Computer Based Training Module

Flow-Accelerated Corrosion for

non-FAC Personnel

March 2006
 Introduction to Navigation

Module can be navigated in a linear fashion

Click Page Down or Enter
By following hyperlinks for more information
The file must be viewed in Slide Show mode for the
hyperlinks to work
Click on a hyperlink to go directly to related information
in the training, clicking page down or enter will take you
back to where you left off

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 2

 Introduction to Flow-Accelerated Corrosion

Flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a corrosion process

that degrades carbon steel material
FAC normally occurs above room temperature under
specific chemistry conditions normally found in power
plants
FAC requires that flowing water or water/steam mixtures
be in contact with the steel surface
FAC is normally related to turbulence especially near
fittings, e.g., elbows, orifices, valves

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 3

 Description of FAC

FAC occurs when the normally protective iron-oxides

dissolve into the flowing stream
This results in a global attack (i.e., widespread thinning)
rather than local attack (i.e., pitting or cracking)
FAC caused failures are often sudden and catastrophic
Damage rates caused by FAC are dependent on the
water chemistry indicating that FAC is a corrosion process
not mechanical in nature (Information on Erosion)
For more details on the FAC Process

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 4

 Why is FAC Important?

FAC has caused damage and has resulted in

Failures
Workmen killed or injured
Piping and equipment replacements
This experience has necessitated expensive plant
programs

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 Significant Experience Surry Unit 2

An 18 inch elbow in a condensate line ruptured catastrophically

in 1986
Four fatalities and several injuries resulted

Flow was from left to right

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 Significant Experience Mihama Unit 3

A 22 inch condensate
line downstream of an
orifice ruptured
Catastrophically in 2004

Five fatalities and

several injuries resulted
Flow from right to left.
Note orifice flange is at right edge of photo

More piping experience slide show

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 7
 Significant Experience Point Beach 1

FAC also occurs in

equipment, particularly
feedwater heater
shells

Operating Conditions = 347F and about 88% quality

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 What Does FAC Damage Look Like?

Under single-phase (i.e.,

water only) conditions, the
damaged surface displays
a scalloped or orange-
peel surface
This type of surface is
conclusive evidence that
the damage is caused by
FAC
Depending on the
conditions, magnification
may be required to view Single-Phase FAC
Note 50m 0.002
the scalloping

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 9

 What Does Damage Look Like?
(continued)

Under high quality,

two-phase conditions,
the surface may show
a pattern of dark and
light areas known as
tiger stripping
Tiger-striping is also
conclusive evidence of
FAC
More tiger striping
slide show
EDF Tiger Striping

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 10

 Susceptibility Considerations Systems

Generally all of the secondary side in PWRs and the

equivalent BWR systems are susceptible to damage
Some BWR auxiliary systems (e.g., RHR) may also be
susceptible
Auxiliary systems such as building steam may also be
susceptible

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 11

 Susceptibility Considerations Piping

Piping is susceptible to FAC if:

The material is carbon steel
There is water or wet steam flowing in the pipes
The water is deoxygenated (i.e., service water systems
do not experience FAC)
Note that both large bore (> 2 NPT) and small bore
piping systems are susceptible
More detail on small bore piping

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 12

 Susceptibility Considerations Equipment

Carbon steel equipment in susceptible systems are

normally susceptible, especially:
Feedwater heaters slide show
MSR and other tanks slide show
Steam generator internals in PWRs slide show
Turbine casings

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 Known Problem Areas

Downstream of control valves

Downstream of level control valves e.g. Millstone 2 & 3
Downstream of flowmeters especially orifices
e.g. Mihama
Downstream of leaking valves and steam traps
Crossunder lines

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 14

 Known Problem Areas
(continued)

Unknown materials of construction (i.e., documentation

shows FAC-resistant materials but really carbon steel)
Unknown piping components (i.e., insulation hides pipe
spool pieces or other components which may be wearing
at different rates than inspected piping)
Undocumented replacements (i.e., components were
replaced and no records kept). This can result in improper
wear predictions.

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 Plant Programs General

Programmatic recommendations for FAC programs are

found in the current revision of NSAC-202L
Recommendations for an Effective Flow-Accelerated
Corrosion Program
Interaction with other groups is a key part in successful
programs
Details on such interactions

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 16

 Plant Programs Analysis

A susceptibility analysis is performed to determine the

extent of the plant program
CHECWORKS analysis to predict FAC damage rates in
susceptible systems, and predict component lifetimes
CHECWORKS also provides a comparison of predicted
and measured wear rates

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 17

 Plant Programs Inspection

Large bore piping is normally inspected using the

ultrasonic inspection technique (UT), but occasionally
radiographic technique (RT) is used
Small bore piping is normally inspected using RT or by
UT scanning
Visual inspections (VT) are used under special
circumstances
CHECWORKS is normally used to store and manage
the UT inspection data

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 18

 Plant Programs Other Elements

All components are evaluated for acceptance for

continued service
Repair/replacements decisions must be made, often
during outages. This process is dependent on the
component evaluation process.
Reinspection intervals for all components must be
determined
Future inspection and replacement scopes must be
determined

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 Ultrasonic Testing (UT) Practices

Large bore inspections are performed on a grid

Templates are sometimes used in place of a drawn grid
Hand-held instruments are used to take and record data
Data is usually analyzed using CHECWORKS
Hot UT, measurements during operation, is occasionally
used

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 Radiographic Testing (RT) Practices

Many utilities are still using film, but a number of utilities

are moving to the newer phosphor plate (digital) imaging
technique
Data interpretation and manipulation are easier with
digital images
Two measurement techniques are used
through wall usually used to determine the wall
thickness of large bore piping
tangential wall usually used for small bore piping
EPRI research is being directed at increasing the size
limits of through wall RT

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 21

 Visual Inspection Practices

Among the specific areas where visual techniques are

used:
Crossunder normally done during crawl through of
piping
When valves and pumps are opened for maintenance,
the opportunity may be used to perform a visual
inspection
When a piece of equipment (e.g., feedwater heater) is
opened for maintenance, the opportunity may be used
to perform a visual inspection

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 22

 Vessel Inspections Feedwater Heaters

The most commonly inspected vessels are feedwater

heater shells
There are several methods used to inspect vessels.
These are:
UT with grids insulation is removed, vessel is
gridded, data is taken
UT scans insulation is removed, and scans are made
and data recorded

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 23

 Vessel Inspections Feedwater Heaters
(continued)

Pulsed Eddy Current is used through the insulation

Pulsed Eddy Current is used through the insulation. A
small portion of the insulation is removed an UT
measurements in this area are used to calibrate the PEC
measurements.
Automatic techniques using computer controlled
carriage to perform UT measurements
More information on heater inspections

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 24

 What to Do if There is a Leak?

For large bore piping, leak before break does not

normally occur
Sudden, catastrophic failure is possible
Evacuate personnel and rope-off the area surrounding the
leak
Notify management
Notify FAC program owner

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 Material Considerations

Alloying elements can reduce the rate of FAC over

unalloyed carbon steel
Chromium has been shown to be the most important
alloying element with copper and molybdenum also
providing resistance
Some plants use alloy analyzers to account for trace alloy
content in their FAC programs

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 26

 Materials Considerations
(continued)

Resistance to FAC has been shown to be well

represented by this bar graph

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 Replacement Considerations

The cost and availability of the material

The resistance to FAC (previous slides)
Thermal expansion of stainless steel versus carbon steel
may require a new pipe stress analysis
Welding issues including pre- and post-weld heat
treatment issues with chrome-moly material

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 Repair Options Piping

On piping and fittings, weld overlay may be used for

temporary repairs
For crossunder piping, there are several repair options:
Weld overlay
Flame/arc spraying
Slide show

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 Repair Options Feedwater Heater Shells

The approach used for repairing shells is called a

Window Repair cutting out a section of the shell and
replacing with a piece of rolled plate
Cap Repairs using engineered caps are sometimes
used
Slide show

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 30

 Water Chemistry

Water chemistry is a key parameter in controlling the rate

of FAC
Oxygen, pH and hydrazine influence the rate of FAC
The specifics depend on the type of reactor system
BWR Chemistry
PWR Chemistry

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 31

 Iron Transport

FAC is responsible for the generation of most of the iron

that is transported to the SG/BWR vessel
Calculations and experience show that this iron comes
primarily from equipment not piping
More information about iron transport

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 32

 Where to Go for More Information

Unit program owner ______________ (filled in by utility)

FAC Book current revision a compendium of
information on FAC
NSAC-202L current revision programmatic information

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 33

 Quiz

1. Would you expect FAC to occur in the feedwater system of fossil

plants? Hint the conditions are similar to the conditions in the
feedwater system of PWRs.
Yes
No
2. Would you expect FAC to be worse near an elbow or in an isolated
straight pipe?
Elbow
Pipe
3. What would be the best strategy for protecting a line Replace one
or two components with stainless steel or improve the water
chemistry?
Replace
Water Chemistry

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 34

 Quiz

4. Is there an erosive component to FAC damage?

Yes
No
5. Inspection programs are the main part of a FAC program.
True
False
6. Which of the following parameters influence the rate of FAC?
a. Velocity
b. Local geometry
c. Wall material
d. Water chemistry
e. All of the above

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 35

 Quiz

7. What are the inspection methods most commonly used

to locate FAC caused degradation?
a. UT for large bore
b. Hot UT for large bore
c. RT for small bore
d. Visual for special circumstances
e. All of the above
f. Items a, c & d
8. FAC damage always appears as tiger striping.
True
False

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 36

 Quiz

9. FAC affects piping and equipment such as feedwater

heaters.
True
False
10. FAC caused damage may result in:
Piping failures
Equipment failures
High iron transport
Piping replacements
All of the above

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 37

 Training Complete

2006 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved. 38

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This report describes research sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
The report is a corporate document that should be cited in the literature in the following manner:
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2006. 1013249.
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