Doel 3 & Tihange 2 - Some Peer-reviewed Scientific Papers & Reports

339

H. Pircher / Hydrogen corrosion of pressure-vessel steels

200 ~m

Fig. 15. HSCC in pressurized water boiler; (a) macrograph of the surface, (b) transverse microsection.

[5] H. Pircher and G. Sussek, Testing the resistance of welds in low-alloy steels to hydrogen-induced stress corrosion cracking, Corros. Sci. 27 (1987) 1183-96. [6] G. Wilken, Some results in combatting H2S corrosion in sour gas operations, NACE-Conf. Corrosion "83, Anaheim, CA, 1983, paper 158. [7] E. F~rster, W. Klapdar, H. Richter, H.-W. Rommerswin- kel, E. Spetzler and I. Wendorff, Deoxidation and de- sulphurization by blowing of calcium compounds into molten steel and its effects on the mechanical properties of heavy plates, Stahl u. Eisen 94 (1974) 474-485. [8] H. Pitcher and W. Klapdar, Controlling inclusions in steel by injecting calcium into the ladle, Proc. Micro Alloying '75, Union Carbide Corp., NJ, 1977, pp. 232-240. [9] Test method evaluation of pipeline steels for resistance to stepwise cracking, (NACE Standard TM-02-84, 1984). [10] Testing of metals for resistance to sulfide stress cracking at ambient temperatures, (NACE Standard TM-10-77, 1977). [11] H. Pitcher and R. Grossterlinden, Hydrogen-induced cor- rosion of low-alloy steels in hydrous media, Werkstof fe u. Korrosion 38 (1987) 57-64. [12] H.G. Nelson, ed., Effect of hydrogen on behavior of material, A.W. Thomson, I.M. Bernstein, Proc. Int. Conf. Jackson Lake Lodge Moran, Wy, September 1975, Metal- lurgical Soc. of AIME NJ, 1976, pp. 602-611. [13] H. Hauser, K. Nagel and H. Sp~ihn, Schadensfall an einem 800 m2-Gaskfihler fiir 450 bar Betriebsdruck, VGB Kraftwerkstechnik 54 (1974) 123-134. [14] A. B~iumel, P. Drodten, H. Pitcher and G. Wagner, Study of stress corrosions cracking on welded high-strength fine-grained structural steels in boiler feed water, Stahl u. Eisen 103 (1983) 1091-1096. [15] J. Hickling, H-induced SCC in low alloyed steels, 4th MPA-Seminar , Stuttgart, 1978. [16] E. Lenz and N. Wieling, Nucl. Eng. & Des. 91 (1986) 331-334. [17] H. Pitcher, P. Drodten, H.-J. Kaiser and B. Mi~sgen, Behavior of High-Strength Structural Steels exposed to Seawater, Thyssen Technische Berichte 22 (1) (1990).

st ructural steel. The welded vessel was not stress-re- lieved. It cont a ined sof t ened water at approxima t e ly 2 5 0 °C and 22 bar. Af t er about two years of service, a leak was de t ec t ed in a ci rcumferent ial weld. When checking the inside of the vessel, numerous cracks up to 40 mm in length were found, mainly at the ci rcumferen- tial welds. These cracks were mainly or iented in a di rect ion perpendi cul ar to the weld, passing the heat -af- fected zone and ending in the base metal . The cracked surfaces were covered, right down to the crack bot tom, wi th cor ros ion product s . The cracks star ted at cor ros ion pi ts caused by the relatively aggressive water. The maxi- mum hardness of the area sur rounding the cracks was 300 HV 10. The replacement vessel was made f rom CMn fine- grained steel and stress-rel ieved at 560 o C. In addi t ion, subsequent to the damage, fully desal inated water was used instead of sof tened water for hot -water prepara- tion. [1] W. Haumann, W. Heller, H.-A. Jungblut, H. Pircher, R. PiSpperling and W. Schwenk, Effect of hydrogen on the service properties of plain-carbon and low-alloy steels, Stahl u. Eisen 107 (1987) 585-594. [2] C. Bosch, (Jber die Entwicklung der chemischen Hochdrucktechnik bei dem Aufbau der neuen Ammoni- akindustrie, Z. VDI 77 (1933) 305-317. [3] Steels for hydrogen service at elevated temperatures and pressures in petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants, (American Petroleum Institute), AP I Publ. 3rd ed., 1983. [4] H. Sp~ihrt, Druckwasserstoffangriff oberhalb 200°C, in: Wasserstof fand Korrosion, ed. D. Kuron, Bonner Studi- enreihe; Bd. 3, Bonn, 1986, pp. 155-203. Re f erence s