ABEINSA EPC

Technical Specification

Title:

Non Destructive Examinations for pipe welds

Project: Standard document

Document No.: 0000-ESP-AEPC-00-61-0002

Revision: 01

Date: 10/10/2014

Prepared by:

José A. Vélez Godiño Electronic Signature

Reviewed by:

Baltasar J. Navarro García Electronic Signature

Approved by:

Jesús Santos Egea Electronic Signature

This document is property of Abeinsa EPC. Its total or partial reproduction is strictly forbidden by any means, as well as its distribution
to third parties without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC.

If for exceptional reasons, due to specific aspects of the project (eg: project confidential information, legal requirements or local
regulations and/or contractual requirements of the client), there was a need to modify the requirements included in this procedure,
these changes must be properly documented in the quality, environment and health and safety plan of the project, prior approval
from the company headquarters management system department.

The original copy of this document is electronically signed and filed in the document management system of Abeinsa EPC.
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Prepared Reviewed Approved

Revision Date Reason for the revision
by by by

First issue.
Based on 0341-ESP-
01 10/10/14 JAVG BJNM JSE
AEPC-00-61-0002
Rev.01 for Xina project
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Index:

1 General ........................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 Objective ................................................................................................................... 4

1.2 Reference documentation .......................................................................................... 4

1.3 Units of measurements .............................................................................................. 5

1.4 Project data ............................................................................................................... 5

1.5 North of the plant ..................................................................................................... 5

2 Codes and standards applicable........................................................................................ 6

3 Scope .............................................................................................................................. 7

4 Non destructive examinations for pipe welds ..................................................................... 8

4.1 ASME B31.1 piping ................................................................................................... 9

4.1.1 Temperature over 400ºC (at all pressures) .............................................................. 9

4.1.2 Temperature equal or lower than 400ºC ...............................................................10

4.2 ASME B31.3 piping ..................................................................................................11

4.3 Golden Welds treatment...........................................................................................12

5 Defective components .....................................................................................................13

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1 General

1.1 Objective

The purpose of this document is to establish the minimum requirements for Non
Destructive Examination (NDE) on all pipe work to be executed by the Contractor (the
company that offers the examination services).

The Contractor shall verify all requirements and detailed specifications indicated in this
document, as it is responsible for fulfilling all activities defined within the scope of
services.

The Contractor shall submit all documents required by this specification, as well as
information required by third parties to perform other work that may be related to the
development of nondestructive testing.

The Contractor shall verify all requirements and detailed specifications indicated in this
specification and / or drawings, and will be ultimately responsible for the assembly and
testing of equipment and / or systems specified to achieve the objective proposed in this
specification.

Nothing stated in this specification exempt the Contractor to perform, in addition to the
specified, analyzes, tests, inspections or activities that Abeinsa EPC considers necessary to
ensure that materials, installation and manpower are satisfactory for the intended purpose
or are required by good practice

The approval by Abeinsa EPC of any drawing, procedure, specification, testing, etc.., No
exempt the Contractor from his responsibility.

This test plan will be binding on the Contractor, and will be include in his Quality Plan.

No alterations may be made in this specification without prior written permission of

Abeinsa EPC.

1.2 Reference documentation

All documents referenced in this specification, annexes and the documentation attached
in the service offer shall be taken into account.

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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1.3 Units of measurements

The supplier will use the units of the international system (SI) in all calculations and
documents, as well as the scales of the instruments except in the following cases:

• Temperature degrees Celsius (ºC)

• Pressure kilo square centimeter (kg/cm2) or barg

• Energy (heat) kilojoules (kJ)

• Energy (electric) kilowatt hour (kWh)

• Power kilowatt (kW)

• Viscosity centipoise (cP)

The diameters of pipes, fittings and flanges in inches, according with applicable standards.

1.4 Project data

See:

- Exhibit 1, Appendix 1 “Project Data. Geographical Location”

- Exhibit 1, Appendix 2 “Project Data. Environmental Conditions”

1.5 North of the plant

For the representation of buildings and equipment in the drawings, it shall be taken into
account that the North of the Plant will be located in the upper part of the drawings and
shall coincide with Geographical North.

For the axis of coordinates x, y, z, the plane coordinates (X, Y) U.T.M. shall be used. The
altitude Z shall be defined by absolute height above sea level.

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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2 Codes and standards applicable

All Laws, Rules and Officials national regulations (Safety and Health, Environment, etc.)
applicable, as well as others what are expressly indicated, always in the last edition, must
be comply with.

Where there are discrepancies between the different rules, or this specification, apply the
most demanding. Otherwise Abeinsa EPC will decide the applicable standard.

The administrative and safety conditions required by the owner to the suppliers, if any, will
be fulfilled.

The followings standards (without modify the legal requirements to fulfill by the suppliers)
will be applicable:

• ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers):

o ASME B 31.1 Power Piping.

o ASME B31.3 Process Piping.

o ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Section V. Non Destructive

Examination.

o ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Section VIII. Div 1. Rules for
Construction of Pressure Vessels.

• ASNT (American Society of Non-destructive Testing):

o SNT-TC-1A Personnel Qualification and Certification in Non Destructive

Testing.

• Applicable national regulations regarding the Non Destructive Examination

method.

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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3 Scope

The scope of this specification is the NDE on all the pipe welds to be installed in the plant,
such as visual, radiography, ultrasonic, eddy current, liquid penetrant, and magnetic
particle methods.

Pressure test is excluded from this document.

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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4 Non destructive examinations for pipe welds

The Contractor will include in his scope the implementation of the NDE which will be
made as follows:

Extend &
Examination Definition Remarks
acceptance criteria
Visual examination (VT) BPVC, sec. V, art, 9 B31.1 or B31.3
Magnetic particle (MT) BPVC, sec. V, art, 7 B31.1 or B31.3
Liquid penetrant (PT) BPVC, sec. V, art, 6 B31.1 or B31.3
Note 1
Radiography (RT) BPVC, sec. V, art, 2 B31.1 or B31.3
Note 2
Ultrasonic (US) BPVC, sec. V, art, 4 B31.1 or B31.3 Note 3

Note 1: The Contractor must provide a X ray viewer on site, which will be available for
Abeinsa EPC personnel use.

Note 2: Radiographies must be provided to designate Abeinsa EPC personnel on a daily

basis mandatorily.

Note 3: The equipment used to perform the ultrasonic examination shall be capable of
recording the UT data to facilitate the analysis by a third party and for the repeatability of
subsequent examinations.

NDE examinations are to be performed by trained & qualified personnel in accordance

with SNT TC 1A, Level II. Dates and results of personnel qualifications shall be provided by
the Contractor.

Any examination shall be performed in accordance with a written procedure.

The Contractor is responsible of an efficient schedule of NDE activities in order to

minimize the impact of area close-out time, including radiographic examination of
prefabricated spools in sheltered shop facilities prior placing them into their final erection
location.

An overall NDE status report will be provided by the Contractor on a weekly basis.

All instrument impulse pipework up to the first Isolation valve shall be tested considering
the same criteria as the main pipe line.

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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The type of testing and required percentage by type of service, design pressure and type
of weld is indicated in the following sections.

The referred percentages of NDE will be applied separately to both workshop and on field
welds, not being possible to balance between these. In other words, the same percentage
of NDE will be applied to workshop and on filed welds.

4.1 ASME B31.1 piping

The types and extent of mandatory examinations for welds are specified in the following
table.

Notes:

• For any attachment, reinforcement pad or support welded directly on the pipes,
the percentage and type of NDE to be performed will be the indicated in the table
above like (branch connection) for the corresponding fluid line.

4.1.1 Temperature over 400ºC (at all pressures)

Type weld NDE Scope (%)
Visual examination (VT) 100
Butt welds Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle 100
(girth and examination (MT) (if Ø<=2”)
longitudinal) Note 2
Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic 100
examination (UT) (if Ø>2”)
Visual examination (VT) 100
Welded 100
branch & Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle (if Ø<=4”)
olet examination (MT)
Note 2
connections Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic 100
examination (UT) (if Ø>4”)
Visual examination (VT) 100
Socket Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle 100
welds examination (MT) Note 3
Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic
5
examination (UT)

Note 2: Radiographic examination may be used as an alternative to penetrant or magnetic

particle examinations when it is performed in accordance with ASME B31.1 para. 136.4.5.

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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Note 3: Fillet welds not exceeding 6 mm throat thickness which are used for the
permanent attachment of non pressure retaining parts are exempt from the penetrant or
magnetic particle examination requirements of the above table.

4.1.2 Temperature equal or lower than 400ºC

Design
Type weld NDE Scope (%)
conditions
Visual examination (VT) 100
Pressure
equal or Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle 0
lower than examination (MT)
71 barg Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic 0
Butt welds examination (UT)
(girth and Visual examination (VT) 100
longitudinal) Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle
Pressure examination (MT) 0
over 71
barg Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic
100
examination (UT)

Visual examination (VT) 100

Pressure
equal or Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle 0
lower than examination (MT)
71 barg Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic 0
examination (UT)
Welded
Visual examination (VT) 100
branch &
olet 100
Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle
connections Pressure (if Ø<=4" &
examination (MT)
over 71 thk>19mm)
barg
100
Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic
(if Ø>4" &
examination (UT)
thk>19mm)
Visual examination (VT) 100
Pressure
equal or Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle 0
lower than examination (MT)
71 barg Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic 5
Socket examination (UT)
welds Visual examination (VT) 100
Pressure Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle
over 71 examination (MT) 0
barg Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic
5
examination (UT)

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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Acceptance standards for NDE performed are as follows:

• MT: see B31.1, para. 136.4.3;

• PT: see B31.1, para. 136.4.4;

• VT: see B31.1, para. 136.4.2;

• RT: see B31.1, para. 136.4.5;

• UT: see B31.1, para. 136.4.6.

All longitudinal welds and spiral welds in pipe intended for sustained operation in the
creep range (see paras. 104.1.1 and 123.4, and Table 102.4.7) must receive and pass a
100% volumetric examination (RT or UT) per the applicable material specification or in
accordance with para. 136.4.5 or 136.4.6.

4.2 ASME B31.3 piping

The types and extent of mandatory examinations for welds are specified in the following
table.

Type weld NDE Scope (%)

Visual examination (VT) 100
Butt welds Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle
(girth and 0
examination (MT)
longitudinal)
Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic
5
examination (UT)
Visual examination (VT) 100
Welded branch Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle 0
connections examination (MT)
Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic
5
examination (UT)
Visual examination (VT) 100
Liquid penetrant examination (PT) or Magnetic particle
Socket welds examination (MT) 0
Radiographic examination (RT) or Ultrasonic
5
examination (UT)

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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Notes:

• HTF service is not considered as “Category M Fluid Service” (see B31.3, para.
300.2). HTF service is considered as “Elevated Temperature Fluid Service” (see
B31.3, para. 341.4.4). HTF piping has been designed to avoid “Severe Cyclic
Conditions”. To be checked by the designer.

• P-No. 4 and P-No. 5 materials are not considered. To be checked by the designer.

4.3 Golden Welds treatment

Golden welds are those that can not be hydrotested for whatever reason. These kinds of
welds have to be approved in advance by Abeinsa EPC for all the cases that can appear on
site. In addition, the Contractor shall make a “control list” for all the golden welds where
at least the following information must appear:

• Isometric reference.

• Diameter.

• Material.

• Kind of weld (BW, SW, Olet…).

• Weld number.

• Bevel preparation.

• NDE performed.

Additional NDE is required for the golden welds, according to the following list:

• 100% visual examination (VT).

• 100% radiographic examination (RT) or ultrasonic examination (UT).

• 100% liquid penetrant examination (PT) or magnetic particle examination (MT).

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.
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5 Defective components

An examined item with one or more defects (imperfections of a type or magnitude

exceeding the acceptance criteria of the correspondent design code) shall be repaired or
replaced; and the new work shall be reexamined by the same methods, to the same
extent, and by the same acceptance criteria as required for the original work. Any weld
reparation shall be identified in a “welding control sheet”.

In parallel the Contractor shall make a “welder performance summary”, where Abeinsa
EPC can identify, per welder:

• Welder number.

• Homologation type / material – WPS.

• Welds performed.

• Welds with reparation.

• Type of reparation.

• Repair rate (nº of repaired joints / nº of total joints).

When a defect is identified, two additional samples in the same line shall be given the
same type of examination, according to the para. 341.3.4 in ASME B31.3 (although B31.1
being the design code). The extra cost for all the new inspections will be borne by the
Contractor.

The maximum allowed repair rate per welder shall be 5%. For higher values the welder
must be re-homologated on site after Abeinsa EPC approval or directly will be out of
welding works. Repair rates lower than 3% per welder will be considered as a good
practice.

This document is the property of Abeinsa EPC. Total or partial reproduction thereof, by any means, as well as distribution
to third parties, without the express written consent of Abeinsa EPC is strictly forbidden.