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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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