Aaron Kelley, Altran's Manager of Engineering Programs, attended a workshop on Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) for the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) held at the Shanghai Nuclear Energy Design and Research Institute (SNERDI) in Shanghai, China from December 7 through 10, 2011. The workshop was sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and was designed for the purpose of providing FAC training to SNERDI concerning the detection, inspection techniques, evaluations, and mitigation of FAC in operating Nuclear Power Plants.
China is committed to increasing the country's nuclear capabilities by constructing several new nuclear plants. The workshop was to aid SNERDI in the establishment of a life extension system for operational nuclear power plants in China through implementation of a Plant Life Management (PLiM) Program and accumulation of key technologies for the long term operation of Nuclear Power Plants.
In the early 1980s, several plants experienced steam leakage in plant piping caused by FAC damage. A catastrophic pipe rupture which occurred at the Surry Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, prompted the U.S. and certain international utilities to work toward the development of a guideline for the management of pipe wall thinning.
What is FAC? All carbon steel piping corrodes when it comes into contact with water or wet steam. This normally protective oxide layer would typically protect the piping from further corrosion damage. However, FAC induced pipe wall thinning is caused by the dissolution of the normally protective oxide layer in the moving stream of water or wet steam. The oxide layer reforms and is again dissolved as a continuing process. The Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) program has been developed to monitor, predict, measure, analyze and mitigate the problem of pipe wall loss.
Most utilities have implemented a program to assess, predict, inspect, evaluate and mitigate FAC. The knowledge of the degradation and the mitigation techniques are critical in the success of a FAC program. The goal of a FAC program is to ensure not only the safety and reliability of the operating unit, but most importantly the safety of the plant workers.
If you have any questions concerning the FAC workshop recently held in China, or concerning Altran's capabilities with assisting our clients with their FAC programs, please contact Aaron Kelley at (815) 663-1492 (office) or (815) 878-3843 (mobile) or through my email address at aaron.kelley@altran.com.
Highlighted in the show were the engineering services provided by the newly formed Refining and Chemicals division along with Altran's unique in-situ piping rehabilitation services. Visitors from the process industries, mostly from facilities in the northeast with aging infrastructure, were greeted with samples of piping repair methodologies and engineered solutions for their difficult underground piping rehabilitation requirements. The show was a great success with more than 5000 chemical process professionals in attendance. For more information on Altran's engineering or piping rehabilitation services, please contact us at 609-409-9790 or