A case study on Stress Corrosion Failure of an X52

grade gas pipeline

 Contents
 Introduction to Problem
 Detailed description of pipeline
 Investigation of the rupture pipe surface
 Soil Inspection
 Inspection of protective coating
 Macroscopic Analysis
 Microscopic Analysis
 Findings of Failure Analysis
 Conclusions
 Introduction
• Problem : Failure investigation
of a 45.72 cm (18 in.) diameter
gas transmission pipeline (X-52
grade steel) r
• Region Pakistan

B D

Fig. 1. Schematics of the fractured pipeline. B and D portions

correspond to the fractures ends upstream and downstream,
respectively. C portion corresponds to the pipeline piece which was
C blasted away after rupture 3
 Detailed description of gas pipeline
 Service life till failure : 25 years.
 Pipeline was shielded metal arc welded (SMAW) welded in the form of spiral
 Protected by glass fiber reinforced coal–tar enamel (CTE) coating.
 Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system.
 Soil potential checked every 3 months and adjusted in reference Cu/CuSO4
reference electrodes

4
Investigation of the rupture pipe surface
Fig.2. Showing Inspection of
protective coating and the pipe
surface.
(a) D portion of the ruptured
pipeline showing damaged
coating and rusty surface.

(b) Photograph of the pipeline

showing the presence of poor
adhesive coating.

(c) Fractured end of the pipe

revealed macro-cracks and
pitting. 5
Soil Inspection

Fig.3. Collection point of soil.

pH values of soil samples around the pipeline : 9 -10.

This pH (9-10) promoted corrosion on the surface of

gas pipeline.

6
Inspection of protective coating

Fig.5. Showing
(a) Poor condition of the coal–tar
coating on the surface of the pipe
found in hole-A.

(b) Damaged coating on the surface

of the pipe found in hole-B.

(c) Presence of moisture/electrolytes

at coating-pipeline interface. The
disbonded coating can also be seen
here.
7
 Macroscopic analysis
 Presence corrosion pits.
 High-pH (9-10) environment resulted in
Piting and lead to reduction in pipe wall
thickness.

8
 Microscopic Analysis
Mainly 3 characteristics were observed:
(a) Intergranular cracking
(b) extensive crack branching
(c) corrosion products inside cracks
Corrosion pit depth: 105 µm.

Intergranular cracking

9
 Findings of Failure Analysis
Failure was due to stress corrosion cracking [1].

 Corrosive environment
Presence of the high-pH (9–10) moisture/electrolytes at the pipeline-coating interface
impressed current was quite excessive in the segment where rupture occurred.
 Material susceptible to SCC.
X52 grade reported exhibited SCC several times in the presence of high-pH [2-3].
 Stress.
Hoop stress of 220 MPa due to pressurized gas was present in the pipeline.
lowering may have induced additional stresses in the pipeline at the fracture area.

10
 Conclusions
Cause of the rupture of X52 grade gas pipeline was SCC.
Rupture developed due to decay of the protective fiber reinforced coal–tar coating.
Presence of moisture/electrolyte of high-pH (9–10) was observed at the interface of
pipeline and coating.
The additional stresses at the rupture area of the pipe line due to lowering/submerging of
the pipeline likely to have contributed to this rupture.
Intergranular nature of fracture with branching and corrosion products inside cracks.

11
 References
1) Bilal Saleem, Furqan Ahmed, Muhammad Asif Rafiq, Mohammad Ajmal, Liaqat Ali, Stress corrosion failure of an X52
grade gas pipeline, In Engineering Failure Analysis, Volume 46, 2014, Pages 157-165, ISSN 1350-6307.
2) Wenk RL. Field investigation of stress–corrosion cracking. In: Proceedings of 5th symposium on line pipe research.
Pipeline Research Committee, American Gas Association Catalog; 1997. p. 1–22 [no. 130174].
3) R.N. Parkins, R.R. Fessler. Line pipe stress corrosion cracking-mechanisms and remedies. Corrosion, 86 (March) (1986), p.
8 [pp 320, NACE].
4) Stress Corrosion Cracking Studies. A report by DCVG (DC Voltage Gradient) Technology & Supply Limited, United
Kingdom; 2006.
5) Charles EA, Parkins RN. Generation of stress corrosion cracking environments at pipeline surfaces. Corrosion 1995;51:518.

12
 Thank You

Any Questions ?
 Coal Tar Enamel (CTE)
CTE coating is a thermoplastic polymeric coating.
The CTE coating made up of 4 components:
1. primer
2. coal tar enamel
3. glass fiber inner-wrap
4. glass fiber outer-wrap.

14
 Material Properties
Steel composition found in accordance with X-52 pipe grade,
spark emission spectrometer (METAL LAB 75-80, GN.R Analytical Instruments, Italy)
 Mechanical strength
Tensile tested in a Universal Testing Machine (UTM) according to API standards
where A = applicable area of tensile test specimen in ‘mm2’, U =
specified minimum ultimate tensile strength in ‘MPa’, e = minimum
elongation in 50 mm gauge length.
where gas pressure (P) = 7.37 MPa, diameter (d) = 45.72 cm, wall
thickness (t) = 7.7 mm, hoop stress (σh)=220 MPa i.e. 61.2% of SMYS
as against 72% maximum allowable

15