Flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a phenomenon that results in metal loss from piping, vessels and equipment made of carbon steel. This metal loss can lead to stress to occur at the steam inlet nozzle side, where it is located at the side of the deaerator. This paper presents a method to find the thickness critical of the steam inlet nozzle. A Finite Element (FE) model of the pressure vessel head was created to perform a stress analysis using NX Nastran 5.0. By applying materials properties, loads and constraints to the model, the results obtained are required to satisfy the following criterion: vonMises≥SySy=YieldStrength The results obtained from the stress analysis were analyzed to obtain a corrosion allowance and it was compared to the recommended value from a normal deaerator design, which is roughly 0.25 inches. From the FE model, and by continuously reducing the thickness of the nozzle, it was determined that the corrosion allowance is 0.229 inches, and that the percentage error was 8.4%.
Flow-accelerated corrosion assessment for SA106 and SA335 pipes with elbows and welds