• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.182-188
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• 2016

Significant piping wall thinning caused by Flow-Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) and Erosion-Corrosion (EC) continues to occur, even after the Mihama Power Station unit 3 secondary pipe rupture in 2004, in which workers were seriously injured or died. Nuclear power plants in many countries have experienced FAC and EC-related cases in steam cycle piping systems. Korea has also experienced piping wall thinning cases including thinning in the downstream straight pipe of a check valve in a feedwater pump line, the downstream elbow of a control valve in a feedwater flow control line, and failure of the straight pipe downstream of an orifice in an auxiliary steam return line. Cause analyses were performed by reviewing thickness data using Ultrasonic Techniques (UT) and, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images for the failed pipe, and numerical simulation results for FAC and EC cases in Korea Nuclear Power Plants. It was concluded that the main cause of wall thinning for the downstream pipe of a check valve is FAC caused by water vortex flow due to the internal flow shape of a check valve, the main cause of wall thinning for the downstream elbow of a control valve is FAC caused by a thickness difference with the upstream pipe, and the main cause of wall thinning for the downstream pipe of an orifice is FAC and EC caused by liquid droplets and vortex flow. In order to investigate more cases, additional analyses were performed with the review of a lot of thickness data for inspected pipes. The results showed that pipe wall thinning was also affected by the operating condition of upstream equipment. Management of FAC and EC based on these cases will focus on the downstream piping of abnormal or unusual operated equipment.

• 에너지공학
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.18-25
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• 2002

침부식 (FAC, Flow-Accelerated Corrosion)에 의한 감육 문제는 원자력 발전소 배관관리에 있어서 매우 중요하다. 특히 FAC는 배관 내부 유체의 pH, 용존산소 농도, 유체 온도, 유속 및 습증기 분율 등과 배관의 형상 및 재료 등의 특정 조건에서만 발생하므로, FAC 문제를 관리하기 위해서는 체계적인 접근이 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 국내 특정 CANDU원전의 2차계통 배관을 대상으로 관련 데이터베이스 구축, 구축된 데이터베이스를 이용한 FAC감육율의 예측 및 배관 잔여수명의 평가 등을 수행하였다. 또한 FAC 발생기구 및 FAC에 영향을 주는 요인에 대해서도 조사하였다. 습분분리기와 플래시탱크 사이 배관 라인의 해석 예로부터 FAC 문제를 관리하는 방안을 제시하였다. 제시된 방안은 국내 다른 원자력발전소의 배관 관리에도 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권7호
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• pp.1463-1471
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• 2017

In order to monitor the pipe thinning caused by flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) that occurs in coolant piping systems, a shear horizontal ultrasonic pitch-catch waveguide technique was developed for accurate pipe wall thickness monitoring. A clamping device for dry coupling contact between the end of the waveguide and pipe surface was designed and fabricated. A computer program for multi-channel on-line monitoring of the pipe thickness at high temperature was also developed. Both a four-channel buffer rod pulse-echo type and a shear horizontal ultrasonic waveguide type for high-temperature thickness monitoring system were successfully installed to the test section of the FAC proof test facility. The overall measurement error can be estimated as ${\pm}10{\mu}m$ during a cycle from room temperature to $200^{\circ}C$.

• 한국압력기기공학회 논문집
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.40-49
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• 2016

Flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) of the carbon steel piping has been a significant problem in nuclear power plants. FAC occurs under certain hydrodynamic, environmental, and material conditions, and extensive research into the factors of FAC has been conducted. The basic process of FAC is now relatively well understood; however, a full mechanistic model has not yet been established. Recently, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has built a large experiment loop system for FAC. To produce significant experimental results using this system, the factors affecting on FAC should be analyzed quantitatively, and a model needs to be developed. In this work, a statistical modeling methodology to develop an empirical model is described in detail, and a preliminary model is suggested. Firstly, FAC data were collected from the research literature in Japan and the results of domestic experiments. The flow rate, water temperature, pH at room temperature, and the Cr content are selected as major factors, and nonlinear regression is used to find the best fit of the available data. An iterative procedure between suggesting and evaluating a model is used until an optimum model is obtained. The developed model gives the FAC rate comparable to the measured FAC rate. The developed model is going to be refined using additional laboratory data in the future.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.334-341
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• 2001

The chemical and geometric effects of weld on flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) of SA106 Gr.C low alloy steel pipe in 3.5wt% NaCl and simulated feedwater of nuclear power plant have been investigated by using rotating cylinder electrode. Polarization test and weight loss test were conducted and compared at rotating speed of 2000rpm (3.14m/s) with the variables of chemical and geometric parameters. The results showed that the chemical effects were relatively larger than the geometric effects, and the welded parts were the local anode and preferentially corroded, which could be explained by the differences between microstructural and compositional parameters. On the other hand, under active corrosion conditions, the heat affected zone were severely corroded and microstructural effects became the important role in the whole process.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제12권6호
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• pp.274-279
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• 2013

Flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) of the carbon steel piping in nuclear power plants (NPPs) has been major issue in nuclear industry. During the FAC, a protective oxide layer on carbon steel dissolves into flowing water leading to a thinning of the oxide layer and accelerating corrosion of base material. As a result, severe failures may occur in the piping and equipment of NPPs. Effect of alloying elements on FAC of pipe materials was studied with rotating cylinder FAC test facility at $150^{\circ}C$ and at flow velocity of 4m/s. The facility is equipped with on line monitoring of pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen(DO) and temperature. Test solution was the demineralized water, and DO concentration was less than 1 ppb. Surface appearance of A 106 Gr. B which is used widely in secondary pipe in NPPs showed orange peel appearance, typical appearance of FAC. The materials with Cr content higher than 0.17wt.% showed pit. The pit is thought to early degradation mode of FAC. The corrosion product within the pit was enriched with Cr, Mo, Cu, Ni and S. But S was not detected in SA336 F22V with 2.25wt.% Cr. The enrichment of Cr and Mo seemed to be related with low, solubility of Cr and Mo compared to Fe. Measured FAC rate was compared with Ducreaux's relationship and showed slightly lower FAC rate than Ducreaux's relationship.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.131-137
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• 2020

A number of piping components in the secondary system of nuclear power plants (NPPs) are exposed to aging mechanisms, such as flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC), cavitation, flashing, solid particle erosion, and liquid droplet impingement erosion. Those mechanisms may lead to thinning, leaking, or rupture of the components. Due to the pipe ruptures caused by wall thinning in Surry unit 2 in the USA in 1986 and Mihama unit 3 in Japan in 1994, pipe wall thinning management has emerged as one of the most important issues in the nuclear industry. To manage pipe wall thinning, a foreign program has been utilized for NPPs in Korea since 1996. As our experience and knowledge of pipe wall thinning management have accumulated, our program needs to reflect our experience, requests from users, and the result of recent experiments using Flow Accelerated Corrosion Testing System (FACTS). FACTS is the empirical experimental facility developed by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) for tests. Accordingly, KEPCO-E&C developed a 3D-based pipe wall thinning management program called ToSPACE in 2016. This paper describes a comparison between the FAC analysis results using ToSPACE and the experimental results using FACTS to verify their applicability to pipe wall thinning management in NPPs.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권1호
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• pp.186-192
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• 2022

Flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a type of pipe corrosion in which the pipe thickness decreases depending on the fluid flow conditions. In nuclear power plants, FAC mainly occurs in the carbon steel pipes of a secondary system. However, because the temperature of a secondary system pipe is over 150 ℃, in situ monitoring using a conventional ultrasonic non-destructive testing method is difficult. In our previous study, we developed a waveguide ultrasonic thickness measurement system. In this study, we applied a waveguide ultrasonic thickness measurement system to monitor the thinning of the pipe according to the change in pH. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute installed FAC-proof facilities, enabling the monitoring of internal fluid flow conditions, which were fixed for ~1000 h to analyze the effect of the pH. The measurement system operated without failure for ~3000 h and the pipe thickness was found to be reduced by ~10% at pH 9 compared to that at pH 7. The thickness of the pipe was measured using a microscope after the experiment, and the reliability of the system was confirmed with less than 1% error. This technology is expected to also be applicable to the thickness-reduction monitoring of other high-temperature materials.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권12호
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• pp.4060-4066
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• 2021

Flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) of carbon steel piping is a significant problem in nuclear power plants. The basic process of FAC is currently understood relatively well; however, the accuracy of prediction models of the wall-thinning rate under an FAC environment is not reliable. Herein, we propose a methodology to construct pipe wall-thinning rate prediction models using artificial neural networks and a convolutional neural network, which is confined to a straight pipe without geometric changes. Furthermore, a methodology to generate training data is proposed to efficiently train the neural network for the development of a machine learning-based FAC prediction model. Consequently, it is concluded that machine learning can be used to construct pipe wall thinning rate prediction models and optimize the number of training datasets for training the machine learning algorithm. The proposed methodology can be applied to efficiently generate a large dataset from an FAC test to develop a wall thinning rate prediction model for a real situation.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.79-84
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• 2013

In general, pipelines at nuclear power plants are affected by various types of degradation mechanisms and may be ruptured after gradually thinning. FAC (Flow-Accelerated Corrosion) is typical aging mechanism affecting the secondary side piping system. In Korea nuclear power plants, CHECWORKS program have been used for management of wall thinning damages. However, sometimes, CHECWORKS program shows wrong results at the stage of NFA (Network Flow Analysis) in case of complex pipelines. This paper describes the calculation results of pressure drop in a complex pipeline and single line by using the CHECWORKS program and the analysis results are compared with those of engineering calculation results including errors between them.