DETECTION OF CORROSION UNDER INSULATION AND

BLOCKAGES ON A PIPING SYSTEM USING PROFILFER SYSTEM

By: Santhosh Lukose – Metalcare Inspection Services Inc.
email:slukose@metalcare.com
Muthu Palanisamy – Metalcare Inspection Services Inc. email:
muthu@metalcare.com

CUI (Corrosion Under Insulation) has always been a challenge for plant
operators, quality assurance/reliability engineers and equipment
owners. It is hard to identify the problem until it has become an
emergency situation, often leading to unit shut downs or even the
whole facility shut down for emergency repairs.

As per industry statistics, next to leakages in flanged joints, the highest

incidents of piping failure in process industry is caused due to
corrosion in pipe, especially under insulation.

HOW CUI IS CAUSED:

An insulated piece of equipment can have trapped moisture by two
means: moisture can become trapped due to cyclic equipment and
condensation forming and being trapped under insulation. The second
and more common reason is rain/ snow. Rainwater or water from
melting snow will eventually enter weak points in the system and pour
onto the surface under insulation. The difference when compared to a
stack is that the water gets trapped because of the insulation and is
not allowed to escape.

Thermal shock can also be a significant cause of CUI. Thermal shock is

categorized by a dramatic rise or fall in the temperature of the
equipment. Thermal shock may occur when a unit is turned on or off,
during the normal cyclic conditions the unit may exhibit, or when the
steel is exposed to water that has penetrated the jacketing.

CHALLENGES IN INSPECTION:
CUI is difficult to find because the insulation covers the corrosion
problem until it is too late. It is expensive to remove the insulation,
inspect and then reinstate the insulation after inspection. Inspection of
the covered areas without removing the coverings reduces the cost of
carrying out an inspection. Therefore the development of non-
destructive testing methods to detect corrosion in the above situations
is therefore a major benefit to the industry. And same or worse is the
case with erosion, especially when it happens at unexpected locations
most often due to unusual operating conditions or turbulent flow in
pipe lines and a variety of other reasons. And if this erosion is in an
insulated line, the problem is multiplied many folds.
There are a number of methods used today to inspect for corrosion
under insulation. The most common and straightforward way to inspect
for corrosion under insulation is to cut plugs in the insulation that can
be removed to allow for ultrasonic testing. The other commonly used
methods are profile radiography, and complete insulation removal.
More advanced methods now available includes real-time X-ray and
Low Intensity X-ray Imaging

The Ultrasonic Thickness spot readings and profile radiography gives

accurate values of remaining wall thickness but UT readings require
the insulation to be removed and proper surface preparation. However,
many times plugs removed for UT thickness gauging can itself be the
source of moisture leakage. The main problem with this technique is
that corrosion under insulation tends to be localized and unless the
inspection plug is positions in the right spot the sites of corrosion can
be missed. Radiography is time consuming and requires cordoning off
the areas to be inspected. Both these techniques are reliable and
economical only if you know the exact location of erosion and or
corrosion, which is almost impossible.

CUI and erosion are mostly localised and often inspection results can
be misleading as area as close as a few millimetres from corroded
areas can be with normal thickness values.

Tangential X ray, a relatively new technique shows the outer surface of

the pipe but gives little information about the wall thickness or any
erosion from inside.

INTRODUCING THE PROFILER:

Low Intensity X-ray Image Profiling is an advanced inspection tool to
assist reliability engineers / Quality control inspectors and life
extension programs in process industry. Used in conjunction with other
inspection techniques, this technique offers a
cost effective, fast and reliable inspection
program for most insulated and non insulated
piping in industry both offline and online.

The profiler basically utilizes the principle of

radiography. A collimated beam of
Gadolinium 153 isotope is used as the source and the photons emitted
from the source are received at a receiver. Custom designed
application software converts the amount of photons received into
thickness values.

The profiler uses a low intensity collimated gamma ray source of

Gadolinium 153 mounted on a C arm. The principle of inspection is
based on the absorption of gamma
radiation in the tested material. The
scanning is performed using a small
radioactive source (Gd 153) and a
sensitive electronic detector /
receiver. The source and detector
are kept external to the pipe
and positioned on opposite sides at a
fixed distance apart. Gamma rays
travel from the source through the
pipe to the detector where the
photons received are counted. A
proprietary software specially developed for this equipment converts
the photon counts and displays a graphical image that corresponds
correctly to the pipe condition of the pipe being scanned.

Once calibrated to a known thickness value of the piping material, it

can detect most anomalies in process piping that causes a change in
density from one area of pipe to another. The Profiler may be used to
inspect insulated piping without insulation removal, including straight
runs of pipe, elbows, tees, reducers, weld-neck flanges, and most other
piping components.

Profiler scan can reveal density variations caused by corrosion, welds,

wet insulation, blockages, and any other indication caused by a change
in density. The Profiler is capable of inspecting all known materials
used in pipe fabrication, including carbon steel, stainless steel, cast
iron, aluminium, plastic, and PVC.

“A stitch in time saves nine” says the old proverb; a wet insulation
identified and corrective action taken in time can save the pipe from
getting corroded. Imagine the advantages of preventing corrosion
rather than taking corrective action after the pipe is corroded.
Periodical scheduled scans can detect wet insulation and corrective
action can be taken even before corrosion starts eating up the pipe
walls.

ADVANTAGES:

Results of a Profiler inspection are graphically displayed in real time to

the operator and do not need days or weeks of waiting for a film to be
processed or detailed analysis of inspection data by another
interpreter. Corrosion or other problems like leakage, wet insulation etc
are found in real time, and the pipe may be marked for additional
remedial action or further investigation using complimentary NDT
methods.

Compared to more conventional inspection methods like ultrasonic

thickness testing and industrial radiography, the Profiler is capable of
collecting much more data in a short period, thus making the profiler a
much more productive inspection tool.

Because the Profiler is simple to use, portable & works on a

rechargeable battery and can perform in most process environments to
provide quick, reliable results.

The major advantages of Low intensity x-ray imaging can be

summarised as

 No need of costly insulation removal

 No need of cordoning off the areas as required in radiography
 No physical contact is required with the piping and so even high
temperature pipes can be inspected online.
 No need of surface preparation.
 Even non magnetic, non metallic pipes can be inspected
 Can detect wet insulation which in turn will lead to CUI
( prevention is better than cure)
 Can detect internal erosion / corrosion and gives absolute values
of remaining wall thickness.

TYPICAL APPLCATIONS:
Whether bare piping or insulated piping, The Profiler system is capable
of detecting/identifying:
• Internal Corrosion
• External Corrosion
• Weld Line identification
 • Heat Affected (HAZ) Corrosion
• Blockage and Fouling
• Changes in Pipe Schedule
• Determination of product level in piping
• Wet insulation
• Water or Ice in the insulation
without removal of costly insulation removal process and re-installing.

CASE STUDIES:

Case Study 1:

The profiler has been successfully used in the oil sands industries in
Canada for detection of hardened bitumen built-ups/blockages in
radiant heater coils and caustic lines. In one case, radiant heater coils
were blocked with hard bitumen due to coke formation at elevated
temperatures. The maintenance team had tried to flush it out with
high pressure water/steam and, even attempted to send a pig through
the line to open up the blockage. Eventually the pig was lost in the
serpentine coil and unable locate the pig for several days. That is
where our team came in with The Profiler system and it took less than
few hours to locate the exact location of the blockage and even the
extent of blockages at though out the entire length of the coil.

The profiler equipment was calibrated with steel step wedge to match
the density of the steel pipe and double wall thickness of empty pipe
was checked. The empty pipe was found to have a double wall
T1 : 0 Min / 25.147 Max / 10.268 Avg / 0 at Tag : Threshold = 3 T19 : 0 Min / 28.186 Max / 16.861 Avg / 0 at Tag : Threshold = 3
Slice Values: 9.963 / 9.963 / 10.205 : Session # 1 Slice Values: 19.935 / 19.935 / 19.935 : Session # 23
30 30

25 25

20
20

15
15

10
10

5
5

0
0 T18 7 11 15 19 23 27 31 35 39 43 47 51 55 59 63 67 71 75 79 83 87 91 95 99 103 107 111 115 119 123 127 131 135 139 143 147
T 7 11 15 19 23 27 31 35 39 43 47 51 55 59 63 67 71 75 79 83 87 91 95 99 103 107 111 115 119 123 127 131 135 139 143 147 T18 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101 105 109 113 117 121 125 129 133 137 141 145
1 T 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101 105 109 113 117 121 125 129 133 137 141 145 149

thickness of 17mm which matched the manufactures data of the pipe

schedule.

CALIBRATION SCAN AXIAL SCAN ON RADIANT COIL

IIIIANRADIAN
 On scanning the tubes, different readings ranging up to 25mm was
found. The area with the highest
T2 : 19.182 Min / 24.82 Max / 22.739 Avg / 19.263 at Tag : Threshold = 3
Slice Values: 19.182 / 19.227 / 19.227 : Session # 3

reading of 25 mm was cut and

30

25

20
examined. It was found to be tightly
packed coke that corresponds to full
15

10

5 blockage. Areas with intermediate

0

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
readings were found to have partial
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92
9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 T2

AXIAL SCAN FULL BLOCKAGE blockage or a layer of coke deposit

around the tubes’ inside wall. The areas of full blockage were cut out
and cleaned. Areas with partial blockage were cleaned using cleaning
pigs as there was enough room for the pig to navigate through. The
conventional method of repair which would have been cutting out 27
return bends and cleaning them welding them all back, the job was
completed by cutting just 7 “U” bends and thus saving a lot of down
time of the equipment and additional work. More than identifying the
blockage locations, the The profiler is able to ascertain the extent of
blockage too.

Case Study 2:
In another case, while conducting corrosion survey on boiler tubes in
an oil sands facility in Alberta, a section of the tubes were found to
have increased in wall thickness on a section of the coil. On further
verification it was found to be tubes of higher schedule, an error in the
drawing and the as built drawing was updated accordingly. The
profiler is an ideal tool to verify actual wall thickness or schedules of
pipes and exact location of the transition, welds, even under insulation.