Hydrates are crystallized, compact, porous and rather light mass, similar to compressed snow. They are made of water, hydrocarbons, H2S and CO2. Unlike ice, hydrates have an unusual characteristic: they form at a temperature that is above water freezing point . For instance, they can form at 20 °C at particular pressures. When they are exposed to air, they dissolve chugging and fizzing because of the gas that is more or less slowly freed according to the surrounding temperature. When they are lit in the air, they can slowly and completely burn, until they leave a small residue of water. … Continue reading What is Hydrates?

The qualification of welding procedures is necessary to ensure that the selected welding parameters can produce sound welds and complying with project specification.  Qualification typically involves a combination of destructive and nondestructive testing (DT and NDT).  When a particular code, such as AWS D1.1 or ASME Section IX is used, the code will indicate the type and numbers of tests necessary in order to qualify the welding procedure. But incase of you are not required to follow specific codes or standards, it is advisable that you do some kind of testing if you are developing a new procedure.  Many fabricators … Continue reading How to qualify a Welding Procedure

What is Porosity in Welding? Porosity is a type of weld-defect that specifically refers to the entrapment of external gases within a welded joint, most commonly oxygen. As the molten metal of a weld cools and solidifies, the external gas will either enter in a weld and become trapped internally thus creating cavities or it will be forced out of the weld leaving behind visible holes, gas-mark, or pits, or crater pipe on the surface of the weld. The presence of porosity can severely affect the overall integrity and strength of the weld meaning, that a porosity-contaminated weld will nearly always be … Continue reading Weld porosity, herringbone, wormhole, crater pipe

High Temperature Hydrogen Attack (HTHA) is one of the Damage Mechanisms that affects Hydrogen service Steel equipment which exists mainly at Refineries, Methanol and Ammonia plants . HTHA occurs at elevated temperatures with Hydrogen service. HTHA vulnerability for equipment depends on three major factors, namely, Metallurgy type (composition), operating temperature and Hydrogen partial pressure. HTHA is mostly found in equipment made from Carbon Steel as well as Carbon ½ Mo. Damage mechanism· HTHA can occur in hydrogen atmosphere at elevated temperatures (at least 400 °F or 204 °C) and a hydrogen partial pressure of pH2 > 3.45 bar.· Thermal dissociation … Continue reading Nelson curves and HTHA damage

Tempering of steels Tempering is an ancient metallurgical heat treatment technique by this procedure steels are heated below the eutectoid transformation temperature (A1 line) and cooling in the air. Rapid cooling is taking part in the specimen. At 400°F (205°C) epsilon martensite converts into carbide to orthorhombic cementite, low carbon martensite into BCC ferrite, and the retained austenite into lower bainite respectively. At 800°F (427°C) continuous formation of cementite is materialized immaculately. Tempering is necessitated after quenching or hardening to decrease some of the extents of hardness and to undertake better toughness by lessening the hardness of the steel. By … Continue reading What is steel tempering?

Proactive Maintenance in Rotating Asset Whilst the Predictive Maintenance (PdM) are planned based on an assessment. The assessments are usually implemented by accumulating baseline data and tracking trends via measuring the operation condition of the asset. The condition monitoring includes, but not limited to: Preventive Maintenance (PM) in Rotating Asset is usually planned based on the manufacturing maintenance book and the practical lesson learn data. ·       Vibration Monitoring·       Temperature Monitoring·       Lubrication Monitoring·       Process Monitoring·       Visual Monitoring The goal of the proactive maintenance in the rotating equipment asset is:·       To reduce unnecessary maintenance plan based on fit to purpose assessment·       To minimize the overhaul and breakdown likelihood development … Continue reading How to maintenance rotating equipment?

What is importance of Lubricant oil analysis on regular basis? Which are the parameters need to be analyzed? Routine Lubricant oil analysis is the key to a successful maintenance program. Oil testing provides essential information to determine the condition of your equipment. Baseline of normal wear can be established during the first few months of a program. As the program matures, only routinely scheduled testing can indicate when abnormal wear or contamination is occurring. The basic parameters and their significances are: Kinematic Viscosity-Increase may be due to high soot or insoluble contents, water contaminations, admixture with high viscosity fuel or … Continue reading Lubricant oils in engine