment has been left outside and
Series SS unprotected.
and 400
Series SS, c) Product storage tanks and water cooled heat
aluminum, exchangers in any unit where cooling water is
copper and not properly treated can be affected.
some nickel
base alloys. d) Fire water systems can be affected.

 Caustic  Primarily carbon a) Caustic corrosion is most often associated with  Caustic
Corrosion steel, low alloy boilers and steam generating equipment corrosion is
steels and 300 including heat exchangers. also referred
Series SS. to as caustic
b) Similar concentrating effects of caustic may gouging or

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Classification: Internal Use

occur where caustic is added to crude unit ductile

charge. gouging. A
related
c) Accelerated localized corrosion can occur in mechanism
preheat exchangers, furnace tubes and transfer is known as
lines, unless the caustic is effectively mixed in Departure
the oil stream. from
Units that use caustic for removing sulfur compounds Nucleate
from product streams Boiling
(DNB) as
discussed in
steam
blanketing
(See 4.2.11).

 Hydrochl All  HCl corrosion is found in several units, especially Ammonium

oric Acid commo crude and vacuum units, hydroprocessing units and chloride corrosion
(HCl) n catalytic reformer units. (see 5.1.1.3),
Corrosion materia chloride SCC
ls of a) Crude Unit (4.5.1) and
constru organic acid
1) In the atmospheric tower overhead system,
ction corrosion of
corrosion from HCl acid occurs as the first
used in distillation tower
droplets of water condense from the vapor
refineri overhead systems
stream off the top of the tower. This water can
es. (5.1.1.12).
have a very low pH and can result in high rates
of corrosion in piping, as well as exchanger
shells, tubes and header boxes, and cold dead
legs.
2) HCl corrosion can also be a problem in the
vacuum ejector and condensing equipment off
the top of the vacuum tower.
b) Hydroprocessing Units
1) Chlorides may enter the unit as organic chloride
in the hydrocarbon feed or with the recycle
hydrogen and react to form HCl.
2) Ammonium chloride salts can form in various
parts of the unit including the effluent side of the
hot feed/effluent exchangers because both NH 3
and HCl are present or they may condense with
water in the effluent train.
3) HCl containing streams can migrate through the
fractionation section resulting in severe acid
dewpoint corrosion at the mixing point where it
contacts water.
c) Catalytic Reforming Units
1) Chlorides may be stripped from the catalyst and
react to form HCl that carries through the
effluent train, regeneration system, stabilizer
tower, debutanizer tower and feed/preheat
exchangers.
2) HCl containing vapors can migrate through the
gas plant fractionation section resulting in mix
point or acid dew point corrosion.
Appearance or

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Classification: Internal Use

 Sour
a) Primarily affects Acid sour water corrosion is a concern in overhead Other factors to
Water
carbon steel. systems of FCC and coker gas fractionation plants consider in these
Corrosion
with high H2S levels and low NH3 levels. environments
(Acidic) b) Stainless steels, include wet H2S
copper alloys and damage (see
nickel base alloys 5.1.2.3) and
are usually carbonate SCC.
resistant. (see 5.1.2.5).

Soil Corrosion Carbon steel,  Underground piping and equipment as  Galvanic corrosion
cast iron and well as buried tanks and the bottoms of
ductile iron above ground storage tanks (Figure 4-97).
 Ground supported metal structures (Figure 4-98).

 Galvanic All metals soil corrosion

Corrosion with the a) Galvanic corrosion can occur in any unit where
exception of there is a conductive fluid and alloys are
most noble coupled. Heat exchangers are susceptible if the
metals. tube material is different from the tubesheet
and/or baffles, particularly if salt water cooling
is utilized.
b) Buried pipelines, electrical transmission support
towers and ship hulls are typical locations for
galvanic corrosion.