COMPONENT INTEGRITY IN OPERATING HEAVY WATER PLANTS

RD Patel, OP Shrivastava, Vick Ga!ta"

Heavy Water Board, Mumbai 400094
Email:rdpatel@mum.hwbdae.org
Heavy Water Board, a co!tituet uit o" #epartmet o" $tomic Eergy, i! primarily
re!po!ible "or productio o" Heavy Water, which i! u!ed a! Moderator ad %oolat i
the uclear power a! well a! re!earch reactor!. Heavy Water Board ha! ma!tered the
comple& techologie! o" producig heavy water u!ig two chemical e&chage proce!!e!
vi' H()*H(+, bi thermal proce!! ad ammoia*hydroge moo thermal proce!!. ,t ha!
!i& heavy water plat! i the coutry. Heavy Water -lat! at Baroda, .uticori, .hal ad
Ha'ira are ba!ed o Moo*thermal $mmoia*Hydroge E&chage proce!!. Baroda ad
.uticori plat! are !igle !tream plat! wherea! .hal ad Ha'ira plat! have two
!tream!. /ota ad Mauguru plat! are ba!ed o Bi*thermal H()*Water E&chage
proce!!. /ota plat ha! a !igle !tream wherea! Mauguru plat ha! two !tream!.
Heavy Water -lat! hadle! huge ivetory o" lethal !ub!tace. HW- /ota 0 Mauguru
hadle! highly to&ic Hydroge )ulphide 0 HW- .hal, Ha'ira, Baroda 0 .uticori
hadle! $mmoia ad highly "lammable Hydroge 1a!. %o!iderig the a!!ociated ri!2
ad plat ageig, %ompoet ,tegrity i! vital "or !a"e operatio.
%ocept o" %ompoet ,tegrity !tart! right "rom the #e!ig )tage by !electig proper
material with re!pect to compatibility "or !ervice ad ductile behaviour o" the material i
the operatig rage. )tre!! level! are 2ept well below ela!tic limit. 1eometrie! 0 layout!
which give ri!e to )tre!! ,te!i"icatio are avoided i the "ir!t place. 3or %yclic loadig,
!tre!! level! are 2ept below edurace limit. %ompoet! hadlig high temperature high
pre!!ure "luid are de!iged "or %reep )tre!!. -lat e4uipmet! ad pipig have bee
de!iged a! per variou! iteratioal code! !uch a! the $)ME, #,5, $35+6, B), B,)
etc. .he!e de!ig code! ad !tadard! do ot addre!! the !ervice age related degradatio
mechai!m!. ,itiatio o" a "law or a udetected "law "rom origial "abricatio which
remaied which wa! hitherto dormat but got activated i !ervice may be "oud durig ,
)ervice ,!pectio. $-, recommeded practice 789*(000, 3ite!! 3or )ervice
a!!e!!met i! co!idered e!!etial to determie the "ite!! "or !ervice o" the compoet.
.hi! a!!e!!met demo!trate! the !tructural itegrity o" i*!ervice compoet cotaiig
a "law or damage. ,t al!o provide! the "ollowig re4uiremet!:
9. E!ure! !a"ety o" plat per!oel ad the public while older e4uipmet!
cotiued to be u!ed "or operatio.
(. -rovide! techically !oud 3ite!! 3or )ervice a!!e!!met procedure!.
:. Help! optimi'atio o" maiteace ad operatio o" e&i!tig "acilitie!, availability
o" older plat! ad ehace log term ecoomic viability.
, )ervice ,!pectio i! beig regularly carried out at all Heavy Water -lat! to
moitor the healthie!! o" the !y!tem a! a tool "or compoet itegrity a!!e!!met.
Ba!ed o ,), "idig!, corrective actio i! ta2e to e!ure !a"e operatio o" plat!.
+ completio o" plat de!iged li"e, e!timatio o" plat re!idual li"e i! madatory to
obtai lice!e "or operatio "rom the regulatory authority. 6e!idual li"e i! a!!e!!ed
co!iderig variou! damage mechai!m! vi'. Ero!io 0 %orro!io, %yclic ;oad,
Micro!tructure, %reep, )trai $ge Hardeig, Hydroge Embrittlemet, Hydroge
Bli!ter! etc.
Ba!ic approach "or a!!e!!ig itegrity o" pre!!ure compoet! ad e!timatio o"
re!idual wor2ig li"e o" plat! are a! uder:
9. C#$e %ase Li&e Assess"e't( %alculatio o" !tre!!e!, %umulative <!age 3actor,
%reep related Ela!to*-la!tic #e"ormatio.
(. Material %ase$ Li&e Assess"e't( #egradatio o" mechaical propertie! o" aged
material vi!*a*vi! the virgi material ad micro !tructural chage!, i" ay.
:. I's)ecti#' %ase$ Li&e Assess"e't( 3ormulate , )ervice ,!pectio =,), > -la.
-er"orm ,), to determie "law! ad their charactri!atio. ,t iclude! variou!
method! !uch a! thic2e!! mea!uremet u!ig ultra!oic techi4ue, !ur"ace
e&amiatio by vi!ual i!pectio 0 dye peetrat te!t, volumetric e&amiatio by
eddy curret te!tig 0 ultra!oic te!tig. ,t al!o iclude! !uper"icial harde!!
mea!uremet, i*!itu metallography ad mechaical te!tig. +ther techi4ue!
li2e radiography ad acou!tic omi!!io moitorig are al!o u!ed i !peci"ic ca!e!.
Ba!ed o the ,), e&erci!e beig "ollowed at all Heavy Water -lat!, "ollowig! are
cocluded:
9. 6eductio i thic2e!! ad corro!io related "ailure! have bee e&perieced.
.here"ore, corro!io =lo!! o" metal thic2e!!> i! co!idered a! oe o" the li"e
determiig mechai!m
(. %yclic loadig! due to variatio! i pre!!ure, temperature, wid load, vibratio!
are very omial which idicate! that "atigue crac2ig i! ot evi!aged at ay o"
the heavy water plat !y!tem!.
:. Highe!t operatig temperature o" the plat! =e&cept crac2er compoet! i
ammoia ba!ed heavy water plat!> i! below (70?%. )ice material o"
co!tructio i! %) ad )) hece creep related damage i! ot evi!aged.
4. ;owe!t operatig temperature i! =*> (7?% ad compatible material =;ow
.emperature %arbo )teel> with otch toughe!! property ha! bee employed
hece brittlee!! related cata!trophic "ailure i! ot aticipated.
7. Mechaical propertie! are "oud to be well withi the total value!, overload
mechaical "ailure! are ot evi!aged
@. .here i! !ome po!!ibility o" igre!! o" a!cet hydroge ito metal cau!ig
hydroge related damage! =Bli!ter! 0 Embrittlemet>. .he!e are co!idered
!eparately.
, light o" the above, the corro!io ad corro!io related damage! are the goverig
degradatio mechai!m i compoet! o" heavy water plat! =e&cept "or crac2er uit
compoet where precipitatio hardeig ta2e place>
HWB ha! a elaborate , )ervice ,!pectio -la "or )tre!! %ritical %ompoet! a! well
a! -roce!! %ritical ,tem!. ,t cover! variou! 5#. techi4ue! eg. Ai!ual E&amiatio, #-.
B M-., <)., Hydrote!t, .hic2e!! Mea!uremet etc. ,), i! "ollowed a! per !chedule ad
it i! the madatory.
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
$-, 789 cover! the "ollowig egieerig a!!e!!met procedure! "or a!!e!!ig "ite!! "or
!ervice:
$!!e!!met o" e4uipmet "or brittle "racture
$!!e!!met o" geeral metal lo!!
$!!e!!met o" local metal lo!!
$!!e!!met o" pittig corro!io
a!!e!!met o" bli!ter! ad lamiatio!
$!!e!!met o" weld mi!! aligmet ad !hell di!tortio!
$!!e!!met o" crac2 li"e "law!
$!!e!!met o" compoet! operatig i creep regime
$!!e!!met o" "ire damage