On post-hydrostatic testing microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC): causes and preventional methods

Abstract

: Hydrostatic testing (HYD) is a practice often applied to welded pipelines to test both the strength and the leakage (contrary to Pneumatic tests that test only leakage possibility). For most cases of HYD, seawater is a frequent option. HYD can be performed with either wrong HYD (where untreated or maltreated water is used) or as incomplete HYD (where the water used for HYD remains in the pipe or wet layup is used with untreated water). In either case, corrosion in the form of microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) can happen and attack weak spots such as the welding zone (HAZ). This will be leading to the loss of mechanical integrity in terms of premature failure (brittle) and leakages. In this webinar, the main causes of post-HYD MIC and possible ways to prevent it are being discussed.