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Dead Leg

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104 views

Dead Leg

Uploaded by

Raghavan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dead Leg, Dummy Leg Piping Inspection

Dead Leg, Dummy Leg Piping Inspection


DEAD LEG PIPING

Identification of dead legs


1. Dead legs shall be identified and divided into the following categories:

 Permanent or physical dead legs: Areas subject to long term stagnation


with have been built into the plant or have arisen from modifications over
the course of the life of the facility.
 Operational dead legs: Locations or sections of the plant that are stagnant
for operational reasons (e.g. lines only used for start up or shut down).
 Mothballed dead legs: Equipment temporarily removed from service that is
susceptible to dead leg corrosion, especially in the absence of an
approved treatment.

2. Examples of dead legs are as follows:

 Blinded branches.
 Lines with normally closed block valves.
 Stagnant control valve bypass piping.
 Spare pump piping.
 Relief valve inlet and outlet piping.
 Relief valve header piping.

1. Dead legs should be identified using the latest revision of the piping and
instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) and with the assistance of operations
for systems that are not normally flowing and/or are mothballed.
2. The identification and orientation of dead legs should be confirmed by an
authorized inspector that walks the system verifying the accuracy and
completeness of the listing.
3. A record of dead legs should be compiled which contains all physical, and
as practicable, all operational dead legs. Dead leg records should be
categorized by piping system and identified on the piping isometric.

Areas of inspection.
1. Consideration should be given to remove dead legs that serve no further process purpose.
2. Dead legs must be inspected per the interval prescribed by API 570 classification.
3. Inspections should be targeted at locations where water and deposits can collect allowing
microbial activity to develop as follows:

 Bottom third of any horizontal piping.


 Branch connections originating from the lower half of horizontal lines;
inspection will be targeted at low spots, bottom of vertical sections,
horizontal sections, above closed vales, etc.
 Sections of branch connections close to the main line which is the source
of bacteria, nutrients, and heat.
 Lowest parts of vessel bridle work, together with any associated level
gauges.
 Upstream of concentric reducers.
 Locations where previous corrosion or erosion has reduced the wall
thickness.
1. Dead legs consisting of long lengths of pipe must be clearly
marked and identified for inspection.
2. On-line inspections of large diameter or high temperature
piping may be deferred until the next downtime.
3. Dead legs shall be identified on the isometric drawing.

5.3 Inspection method and extent


5.3.1 Ultrasonic scanning and radiography are the primary non-invasive techniques used to
detect internal dead leg corrosion and should be used for inspection.
5.3.2 Corrosion monitoring locations (CMLs) will be assigned to dead legs.
5.3.3 If accessible, Class 1 and Class 2 dead legs shall be RT inspected. CMLs will be located
every 50 feet per dead leg.
5.3.4 If accessible, class 3 dead legs shall be RT inspected. CMLs will be located every 100
feet per dead leg.
5.3.5 Where radiation sensitive electronic devises would be affected, UT is acceptable in lieu
of RT.
5.4 Frequency of inspection
5.4.1 Dead legs will be inspected at the half life, with a maximum interval as seen in Table 2.

Table 2 – Maximum dead leg inspection frequency

API 570 Piping Maximum Thickness Visual


Class Measurement Frequency External

Class 1 5 years 5 years

Class 2 10 years 5 years

Class 3 10 years 10 years

6.0 DUMMY LEG PIPING


6.1 Effect of design
6.1.1 Dummy legs constructed from open-ended pipe and oriented such that water
accumulates within the dummy leg shall be identified.
6.1.2 Corrosion of open-ended dummy legs shall be minimized as follows:

 Welding end caps on to the open end of the dummy leg.


 Drilling ½” diameter vent holes located at the bottom of the dummy leg
and at other locations to allow any water to drain away.
 Non-welded caps made from stainless steel material may also be used to
minimize dummy leg corrosion.

6.2 Inspection method and extent


6.2.1 RT is the preferred inspection method for dummy legs.
6.2.2 Piping that is greater than 8” in diameter shall be inspected using UT.
6.3 Frequency of inspection.
6.3.1 The maximum inspection frequency for dummy legs should be 10 years.
6.3.2 Dummy legs will be inspected at the time of API 570 external piping inspections.

7.0 REFERENCES

 API 570 Piping Inspection Code Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and Rerating
of In-Service Piping Systems.
 API 574 Inspection Practices for Piping System Components.

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