Background:

In Q3 2013 a broken clamp was observed during inspection in the Hydraulic System at Kristin. Material
Laboratory at Statoil Research Center Rotvoll was requested for a damage analysis in order to identify the
causes.
In RS 2013 a broken clamp was observed in the Methanol Injection System at Kristin. This clamp was also
analyzed at Rotvoll.
The clamp is made by: Techlok Blind Hub and recommended in TR2000.

The analyses reports indicate the same failure mechanism:

The clamp has a divergent microstructure due to poor temperature control during manufacturing. The result is
high hardness. High strength materials in marine atmosphere are exposed to hydrogen assisted cracking.
Brittle fracture. Under these conditions, self-corrosion of the steel will provide a sufficient amount of hydrogen
to initiate and operate cracking.

The cracking is associated with corrosion (pit) on the inner surface of the clamp.

Classification: Internal

2013-10-04

Classification: Internal

2013-10-04

Recommendations
Replace all equivalent clamps from this supplier - on the Methanol injection and Hydraulic systems. A new
incident can occur without warning. The recommendation is also based on experiences from a similar case
at sgard A in 2009 (Chemical system). These incidents serves as a probable cause to suspect that the
deviation revealed at Kristin is not an isolated case, but could also occur in other production units)
All clamps in the hydraulic system was replaced in RS 2013. And a selection in the methanol injection
system. This represented 550 hours extra work in turnover.
The remaining clamps will be replaced continuously. Total ~1500 clamps.
More clamps are sent to Rotvoll for further analysis. Both broken and regular clamps from these systems,
and also clamps from other systems with equivalent solutions.
Inform the company about the challenge with Techlok Blind Hub.

Classification: Internal

2013-10-04