Calculated operating pressures with reduced wall
thickness are shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2. Operating pressure for 72%
SMYS.
At 80% reduced wall thickness, a
margin of about 0.6 mm exists for the operation pressure. The calculated
minimum wall thickness of 1.9 mm (0.075 in.) corresponds to the 80%
reduction of the wall thickness. Therefore, not withstanding references
(ABS, 2000; ASME, 1991), the pipeline can be operated with 10.3 barg (150
psi) of operation pressure even after 80% reduction of wall thickness.
3.3. Limitation imposed by ASME B31G (ASME, 1991)
3.3.1. Corrosion pit depth exceeding 80% of the wall thickness
This criterion was developed to consider ruptures of a section of corroded
pipe and does not account for the possibility that a defect may leak. If
any pit depth in an area of corrosion exceeds 80% of the wall thickness,
then the section must be
repaired or replaced.
3.3.2. Corrosion pit depth less than 12.5% of the wall thickness
There is no limit on the length of corrosion when all of the measured pit
depths are less than 12.5% of the wall thickness. The reason for this is
that such cases would be expected to have the same remaining strength as a
pipe that just meets
the minimum wall thickness requirement for the same grade of API line
pipe.
3.3.3. Contiguous corroded area
A contiguous corroded area having a maximum depth of more than 10% but
less than 80% of the nominal wall thickness of the pipe should not extend
along the longitudinal axis of the pipe for a distance greater than that
calculated from ASME (1991):
(4)
where L is the maximum allowable longitudinal extent of corroded area and
d is the measured maximum depth of the corroded area. If the corrosion
depth is between 10 and 17.5%, use B = 4.0 in Eq. (4). Maximum allowable
longitudinal lengths are presented in Fig. 3. The maximum allowable
lengths depend on the maximum corrosion pit depths.
3.4. Corrosion analysis with rstreng
rstreng is a computer program to calculate the safety factor for a
corroded pipe using the inspected data. The program utilizes three methods
developed by Pipeline Research Council International, Inc. (PRCI) report.
The three methods are effective
area method, modified B31G criterion0.85dL area, and B31G criterion.
The B31G criterion results in the most conservative safety factors
against the burst pressures. The following results are obtained from the
rstreng analysis: the calculated burst pressures are about 10 times higher
than the operating pressure within the limits of the corroded lengths and
pit depths imposed by ASME B31G. Fig. 3 presents the limits on allowable
corrosion lengths based on ASME B31G. |