Integrity Assessment of Pressure Components With Local Hot Spots

Local hot spots can occur in some pressure vessels and piping systems used in industrial processes. The hot spots could be result of, for instance, localized loss of refractory lining on the inside of pressure components or due to a maldistribution of process flow within vessels containing catalysts. The consequences of these hot spots on the structural integrity of pressure components are of considerable importance to plant operators. The paper addresses structural integrity issues in the context of codes and standards design framework. The interaction of hot spots as is the case when multiple hot spots occur is addressed. An assessment method suitable for Level 2 “Fitness-for-Service” evaluation is discussed, and applied to a commonly used pressure component configuration.