Stress Corrosion Cracking in NH3 Vessels

[US Iceman]

I wanted to post some information on a subject that has been under investigation for ammonia systems. Thought some of you may be interested.

http://www.npl.co.uk/lmm/docs/stress.pdf

http://www.npl.co.uk/lmm/docs/stress...ing_basics.pdf

http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Forms/scc.htm

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/ammo...nia/index.html
Then click on the link "Keeping Ammonia Pure"

http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=102

Have any of you ammonia guys ran into this problem?

[NH3LVR]

Just ran across this forum and saw your post.
The company I work for is going to be cutting the head off a HP Receiver this week. Three years old and one of the heads is leaking. Hydrogen Embrittlement the most likely cause according to the Mfg.
This is the first time I have ever seen this.
Up until now It had only existed for me as a theoretical possibility.
Unfortunately we will replace the head and that will most likely be the end of it. I do not think that any further investigation will go on.

[US Iceman]

Hi NH3LVR, ( i like that name )

I'm not a metallurgist or pressure vessel design engineer, but if one head is leaking, what happens when the other head starts to leak?

Has anyone checked this closely?

From the limited exposure I have had to this, any weld zone could be a potential problem area. Was the vessel stress-relieved in an oven before it was sent to the job site?

Does the receiver have a good refrigerated purger installed? I think oxygen in the non-condensable gas can also accelerate this cracking.

I guess I would hate to see someone go to the trouble of cutting off a vessel head, re-fitting a new head, re-certifying the vessel, and then find it starts to leak shortly after the repairs are finished.

That is one I would hate to explain to an owner.

[Ponca Dave]

Just ran across this forum and saw your post.
The company I work for is going to be cutting the head off a HP Receiver this week. Three years old and one of the heads is leaking. Hydrogen Embrittlement the most likely cause according to the Mfg.
This is the first time I have ever seen this.
Up until now It had only existed for me as a theoretical possibility.
Unfortunately we will replace the head and that will most likely be the end of it. I do not think that any further investigation will go on.

The Natl Board has studied this extensively and has concluded that Ammonia should contain at least 0.2 percent water to inhibit SCC.

[NH3LVR]

It has been a year and a half since I posted those pictures of the vessel. My first post on RE was on this thread, if I recall correctly.
I just wanted to update a bit.
We installed a temporary receiver in the system. When we applied for a permit it was found that the condenser installation did not meet structural codes. This started a very expensive chain of events.
We installed a new receiver and condenser. Another contractor built a new condenser stand and set it in place.
However there has been no time for the plant to shut down, and the final cutovers have not been made. When they are made I hope to get pictures of the inside of the vessel.

[US Iceman]

It would also be interesting to find out if the new receiver was specified with heat treatment for stress relieving. One of the US vessel manufacturers has been requesting customer to specify this to reduce the residual stresses created by manufacturing. This is in addition to the 0.2% water content.

[NH3LVR]

Yes, the new receiver was stress relieved. After that experience no one wants to go through that again.
As to the water content, it would be nice to have a simple, but accurate way to measure.
In this case I am sure the plant did have water in the system. Apparently it was not effective in preventing the problem.

[NH3LVR]

I am not a metallurgist either. According to my info the chances of the other head staring to leak are slim. This is the first time I have ever seen this.
The State Inspector is closely involved. We will be going inside the vessel and looking at it when we cut the head off.
I do not know exactly what can be determined from a visual inspection however.
This vessel was not stress relieved. The Mfg now does this routinely.
The system does not have a purger installed. Up until recently they hand purged every day. I believe a Auto Purger will soon be installed.
The original thought was to replace the vessel, however the downtime was not acceptable.
Instead a temporary receiver was installed this weekend.
The owner has shown great patience with the repairs.
I have had little involvement with this job. I took the pictures when the problem first arose. I will get a chance to see the head when it is removed, unless I am working out of town next week.
I will take photos, although I do not think that will be of any practical use.

[US Iceman]

Have you tried the dye penetrant yet to see if any other cracks are present? Most of the pictures I have seen all show the cracks near the top of the vessel (in the vapor space) and near welds.

If you get the chance to view the inside, is someone going to check it visually, or use a non-destructive method? Odds are you will find a lot of internal cracks, that have not surfaced yet. Literally.

I personally don't think manual purging does that much. It might get some of the non-condensables out, but I think more ammonia is vented than non-condensables. The Auto-Purgers do a very nice job!

If you get some pictures, can you post them here for others to see? That would be helpful.

[US Iceman]

I forgot to add a comment: Stress relieving on pressure vessels is NOT normally performed unless requested.

I know of one manufacturer who provides this as an optional cost for every vessel quoted. You might mention this to your office designers, etc. to make sure they know this.

Another option is: corrosion allowance on vessels. This might make sense for vessels exposed to wet conditions, or vessels that routinely have their vapor barriers punctured.

Surge drums and intercoolers come to mind.

[NH3LVR]

We have not tried dye penetrant yet. I understand these cracks start on the inside so I would not think they could be found at this point from the outside.
Someone will go inside the vessel, but the Inspector will ultimately be the one to specifiy the test method.
As to purging I was recently in a plant that had a manual purger installed 30 years ago. ( I worked on the job)
The operator had been using it with a valve shut off for years and had no idea he was accomplishing nothing.
Manual purging is effective if done right. Of course it only removes enough non-condensables to keep the head pressure down. An Auto-Purger is far and away the best bet. I recently forgot to close a valve and blew some N2 into a system through the Discharge check valve. Turned on the Auto purger and forgot about it. Love them, although I do not totaly trust them. They sometimes decide to purge a little too much and fill the water container with NH3.
I instruct customers to run the purger during the day, unless they have a severe problem.
The local Mfgs just started doing the stress relief in the last few years. Not soon enough in this case!
I am attaching a couple of pictures I took of the vessel when the leak started. You will notice two holes very close to each other.

[Johnny Rod]

Is it possible to use ultrasonic imaging for vessels like this, before you open them up? I would have thought the differences in structure and density caused by cracking would show up. Or perhaps another non-destructive imaging technique? Not my area really as you can tell.

[US Iceman]

They sometimes decide to purge a little too much and fill the water container with NH3.

I suspect this problem is not due to the purger. It is probably due to liquid backing up in the condenser coil (above the purge point). When the purge solenoid opens, liquid is vented into the purger instead of gas.

This sounds a lot more like the condenser coil is stacking up liquid due to poor drainage or lack of sufficient equalization through the equalizing line.

[US Iceman]

Is it possible to use ultrasonic imaging for vessels like this...

I'm not sure either. I would really like to get someone who does NDT (non-destructive testing) to contribute to this area in the forums.

This is certainly not my area of expertise.

[SteveDixey]

One area I think known to be a problem with this is areas subject to freeze\thaw action like the entries and exits from \ to tops of low temp vessels that operate both below and above freezing point.

Never heard of an HP receiver having those kind of problems as SCC is linked in most circles to ammonia liquid at low temperatures.

Hydrogen embritlement might be more an issue with inappropriate manufacturing. If there has been some way hydrogen sulfide was formed inside vessel, that might be an issue (NH3 contaminated with other gases?), or corrosive gases have sat in a "dead end".

As far as I am aware, any embrittlement can be contained providing the joints are not subject to appreciable stress, by correctly aligning pipes and ensuring nothing sags.

Had some issues with ultrasonics on "used" plant where corrosion was external but from what I have picked up over the years this cracking is difficult to detect and predict as it tends to be diffuse.

Steve

[hendry]

Hola pals, i have read the newsletter by RVS.
as far as i remembered, we have been educated in our Material Science subject that PWHT is a necessity.

why those smart fellows do not comply?
all about $ ....!

now, their incompliances has incurred to us, the user, extra expense/s.

what an unjust event!!!