PART 1

INTRODUCTION TO
POST-CONSTRUCTION
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
INTRODUCTION TO POST-
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES
The term post construction refers to the activities which
assure the safety of pressure vessels (and other pressure
equipment) after they have been put into service (some call
maintenance)
Inspection rules are those dictating the minimum frequency
of inspection and the scope, methods and evaluation of results
of inspections
Flaw evaluation involves the assessment of flaws detected
during inspection. What is acceptable and what is not (also
called fitness for service)
Repair is an activity to restore a degraded vessel to its
original design capability
Alteration is an activity which provides for the re-
certification of a vessel for design data different from that of
original design. If re-certification is possible without a change
to the hardware, this is a re-rate
Date: 24
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
INTRODUCTION TO POST-
CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES
These activities are normally performed at pre-scheduled
outages. In such cases, proper planning must be performed
prior to shut down, to minimize down time
Sometimes shut down is unscheduled and due to a problem.
Time is again of the essence
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
INTRODUCTION TO NBIC AND API-510
The ASME Code Section VIII (Divisions 1,2, and 3), as
well as most other pressure vessel codes, contain rules for
new construction only. As soon as a vessel is stamped, the
jurisdiction of Section VIII ceases. For in-service
operations such as inspection, flaw evaluation, repair, and
alteration a number of other codes and standards are
available
In the U.S. and Canada, the most commonly used
documents are the NBIC and API-510The NBIC is
acceptable by almost all jurisdictions and required by many.
This document was originally intended for power plants but
is used extensively by petrochemical industry
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
INTRODUTION TO OTHER DOCUMENTS
There are a number of other API documents covering
inspection and repair/alteration rules for pressure equipment,
such as:
API-570 For inspection and repair/alteration of piping
RP 572 For recommendations on detailed inspection of
pressure vessels
RP 573 For inspection of boilers
RP-574 For inspection of piping
RP 575 For Inspection of tanks
RP-576 For inspection of relief valves
Publ. 581 For risk based inspection
Std. 653 For inspection and repair of tanks
Some of these publications are rather old, but they are useful
references
Date: 24
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
INTRODUCTION TO OTHER DOCUMENTS
API-579, entitled Fitness-for-Service, has rules for evaluation
of various flaws that may be detected during inspection
There are a number of European and J apanese codes and
standards related to inspection, evaluation, and repair of
pressure equipment
ASME Post Construction Committee has published a number
of detailed repair procedures and is in the process of preparing
and publishing several more
ASME Inspection document will be published shortly. Will
have extensive rules for qualitative, quantitative , and semi-
quantitative methods of establishing inspection periods
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
PART RB
Based on corrosion rate, the remaining life is calculated by
the following formula:
Remaining life = [t(actual)-t(required)]/corrosion rate
Where, t(actual) is the thickness measured at the time of
inspection, t(required) is the minimum required design
thickness, and corrosion rate is the expected annual
corrosion rate, based on history
The corrosion rate for in-service vessels is based on previous
service
Corrosion rate = [t(previous)- t(actual)]/[years since last
inspection]
For new vessels, corrosion rate must be based on same or
similar equipment or based on experience and judgment
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
PART RB
The inspection interval ( max. period between inspections)
shall not exceed one half of the remaining life or ten years,
whichever is less
Where the remaining life is less than 4 years, the inspection
interval may be the full remaining life up to a maximum of 2
years.
A number of conditions may affect the remaining life.
Conditions such as the following shall be reviewed and the
remaining life adjusted, if needed:
Any deterioration such as bulging, sagging, stress
corrosion cracking, fatigue cracking, hydrogen blistering,
and erosion
Any material degradation such as hydrogen attack,
carburization, and graphitization
Thermal shock
Excessive temperature
Pressure surges
Vibrations
Date: 24
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
PART RB
The measured thickness t(actual) used for determination of
corrosion rate and remaining life is not at one point, but the
average thickness over a certain length
For vessels subject to pressure only, the averaging shall be
done over an axial distance, since the circumferential stresses
control the design
For vessels subject to overturning (usually due to wind or
earthquake), the averaging shall also be done over
circumferential distances
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
PART RB
The number of points over which the averaging is done is
not specified and is at the discretion of the Inspector
Pitting -In addition to checking average thickness over
areas of general corrosion, pitting must also be evaluated
Scattered pitting may be disregarded provided that the
following three conditions are met:
1) The depth of no one pit is greater than the
required thickness (exclusive of corrosion
allowance
2) The total area of the pits does not exceed 7 sq. in.
within any circle of 8 in. diameter
1) The sum of the diameters of pits along any
straight line within an 8 in. diameter circle does
not exceed 2 in.
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
PART RB
If any of the above is not met, the pitted area must be
repaired. There is no remaining life calculation for pits
Weld joint efficiency For corroded areas away from seams,
the required thickness may be re-calculated using a joint
efficiency of 1.0. This will help the evaluation, if the design
was based on a joint efficiency less than 1.0
For the above, weld surface includes the lesser of 1 in. or 2
times thickness on either side of weld
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
PART RB
Ellipsoidal and torispherical heads Section VIII
requires that formed heads be of uniform thickness based
on the stresses in the knuckle.
This Code allows differentiating between the knuckle and
the dome. The required thickness of the dome may be
less. If the corroded area in entirely within the dome area,
this can be very helpful
The dome is to be considered as that portion of the head
falling within a circle with diameter equal to 80% of
vessel diameter
For ellipsoidal heads, the equivalent spherical radius of
the dome shall be K
1
D, in Section VIII
Adjustments to corrosion rate If the corrosion rate of
a vessel changes, the new rate must be used to establish
the next inspection date
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
GENERAL
API Recommended Practice 579 (API-579), entitled
Fitness for Service was published in J anuary of 2000. It is
based on a great deal of work that was performed by the
Material Properties Council (MPC) over many years.
It provides methods for evaluation of several kinds of flaws.
Prior to publication of this document, every organization
would perform flaw evaluation with their own rules.
This course provides an introduction to API-579 and
presents some of its simple evaluation methods. Some of
the more analytical methods, which require specialized
knowledge of the subject matter, are not within the scope of
this course.
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
GENERAL
The rules cover vessels, boilers, piping, tanks and other
pressure equipment
API-579 becomes a legal document when referenced by an in-
service inspection code such as API-510, API-570, or NBIC.
This document may be applied to equipment constructed to
Section VIII vessels, Section I boilers, B-31 piping, API-620
and 650 tanks, and other recognized codes
The document has sections on different forms of flaw.
Different levels of evaluation are allowed. Inspectors may do
level 1 evaluations. Levels 2 and 3 must be performed by an
engineer.
There are certain qualifications specified for the Inspector and
the Engineer
Date: 24
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
GENERAL
The document consists of the following:
Section 1 Introduction
Section 2 Fitness-For-Service Engineering assessment
procedure
Section 3 Assessment of Equipment for Brittle Fracture
Section 4 Assessment of General Metal Loss
Section 5 Assessment of Local Metal Loss
Section 6 Assessment of Pitting Corrosion
Section 7 - Assessment of Blisters and laminations
Section 8 Assessment of Weld misalignment and shell
Distortions
Section 9 Assessment of Crack Like Flaws
Section 10 Assessment for Components Operating in
creep range
Section 11 Assessment of Fire Damage
Appendices
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
FITNESS FOR SERVICE
Level 1 assessment:
Intended to provide conservative screening criteria
Requires minimum amount of inspection and
information
May be performed by an Inspector or Engineer
Level 2 assessment:
Intended to provide more detailed evaluation
Produces more precise results
Would be done by an experienced Engineer
If result not acceptable, can resort to level 3
Level 3 assessment:
Intended to provide the most detailed evaluation
Produces most precise results
Detailed inspection and information required
Usually based on numerical techniques such as finite
element analysis
To be performed by experienced engineering
specialist
Date: 24
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~ 27
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
Date: 24
th
~ 27
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
Date: 24
th
~ 27
th
October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
Date: 24
th
~ 27
th
October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
INTRODUCTION
ASME Post Construction Committee (PCC) was formed in
early 1995, to develop and maintain standards for
maintenance of in-service vessels, including inspection
rules, flaw evaluation rules, and repair/alteration procedures
(flaw evaluation activities have been combined with those of
API-579)
The documents will cover all pressure equipment, including
pressure vessels, piping, boilers, and tanks
The published documents are not codes and have no legal
standing. They become mandatory, when called in by
inspection codes, such as NBIC and API-510
The inspection planning document, with extensive rules, will
be published shortly
Date: 24
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
INTRODUCTION
A great deal of effort being spent to develop repair methods
The first document published by the PCC was the
GUIDELINES FOR PRESSURE BOUNDARY
BOLTED FLANGE JOINT ASSEMBLY, published in
2000
The above document applies to pressure boundary flanged
joints with ring-type gaskets that are entirely within the bolt
circle
These guidelines may be used to develop effective joint
assembly procedures
Date: 24
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October 2006 Organized By: EDS Solutions Co., Ltd. ~ED Knowledge Team~
WRC BULLETINS
Welding Research Council (WRC) is the parent
organization of the Pressure Vessel Research Council
(PVRC)
PVRC performs research and development work, for
Code writing organizations. The results of PVRC work is
published in WRC Bulletins
Bulletins 488, 489, and 490, published in early 2004,
present the results of a long and extensive research
project. They present damage mechanism in equipment in
pulp and paper, refining, and power industries
The work was sponsored by API, National Board and a
number of other organizations