Check of welds while the Plant is running
Check of welds while the Plant is running
(OP)
Good morning all,
In the Plant where I'm working we are facing several leakages from branches welds, like on sockolets or weldolets, on SS lines in corrosive service. Do you know if there are methods to check the integrity of these welds while the Plant is running?
Many thanks in advance!
In the Plant where I'm working we are facing several leakages from branches welds, like on sockolets or weldolets, on SS lines in corrosive service. Do you know if there are methods to check the integrity of these welds while the Plant is running?
Many thanks in advance!





RE: Check of welds while the Plant is running
If the pipe is cold, you could use dye penetrant. Mag particle may work if no heat (no insulation) and no danger to the tester.
RE: Check of welds while the Plant is running
I'm sorry my question was not clear. I'm looking for a method to check the other welds, the other apparently good, that are not leaking, while the plant is running.
Thanks and sorry again
RE: Check of welds while the Plant is running
None of these techniques will prove effective in finding small, shallow, linear discontinuities. Also you don't indicate the cause of leakage - SCC, pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, general corrosion, fatigue cracking, etc.?
RE: Check of welds while the Plant is running
Pentrant will be useless if the materials being tested has discontinuities that are "filled" with liquid such as water, oil, etc. The penetrant has to get into the discontinuity so that it can bleed back out to form a stain. If the discontinuity is "full" of something, the penetrant cannot get in: no stain.
Radiography will be complicated because hydrocarbon and water base fluids absorb ionizing radiation making it difficult to get a good image on the film.
UT on fillets, unlikely to produce acceptable results.
Best regards - Al
RE: Check of welds while the Plant is running
RE: Check of welds while the Plant is running
I would start with similar size branches and go from there.
The fitting spec is non-dimensional (except for envelope). We found that we had a large variation regarding how different mfgs would supply these fittings (leading to inconsistencies regarding the joints the welders would have.
RE: Check of welds while the Plant is running
schedule a shutdown, or plan RT/Dye for the next shutdown.
otherwise you're limited to dye/visual to try to spot the problems.
Any pictures of the leaks available? just interesting to figure out a cause to see what you're facing.
RE: Check of welds while the Plant is running
Visual inspection can tell you about poor finish welds that may cause fatigue cracks as well. Check for that as well.
I hope this helps.