Austenitic stainless steel is a major construction material for urea plants. Since 1986, we have been faced several failures of austenitic stainless steel piping and vessels. In this article five cases of failure are reported . Investigations show that all cracks started from outside (non process side) under the insulation and the reason of failure is stress corrosion cracking (SCC) due to concentration of chloride in insulation which is impregnated in the prevailing (marine) environment of the site.

Subject
External surfaces, Steel surfaces, Corrosion failures, Materials, Insulation, Penetrants, Transgranular stress corrosion cracking, Stress cracking, Stainless steel, Urea, Chlorides, Cracks, Chloride stress corrosion cracking
Government work published by the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) with permission of the author(s). Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2002
GOV
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