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Saw a guy at a Louisiana refinery refuse to preheat a 6 inch line before a hydro, and it split at 800 psi
I was on a turnaround in Baton Rouge two summers back watching a crew hydro test a carbon steel header when the lead told the helper to skip the warm water flush because it was 95 outside anyway. That line cracked right at a weld seam around 800 psi and sprayed everybody on the platform. Now I always ask for the preheat log before I sign off on any test, but half the guys I work with say it's overkill on small bore stuff. I get that time is money on a turnaround, but I also get that nobody wants to explain a wet test to the client. Where do you all land on this, is preheating small bore a must or just extra paperwork?
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wells.logan7d ago
What size was the line that cracked, and did they ever figure out if it was the cold water or just a bad weld that happened to let go at 800? Reason I ask is we had a 2 inch socket weld blow out during a hydro once and the weld looked fine on the outside, turned out the root never fused. Preheat would not have saved that one. So I am with you on wanting the log, but I also wonder how many of these small bore failures get blamed on temp when it was really the welder having a bad day.
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