Recent advances in determination of FAC susceptibility by handheld XRF analysis

Authors : Mr. Esa Nummi

Company : Bruker Elemental               
Country : USA

Topic :

Non-Destructive Examination methods
Inspection methods
Chromium/copper measurements

ABSTRACT :

 Flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) is one of the most common reason for pipe failure in fossil fuel and nuclear power plant piping systems. Detecting the pipes that are more at risk can significantly reduce costs and improve safety by reducing the chance of catastrophic failures. This paper discusses the use of Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) based handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis for determination of FAC susceptibility of carbon or low alloy steel piping systems and components.

Material composition is one of the most important issues for determination of susceptibility to FAC. Inspection of the piping material to determine exact composition of carbon or low alloy steel pipes and components provides important information for planning of the inspection protocol and predicting the FAC rate. Chromium is known to be the most influential element on FAC, but copper and molybdenum contents also effect on the FAC rate. Even small amounts of Cr, Cu and Mo in carbon steel can significantly reduce the FAC rate. This makes determination of content of these elements in carbon or low alloy steel pipes, tubes and components an essential part of a FAC inspection and prediction protocol.

Several different analysis methods ranging from large stationary laboratory instruments to handheld XRF instruments can be used for determination of trace alloying elements of carbon or low alloy steel components. Traditionally, large stationary laboratory analyzers or mobile optical emission spectroscopy (OES) have been used for FAC inspection due to the low concentrations of analyzed elements and high accuracy and precision requirements.

Handheld XRF technology has advanced rapidly and today the analytical performance of modern handheld XRF instruments is very close to that of large stationary laboratory instruments. New generation Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) based handheld XRF instruments, such as Bruker S1 TURBO have substantially improved sensitivity and speed and can measure trace Cr, Cu and Mo content on-site quickly and reliably. This paper presents an effective and reliable on-site measurement protocol for measurement of trace Cr, Cu and Mo in carbon and low alloy steels and discusses the advantages and limitations of this method. Test data to demonstrate accuracy and precision of the modern handheld XRF analyzer for measurement of these critical steel alloying elements will be presented.

Speaker Biographical Information

 Esa Nummi is a Handheld XRF Product Manager for Bruker Elemental based on Kennewick, Washington.

He has a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Lappeenranta and over 15 years of experience in various analytical methods and instrumentation. He has been involved in development of Handheld XRF technology and measurement methods for different research and industrial applications since 2004.