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Corrosion in Gas Treating - TEG 113X
13-17 March 2011, Houston, Texas
Cladded Plate Cracking In A Gas Scrubber
A. Al-Mithin[1], A. Al-Shamari[2], Santhosh Kumar[3], Amer Jarragh[4], S.S. Prakash[5],,
Abstract
At the Gathering Centers of KOC oil production, the crude is desalted, stabilized and sent to the export manifold while the gas is piped to the Booster Stations. There are currently four Booster Stations operating in Kuwait Oil Company that compresses gas and transfer it to downstream industries.
A CRA cladded Gas Scrubber in one of the Booster Stations developed cracking in a CRA plate after ten years in service. Detailed failure investigation revealed a mix up of materials between SS 321 clad pate in the midst of the specified SS316L clad plates. The investigation confirmed the actual cause of the failure due to be sudden spurt in chloride levels in the incoming process fluid which were beyond the acceptable limits for SS321. This case study drew wide attention in the company and necessitated in setting up a Root Cause Analysis Team to highlight the shortcomings in fabrication stage, documentation and inwards good inspection philosophies.
Keywords: Mix up of materials, Chlorides, process upsets, root cause analysis.
[1]Team Leader (S&E), Inspection & Corrosion Team, Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait.
Tel: (965) 2386-1728; Email: amithin@kockw.com
[2] Corrosion Specialist, Inspection & Corrosion Team, Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait.
Tel: (965) 2386-6394; Email: ashamari@kockw.com
[3]Inspection Specialist, Inspection & Corrosion Team, Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait.
Tel: (965) 2386-5218; Email: gskumar@kockw.com
[4] Senior Corrosion Engineer, Inspection & Corrosion Team, Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait. Tel: (965) 2386-65428; Email: agaragh@kockw.com
[5] Specialized Corrosion Engineer, Inspection & Corrosion Team, Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait. Tel: (965) 386-6694; Email: sprakash@kockw.com