A failure analysis study on the flange of submersible vertical pump ASTM A234 operated in offshore platform

Arif Cahyono, Ade Irawan, Badrul Munir

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

A 234 steel flange ASTM is widely used in oil and gas. A damage flange from a unit of submersible pump operated at an offshore platform. The leakage was occurred at the flange connection at submerged part of the vertical pump. The external protection of the section was external coating. The leakage had occurred twice at the same vertical pump. The present investigation aims to analyze the main cause of the failure by conducting a standard failure analysis test including chemical composition test, visual examination, microstructural examination by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction and Brinell hardness measurement. The results of this investigation on the failed flange showed that the microstructure of the flange material is found to be ferrite-pearlite with banded structure on the pearlite. This banded structure influences the corrosion properties of the material. It is found that pearlite banded structure increase the corrosion rate of carbon steel. However, the damage mechanism could be due to Galvanic Corrosion and Crevice Corrosion. These two mechanism are possible to the flange joint between the bowl and column. The bowl is known as Nickel-Aluminum-Bronze (NAB) while the column is carbon steel (CS).

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 13th AUN/SEED-Net Regional Conference on Materials, RCM 2020 and the 1st International Conference on Materials Engineering and Manufacturing, ICMEM 2020
EditorsRachmadi Norcahyo, Tomohiro Yokozeki, Ahmad Fauzi Mohd Noor, Alvin Y. Chua, Johny Wahyuadi Soedasrsono
PublisherAmerican Institute of Physics Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)9780735441446
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Nov 2021
Event13th AUN/SEED-Net Regional Conference on Materials 2020, RCM 2020 and the 1st International Conference on Materials Engineering and Manufacturing, ICMEM 2020 - Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Duration: 27 Jan 202128 Jan 2021

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume2338
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

Conference13th AUN/SEED-Net Regional Conference on Materials 2020, RCM 2020 and the 1st International Conference on Materials Engineering and Manufacturing, ICMEM 2020
Country/TerritoryIndonesia
CityYogyakarta
Period27/01/2128/01/21

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A failure analysis study on the flange of submersible vertical pump ASTM A234 operated in offshore platform'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this