Dissimilar Welds in Refinery Services

Brian Jack 510 245-4641 ConocoPhillips

API Spring 2007

This Presentation
Definition what constitutes a dissimilar weld Where are they commonly used in Refining What are the benefits of using dissimilar welds What are the drawbacks/concerns with using dissimilar welds Conclusions Path forward Changes needed to API documents (e.g. API 571, API 582 etc.)

API Spring 2007

Dissimilar Weld Definition For the purposes of this presentation, a dissimilar weld is a weld joining a ferritic material and an austenitic material Common refinery ferritic materials include CS, 1.25 Cr, 2.25 Cr, 5 Cr, and 9 Cr
magnetic, often need PWHT, poor to OK corrosion resistance, especially at high temps.

Common refinery austenitic materials include 304L, 316L, 317L, 321, 347, Incoloy 800HT & 825, Inconel 625 & Hastelloy C
nonmagnetic, dont typically need PWHT, good corrosion resistance, high expansion coefficients
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Common Refinery Dissimilar Welds

H2 furnace 1.25 Cr inlet pigtails to Incoloy sockolets or weldolets on H2 reformer tubes Hydrogen furnace Incoloy outlet cones to CS or 1.25 Cr refractory lined transfer lines Alloy transitions inside fired heaters (e.g. 9Cr to 317L in a crude furnace) Welds joining clad pipe sections to themselves or to unclad carbon or low alloy steel pipe (e.g. Hastelloy C276 clad CS piping in CU OVHDs) Inco welds joining socket weld valves in 5 and 9 Cr piping systems 300 series SS weld overlay in numerous refinery reactors and pressure vessels Less common but used overlaid CrMo exchanger/vessel nozzles to solid 321/347 SS piping in hydroprocessing services
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Example Dissimilar Weld- Wet Corrosion Refinery Environment ( e.g. Wet H2S, NH4HS, HCL)

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Example Dissimilar Weld Hydro Processing Unit

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Benefits of Using Dissimilar Welds

Eliminates flanges, which themselves are a leak risk, especially inside a furnace and in high temperature/high pressure services Reduces installation costs by allowing for less use of flanges and by often allowing for more compact piping layouts Note: Using overlaid or clad construction versus solid austenitic is often desirable for several reasons: Austenitics can experience chloride cracking in many refinery services High expansion coefficient of austenitics can be difficult to accommodate Solid austenitics can be prohibitively expensive
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Concerns with Dissimilar Welds

In service cracking risk at austenitic to ferritic fusion line is well recognized (see API 571). Primary causes of cracking are thermal fatigue or hydrogen embrittlement cracking at hard zones along the fusion line. There have been numerous failures of these joints in the power, ammonia and refining industries and some of these failures have been significant (e.g. complete weld separations).
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Two Significant Failures in 2006

Failure 1: Top 21 of H2S stripper in hydrotreater unit is upgraded to solid Incoloy 825 (30 D X 3/8 t) to combat chloride corrosion in 2003. Welded with 625, no PWHT, PT root & final & 100% Xray. Operating conditions at weld are 160 psig & 375F. Weld leaks late 2004; thought to be bad weld so re-welded in entirety, again no PWHT, same NDE. Weld leaks again in 2006; much of weld has nearly through wall fracture. Cause of failure both times now believed to be sulfide stress cracking (i.e. hydrogen embrittlement) of hard zone at CS to 625 fusion line. API Spring 2007

Tower Failure at Fusion Line of Inconel 625 Weld to CS Base Metal

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Hard Zones at Austenitic-Ferritic Fusion Line

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Significant 2006 Failures Contd Failure 2: Furnace outlet weld fracture while restarting a TCU furnace. Fracture at Inconel weld joining a 5 diameter 347H furnace tube to a 9 Cr flange. Normal operating conditions at weld were 920F & 500 psig. Weld was 12 years old at time of failure. Failure cause suspected to be thermal stress induced brittle fractures along hard carbide zone at fusion line between 9Cr flange & the Inconel weld.

API Spring 2007

Fracture at Fusion Line Between 9Cr Flange and Inconel Weld

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Dissimilar Weld Construction

Inconel weld (NOT stress relieved) Flange 9Cr Tube 347H

Inconel buttering (stress relieved)

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Factors That Increase Cracking Risk

Thermal Cycling Temperature: above ~500F, high thermal stresses, above ~800F carbon diffusion Severe hydrogen charging environments severe wet H2S/NH4HS environments at low temps & severe hydroprocessing environments at high temps Filler metal: 300 series worse than Inco types, especially at high temps (see API RP 582 for guidance) Stress, either applied or residual. Note that PWHT benefit is questionable & may do more harm than good Joint type: Butt welds more risk than socket welds

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Risk Zone in Hydroprocessing Environments

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Conclusions
Dissimilar welds provide benefits but also pose inherent risk; scrutinize them during new construction Dissimilar welds require regular inspection attention throughout their service life (e.g. SWUT, PT etc.) Hydrogen embrittlement failures can be rapid and unpredictable so avoid using dissimilar welds in severe hydrogen charging environments (whats severe?)
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Path Forward
See handouts on sections from API 571 and API 582 that pertain to dissimilar metal welds. Following todays presentations, lets discuss if our API documents adequately address dissimilar metal welds.

API Spring 2007