FITNESS FOR SERVICE ANALYSIS

Industry

Petro Chemical

Service

Petro Chemical

Expertise

Petro Chemical

Background

• Separator nozzle N1 was suffering from crevice corrosion due to moisture ingress via the weep hole in the reinforcement pad.
• Preliminary code calculations were not fully conclusive as to the fitness for service of this item and therefore a Level 3 assessment using a linear elastic Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model was built.

Outcomes

  • The maximum stress utilisation was evaluated to be 91.8% and is based on the
    current estimated remaining wall thickness (RWT) of 9.6mm with no future corrosion
    allowance (FCA) included.
  •  The nozzle was verified against the loads provided by operator and found to be fit for
    service in the current state.
  • The fracture mechanics assessment revealed on the FAD that the equipment was
    safe.

Challenges

• Bespoke geometry of the cut-out in the nozzle pad had to be modelled.
• Low cycle fatigue evaluation required using fracture mechanics approach