NIOEC-SP-80-06(0)

DOCUMENT CODE NO. OF PAGES: 4

PLAN/PRJ/SUB UNIT PHASE DISCIPLANE DOCUMENT TYPE SERIAL NO. REV. NO. DATE
NIOEC 000 EG TP SP 8006 A0 December 2016

NATIONAL IRANIAN OIL REFINING & DISTRIBUTION COMPANY

NATIONAL IRANIAN OIL ENGINEERING
& CONSTRUCTION COMPANY

NIOEC SPECIFICATION
FOR

HYDROTEST WATER QUALITY

FIRST EDITION

DECEMBER, 2016

THIS SPECIFICATION IS THE PROPERTY OF NATIONAL IRANIAN OIL ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION COMPANY. IT IS CONFIDENTIAL AND ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED TO THE OWNER. NEITHER WHOLE NOR ANY PART OF THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE DISCLOSED TO ANY THIRD PARTY,
REPRODUCTED, STORED IN ANY RETRIEVAL SYSTEM OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN
CONSENT OF THE NATIONAL IRANIAN OIL ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION COMPANY.
 December, 2016 NIOEC-SP-80-06(0)

IN THE NAME OF GOD

FOREWORD
By their very nature, technical specifications are continuously subject to modifications and
revisions. To strengthen their merit and usefulness, continuous improvements, addendum, deletion
of disparate information and consequently provision of updated revisions are to be made in order to
ascertain that such Specifications meet the current requirements, inclusive of Iranian Petroleum
Standards (IPS) and the recognized and acceptable national and international Standards, as well as
the optimal codes and practices based on the accumulated in- house know how and plant knowledge
and experiences.

However, in reality, due to several reasons, not to mention the complexity of the matter, the
ultimate goal of continuous direct embedment of the required changes on the relevant Specifications
may be far reaching. Therefore, in the interim periods between the officially issued revisions, the
required changes will appear in other documents related to the engineering and design work of the
on going projects.

In response to the initiative of the Design Division and Directorate, and considering that the task of
the execution of several important and mega projects for the realization of the new oil refineries, 1s
and oil terminals as well as improvements of the existing facilities, has been assigned to NIOEC, it
was decided to update the NIOEC Specifications and to issue new official revisions.

The Design and Engineering Directorate was itself entrusted to carry out this important task, and as
such by forming several special technical committees, working in close co-operation and cohesion
and sharing their expertise and knowledge, the updated and revised NIOEC Specifications were
successfully prepared and compiled.

These Specifications are intended to be used for Oil Refineries, Distribution Depots, Oil Terminals,
Pipelines and Pump Stations within NIOEC projects, and have been proven to be of high value for
such purposes. It must however be appreciated that these Specifications represent the minimum
requirements and should in no way be interpreted as a restriction on the use of better procedures,
engineering and design practices or materials.

We encourage and highly appreciate the users and other clear sighted and experts to send their
comments on the Specifications to the Design and Engineering Director of NIOEC for evaluation
and approval.
 December, 2016 NIOEC-SP-80-06(0)
REVISION INDEX
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23 48 73 98
24 49 74 99
25 50 75 100

NOTES:
1) THIS SHEET IS A RECORD OF ALL REVISIONS TO THIS SPECIFICATION.
2) WHEN APPROVED EACH REVISION SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS A PART OF THE ORIGINAL
DOCUMENT.
3) NUMBER OF PAGES EXCLUDES THIS SHEET AND THE COVER SHEET.

4
3
2
1
M.KAREGAR A.ARMAN
0 December 2016 J.KHOSRAVI J.KHOSRAVI
NAJAFI MOGHADAM
REV. DATE PREPARED CHECKED APPROVED AUTHORIZED
 December, 2016 NIOEC-SP-80-06(0)

CONTENTS: PAGE NO

1. SCOPE.........................................................................................................................................2
2. REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................................2
3. UNITS ..........................................................................................................................................2
4. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................2
5. BIO-CORROSION CONSIDERATIONS ...............................................................................3
6. SPECIAL TREATMENT ..........................................................................................................4
7. OPERATING PROCEDURE DOCUMENTATION .............................................................4
8. SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT.............................................................................................4

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 December, 2016 NIOEC-SP-80-06(0)
1. SCOPE
This NIOEC Specification comprises the requirements of the water quality used for the pipeline,
storage tanks, piping, and vessels … hydrostatic pressure/leakage tests. It should be noted that this
specification covers hydro test water specifications through the corrosion point of view. The quality
of disposal water from hydrostatic tests shall also meet the requirement of Iranian Departments of
Environment (DOE) obligations.

2. REFERENCES
The following standards, codes and specifications, to the extent specified hereinafter, shall
constitute a part of this Client Specification. Latest edition of the undated referenced documents and
the cited edition of the dated references shall apply. The applicability of changes made to the dated
references, after the cited date shall be mutually agreed upon between Client and the Vendor/
Contractor.

API (AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE)

API 560 “Fired Heaters for General Refinery Services”
API RP573 “Inspection of Fired Boilers and Heaters”
API 650 “Welded Steel Tanks for Fuel Storage”
API 661 “Shell-and-tube Heat Exchangers”
API 660 “Air-cooled Heat Exchangers”
API 6D “Specification for Pipeline Valves”

NIOEC-SP (NIOEC SPECIFICATION)

NIOEC-SP-00-10 "NIOEC Specification for units"
NIOEC-SP-50-05 "NIOEC Specification for field pressure testing"

NORSOK (NORWEGIAN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY)

NORSOK L-004 “Piping fabrication, installation, flushing and testing”

3. UNITS
International system of units (SI) shall be used in accordance with NIOEC-SP-00-10, unless
otherwise specified.

4. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
4.1. Prior to commissioning of new structures or after maintenance and modifications of existing
structures such as pipe works, above ground storage tanks, vessels and boxes, structural
integrity shall be determined using a hydrostatic pressure test, in which the mentioned
pipe/tank/vessels is filled with water, pressurized above the intended operating pressure and
monitored for leaks, pressure loss or in some cases foundation settlement over a specified time
period.

4.2. Pressure tests shall be conducted with water (including inhibited water), except if sufficient
water of adequate quality cannot be made available, if disposal of water is not possible, if

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 December, 2016 NIOEC-SP-80-06(0)
testing is not expedient or if water contamination is unacceptable, Pneumatic tests (when
necessary) may be made using air or a non-toxic gas.

4.3. If low ambient temperatures prevent testing with water, depending material type an anti-
freezing additive may be used (see NIOEC-SP-50-05).

4.4. Preventing any corrosion and other destructive effects, Hydro-testing should carry out in its
minimum possible time and the water should immediately discharge after test implementation.

4.5. Water for testing can be obtained from the closest available water source, including surface
water (river, lake, stream or sea), bore water and municipal water supply. Unless otherwise
specified sewerage effluent water isn’t permitted to use for hydrostatic water tests.

4.6. Reused water from a previous hydrostatic test shall be subjected to Client approval. The
Electrical conductivity of reused water shall never be above 2000 μS/cm and the pH shall be in
the range of 6-8.

4.7. When specified by client and where the fluid is presumed to remain in the equipment for more
than one week, an oxygen scavenger shall also be used to prevent rust-coloured ferric oxide
deposit.

4.8. The oxygen scavenger shall be mixed with the fluid at the “last minute” to avoid re-aeration of
the water.

4.9. Time and pressure needed for the hydrostatic water test should be in accordance with relevant
specification / standard requirements i.e. NIOEC-SP-50-05.

4.10. Water obtained from any source, shall strictly meet the maximum chloride content allowed as
bellow:

Max. Chloride level

Material Temperature
(ppm by Mass)
Carbon steel Up to 40 ºC 200
Stainless steel Up to 40 ºC 50
Carbon steel 40 ºC – 65 ºC 100

4.11. Unless otherwise specified by Client, all the water used shall be filtered to a maximum
particle size of 200 μm before injection.

4.12. Any chemical treatment procedure shall be submitted to the Client for approval.

5. BIO-CORROSION CONSIDERATIONS
5.1. Unless otherwise specified by client, prior to hydro-test, water samples should laboratorial
tested detecting the risk of bacterial corrosion during the test period. The bacteria responsible
for the corrosion of metallic structures during hydro-test are commonly including SRBs
(Sulfate Reducing Bacteria), SOBs (Sulfur Oxidizing Bacteria) and IOB (Iron Oxidizing
bacteria)
5.2. Though the residence time of water in hydrostatic tests is generally too short to allow any
significant microbial corrosion but where test results indicates microbial corrosion likelihood

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 December, 2016 NIOEC-SP-80-06(0)
or specified by client, the special biocidal treatments shall be added to test water to control the
biocidal risk during the test, and during future pipe operation.
5.3. Bellow table shows a list of allowed non- oxidizer biocides which may be used in the case of
biocidal corrosion or when specified by NIOEC.

No Biocides Active Ingredient

1 Glyoxal
2 Quaternary ammonium
3 Quaternary phosphonium salt
4 Thiocyanate
5 Organobromide
6 Combination package
7 Polymeric biguanide
Dialdehyde
Alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride
THPS (tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulfate)
Methylene bis(thiocyanate) (MBT)
DBNPA (2,2 dibromo–3–nitrilopropionamide)
Biguanide/oxygen scavenger/corrosion inhibitor
PHMB

5.4. Exception for the THPS with minimum concentration of 100 ppm (active component), the
minimum dosage for the rest biocides shall be in accordance with the product data sheet.
5.5. Discharged water contains toxic contaminants may require treatment prior to disposal. (See
8.1)

6. SPECIAL TREATMENT
Bellow table shows the two steps treatment required for the stainless steels in case the chloride
content above 50 ppm.

Purpose Chemical Minimum dosage

pH increase Caustic Soda To reach a pH of 8-9
Pitting prevention Sodium Nitrate 3 mg per mg of chloride

7. OPERATING PROCEDURE DOCUMENTATION

The operating procedures submitted by Contractor to the Client for approval shall specify:
(a) The treatment method
(b) Chemical products used, their data sheets and material safety data sheets and, if necessary,
certificates of conformity or analysis
(c) Monitoring procedures and associated acceptance criteria
(d) Conditions required for discharge of treated water.

8. SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

8.1. All Chemical and biocides used in hydro-test water and discharge water shall meet the
requirements of the latest edition of Iranian Department of Environment (DOE) regulations.
8.2. Special safety consideration should be taken when the water includes harmful chemicals or
inhibitors.
8.3. Type of biocide may be limited when the water is discharged into the environment.
8.4. It should be noted that most biocides are toxic to the aquatic environment may need to be
neutralized before release.