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Hydrogen Bake-out during in-service
pressure vessel welding
Published on May 4, 2016
Arun K Soman Follow
31 9 1
Deputy Manager - Advisory Services (Inspection) at Bharat Petrole
Wealreadyknowthepresenceofatomichydrogeninweldpoolwillleadtocracking
problemsduringandafterwelding.Thechanceofcrackingincreasesifthebasemetal
alreadycontainshydrogen.Itcanhappenifthevesselisexposedtohightemperature
highpressurehydrogenserviceorasresultofaqueouscorrosion(likewetH2S
corrosionorHydrogenembrittlement).Insuchcasesahydrogenbakeout(outgassing)
ofbasemetalisalwaysadvisable.
Insimplewords,HydrogenBakeOutisheatingthesteeltohighertemperature,holding
itforsometimesothatallthehydrogendefusesoutofbasemetalleavingithydrogen
free.
Thefollowingstepscanbefollowedtodevelopaneffectivehydrogenbakeout
procedureduringinserviceweldingofpressurevesselsexposedtohydrogenservice..
Step1:MetallurgicalReview
Asaninitialstepofhydrogenbakeout,itisadvisabletoconductametallurgicalreview
toassesswhethertheprocedureisacceptable.Thiswillalsogiveusanideaaboutthe
effectivenessofHydrogenBakeout.
Forexample,ifthereisliningonpressurevesseltherearechancesthathydrogen
concentrationismoreonliningthanbasemetal.Insuchcasesduringbakeouthydrogen
maydiffusefromhighconcentrationregiontolowconcentrationregionfromliningto
basemetalmakinghydrogenbakeoutineffective.Soitsadvisabletoremovethe
liningatleastfor6inchesoneachsideofweldbeforecarryingouthydrogenbakeout.
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Step2:WhentocarryoutHydrogenBakeout Sign in Join now
Itsalwaysmosteffectivetocarryouthydrogenbakeoutafterweldjointpreparation.
Butifmetalremovalisaggressiveorifhydrogencontentismore,crackscanbe
appearedduringjointpreparation.Inthatcasebakeoutisadvisablebeforeweld
preparation.
Step3:TemperatureanddurationofHydrogenBakeout
WhendevelopingaWPSforweldrepairofinservicepressurevesselexposedto
hydrogen,hydrogenbakeoutisanessentialvariable(PCC2article4.1.18).The
minimumsoakingtemperatureandtimeofHydrogenBakeoutshallbespecifiedin
WPS.
Therearemanyfactorswhichaffectsthedurationandtemperatureofhydrogenbake
out.Procedureusuallyfollowedisheatingtoatemperatureof300degC(API5712011
Art4.5.6.6says200degCorhigher)andholdingfor4hours.Ifitisnoteffective,a
secondstageheatingtometalsPWHTtemperatureandholdingfor1hourorlesswill
beeffective.
Step4:TemperaturemonitoringduringBakeoutprocedure
TherulesgiveninAPI510forlocalPWHTandCDWforlocalheatingcanbeapplied
forhydrogenbakeouttoo.Temperatureshallbemonitoredbyasuitablenumberof
thermocouplesatleasttwo(API5102014Art8.1.7.4.2).
Thepreheattemperatureshallbecheckedtoassurethat4in.(100mm)ofthematerial
orfourtimesthematerialthickness(whicheverisgreater)oneachsideoftheweldjoint
willbemaintainedattheminimumtemperatureduringwelding.Whenthewelddoes
notpenetratethroughthefullthicknessofthematerial,theminimumpreheat
temperatureneedonlybemaintainedatadistanceof4in.(100mm)orfourtimesthe
depthoftherepairweld,whicheverisgreateroneachsideofthejoint(API5102014
Art8.1.7.4.3.3f.5).
Howeveritisadvisabletoensurethebakeouttemperatureoneachsideofweldjoint
foralengthof6inch.
Step5:CheckingtheeffectivenessofHydrogenBakeout
Mostofthetimethislaststepmaynotbepracticalduetotimeconstraint.Butiftimeif
availableortheweldjointisverycriticalitsalwaysadvisabletofollowstep5after
carryingoutHydrogenbakeout.
Effectivenessofhydrogenbakeoutcanbecheckedbyweldingasingleweldbeadsing
thespecifiedWPSforalengthnotlessthan6inch.Waitfor6hoursminimum(24hours
ismostpreferable).AfterthatinspecttheweldusingsuitableNDE(eg:WFMT)to
checkfordelayedcracking.Ifthereisnocrackingitsanindicationthatthebakeout
procedureiseffective.
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Anumberofequipmentisenlistedbelowwherehydrogenbakeoutisadvisablepriorto
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inservicewelding.Thislistismadefrommyexperienceandfromthereferencesgiven
inAPI5712011.
1.Hydrogenreformerpipingandpressurevessels(especiallyreformerheatertubes)
2.RectorsandconnectedpressurevesselsinKHDSandDHDSunits.
3.CrMoreactors,drumsandexchangershellsonhydroprocessingunitsandcatalytic
reforming(especiallyifhardnessisabove235BHS)
4.EquipmentsusceptibletoHydrogenEmbrittlement(API5712011Art4.5.6.4).
5.Equipmentwithcathodicprotection(especiallywithICCP)
6.Storagespheresmadewithhighstrengthsteels.
7.EquipmentsusceptibletoWetH2Scorrosion(API5712011Art5.1.2.3)
8.EquipmentinHFacid/wetH2S/H2servicewith
1.WetH2Sconcentrationabove50ppmandtemperatureabove150degC
2.CSwithhardnessmorethan200BHN
3.Lowalloysteelwithhardnessabove235BHN
4.Steelsmorethan90ksistrength
Itisalsomentionedinaliterature(Ref:Aprimeronhydrogenbakeoutpublishedby
inspectioneering)thatASTMA106pipinglessthan inch(12.7mm)thickisunlikely
toberecommendedforbakeout,evenifitisinwetH2Sservice,becauseitrarely
accumulatesenoughhydrogentobecomeaproblem.Butforweldedpipingmadefrom
platesuchasSA516material,abakeoutisrecommended.
Usuallytimeisthemajorconstrainduringinservicepressurevesselweldingsincemost
oftherepairswillbecarriedoutduringplantshutdowns.Soinoldentimeshydrogen
bakeoutwasoftenundervalued/ignoredwhiledevelopingWPSforinservicewelding.
Butpresentlyhydrogenbakeoutisviewedasoneofthemajorfactorinreducingthe
problemsassociatedwithdelayedcrackingduringtheweldingofinservicepressure
vesselsexposedtohydrogenservice.
PS:Thankyouforreadingthisarticle.Commentsarealwayswelcome.Alsoifyou
knowanyequipmentwhichissusceptibletodelayedcrackingduringinservicewelding
kindlymentionsothatthelistIhavegivenabovecanbeexpanded.
Tagged in: welding inspection,welding
Arun K Soman
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Arun K Soman
Deputy Manager - Advisory Services (Inspection) at Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Sign in Join now
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9 comments Newest
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Jasminder singh 11mo
API 510,570,653,571,580,936, ASNT NDT LEVEL III IN MT,PT,RT,UT, CSWIP 3.2
Damn good man I like it, you have worked very hard.
Like Reply 1
Jaber Amini 11mo
Corrosion Engineer and Technical Inspector
Excellent and practical.Thanks
Like Reply
marian dobre 11mo
PRODUCTION MANAGER "SALDERIA" at NUOVO ARSENALE CARTUBI
T
hank you for sharing this info.
Like Reply
Mohamed Babu 11mo
MECHANICAL ENGINEER at BPCL KOCHI REFINERY
nicely documented
Like Reply
Steve Jones 11mo
Lead Materials & Corrosion Engineer at Petroleum Development Oman
https://inspectioneering.com/journal/2013-05-01/3365/the-hype-about-hydrogen-bake-o
Like Reply
Prithvi Hegde 11mo
Director at Crystal Industrial Syndicate Pvt. Limited
Very Useful..
Like Reply
Robert Heidersbach 11mo
Robert Heidersbach is an Engineer & President at Dr. Rust, Inc.
Very well-written summary of welding and hydrogen problems
Like Reply
Manjunath Anantharam 11mo
boiler maker welder/pipe welder
Thanks for the info.
Like Reply
Aravind Kumar 11mo
Manager at Axens
Good information shared..... Arun... keep on
Like Reply
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