UOP Materials Engineering Services

Reduce system failures with asset management consulting from UOP

INSPECTION, METALLURGY AND DESIGN SOLUTIONSTO MAXIMIZE OPERATING EFFICIENCY

As a global leader in the refining

and petrochemical industries, UOP

provides superior services and

solutions that help customers

successfully manage their assets

in a constantly changing environment.

Through our efforts to continuously

provide the latest industry technology and

expertise, we have identified several key

service areas that help you maintain your

assets. One of these key service areas

is materials engineering.

Fitness for Service

Fitness-for-Service (FFS) is a highly specialized

quantitative engineering evaluation to

determine the suitability for continued service

or remaining life of equipment that contains

flaws or damage. Examples include cracks

or geometric imperfections from the initial

fabrication process and accumulated

fatigue, or creep damage resulting from

operations under cyclic loads or at sustained

elevated temperatures. The evaluation

combines information from design and

fabrication, operation history, solid mechanics,

testing, and metallurgy to make a

comprehensive assessment on the service

condition of your equipment.

UOP is a member of the Materials Properties

Council (MPC) and the American Petroleum

Institute (API). We use state-of-the-art

computer modeling and analysis tools to

provide level 1, 2, or 3 FFS assessments

following API 579-1/ASME FFS-1. This

valuable service can help avoid unnecessary

repairs, equipment replacement and down-

time, thus increasing operating flexibility,

UOP materials engineering services can

be tailored specifically to your needs, in

three broad areas:

• Inspection

• Metallurgy

• Mechanical and Process Design

We focus on increasing on-stream time,

identifying and avoiding failures in

equipment operation, and saving valuable

time and money in repair and start-up costs.

Our services extend beyond the current

operational equipment. We can provide

input into the correct process and

mechanical design, purchase, installation,

operation, and maintenance of refinery and

petrochemical equipment. Our expertise

and capabilities enable us to assess an

entire system and provide true integrated

solutions, not quick fixes.

UOP asset management consulting identifies key serviceand equipment solutions for optimal refinery operations

profitability and competitiveness while

maintaining safety. It may also help in

rerating equipment, securing government

certification, negotiation with insurance

companies or accident investigation.

Corrosion Prediction

Corrosion calculations can offer you a

more accurate prediction of performance

and risk to avoid unnecessary metallurgy

upgrades and also provide significant

economic benefits. UOP has a license

for the PredictTM-SW*, PredictTM-Crude

and Alloy Selection System for Elevated

Temperatures (ASSETTM)** corrosion

prediction software.

The reactor effluent air coolers (REAC) in

hydrocracking units can be susceptible to

corrosion, therefore, the reliability of the

REAC directly impacts your profitability.

Corrosion rates in the REAC can be studied

using the Predict-SW software, which

shows any actions necessary to optimize

the safety and reliability of your equipment.

Predict-SW software calculates corrosion

and materials engineer with information

about the long-term corrosion of 92

commercial alloys exposed to a variety of

corrosive gases at high temperatures.

The ASSET software can predict corrosion

mechanism and corrosion rates, and

rank materials based on corrosion,

providing guidance on equipment life

and materials selection.

Failure Analysis

Most failures in a refinery or petrochemical

plant are not solely metallurgical, but

may involve process stream chemistry,

operating conditions, mechanical design

or other factors.

UOP draws on in-house expertise in

metallurgy, inspection and mechanical and

process design to identify the root cause

of a component failure and provide an

integrated solution to avoid future failures

and save money over time. Our field and

laboratory services are at the forefront

of the industry and support each phase of

the analysis.

rates and flow regimes for REAC inlet

piping, outlet piping and air cooler tubes.

It also provides corrosion rates on 14

commercial alloys over a wide range of

NH4HS concentration, H2S partial pressure,

temperature, hydrocarbon content and

tubing/piping configurations.

With refineries starting to process more

heavy crudes, naphthenic acid corrosion

in crude and vacuum units has become a

concern. Naphthenic acid corrosion can

now be more accurately predicted using

the Predict-Crude software. Data is

combined with flow modeling calculations

on eight plant tubing/piping configurations

to predict corrosion rates of eight

commercial alloys over a range of Total

Acid Number (TAN)/Naphtenic Acid

Number (NAT), active sulfur levels,

naphthenic acid type and temperature.

High temperature gas phase corrosion is

a common problem in equipment such as

fired heaters and FCC unit regenerators.

The ASSET software provides the corrosion

Metallurgical analysis of failed tubing. Multiple characterization techniqueswere employed to identify the failure mechanism as high temperature sulfidation corrosion.

Level 3 creep and fatigue damage analysis.

Optical Microscopy Scanning ElectronMicroscopy

Energy Dispersive X-ray Microanalysis

*Trademark of Honeywell Process Solutions**Trademark of Shell

UOP5514March, 2011Printed in U.S.A.© 2011 UOP LLC. All rights reserved.

UOP LLC, A Honeywell Company

25 East Algonquin Road

Des Plaines, IL 60017-5017, U.S.A.

Tel: +1-847-391-2000

www.uop.com

Consulting Services

The success of our materials evaluation

goes beyond the actual implementation

of technology. It requires a working

knowledge of the process and technical

skills needed to efficiently operate and

maintain a refinery or petrochemical plant.

Our staff of highly qualified engineers and

metallurgists provides on-site consulting

services, including degradation mechanisms,

materials substitution and specifications,

welding and fabrication, and repairs.

Our consultants also offer expertise in

inspection and code related issues.

As part of our consulting service package,

we offer training in general metallurgy,

corrosion prevention, failure mechanisms,

inspection codes, welding techniques, and

general inspections. Customized training

can be developed to serve your specific

needs and training can take place in our

facilities or at your plant.

Find out more

If you are interested in learning more about

UOP materials engineering, please contact

your UOP representative or visit us online

at www.UOP.com.

These state-of-the-art tools enable us

to conduct fractography and surface

morphology studies, corrosion scale

identification, and organic analysis.

We offer our customers several other ways

to ensure the successful operation of their

refinery or petrochemical plant, including

alloy identification, strength, hardness and

toughness analysis.

Replica of Incoloy 800 piping, showing intergranular stress corrosion cracking.

Material Characterization

UOP’s ability to provide material

characterization service is due, in part, to

the superior tools and techniques we have

developed, which play a key role in our

ability to ensure total performance reliability

and meet your changing needs. Techniques

used in our material characterization

process include:

• Metallography

• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)

• Mass spectroscopy (MS)

• Transmission electron microscopy (TEM)

• X-ray diffraction (XRD)

• Gas chromatography (GC)

• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

• Scanning transmission electron

microscopy (STEM)

• Fourier transform infrared (FTIR)

• Field positive material identification (PMI)

• Raman spectroscopy