CORROSION RATE,
REMAINING USEFUL LIFE,
INSPECTION INTERVALS
By: Muhammad Usman Asghar
Corrosion Rate
The rate at which corrosion proceeds. It is usually measured in mils-per-year (mpy) or millimeter-per-year
(mm/yr)
Corrosion Contributing Factors
Presence of H2S, CO2, Chlorides, Salts, Etc.
Important Terms & Symbols
Thickness Symbol Notes
Nominal thickness tnom or tnominal Based on std pipe or plate thickness
Initial thickness tini or tinitial or t1st At a CML - First thickness reading. Also called base or first reading.
Previous thickness tpre or tprevious At a CML - The previous(prior) thickness reading
Last thickness tlast or tcurrent or tactual At a CML - The most recent thickness reading. Also called current or actual
Minimum thickness tmin or tminimum or Minimum allowed thickness. Also called minimum thickness
tretirement
2 By: Muhammad Usman Asghar
CORROSION RATE CALCULATIONS
In principle corrosion is measured in terms of metal loss, i.e.
3 By: Muhammad Usman Asghar
Short-term Vs. Long-term Corrosion Rates
• Most Codes suggest you calculate the Long-Term and Short-Term corrosion rates. The Short-
Term corrosion rate is based on metal lost between the last two reading thickness at a TML. The
Long-Term corrosion rate is based on metal lost between the first and last thickness readings at a
TML.
• Advantages: Since process conditions often change over the life of the equipment, the Short-
Term corrosion rate is usually a better indicator of the current conditions. But this corrosion rate is
subject to greater inaccuracy when there are inaccurate thickness readings. The Long-Term
corrosion rate is less affected by inaccurate thickness readings.
• The Corrosion Rate used in Remaining Life calculations is usually the greater of the Long-Term
and Short- Term rates.
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Remaining Life/ Remaining Useful Life (RUL)
Remaining useful life (RUL) refers to the estimated amount of time an asset has until it becomes
unusable or requires replacement.
How to calculate the Remaining Life?
• The Remaining Life at a specific TML is the length of time remaining until this point corrodes to
the retirement thickness. The Remaining Life is the life from date of the last thickness reading. It is
not the remaining time from today’s date (unless the last reading was taken today). The Remaining
Life is basically how long until the “Corrosion Bug” eats through the Remaining Corrosion
Allowance.
• Retirement thickness is also called minimum thickness (tmin). The retirement thickness
(minimum thickness) is calculated using appropriate formulas from the construction code.
Here is the formula for Remaining Life:
5 By: Muhammad Usman Asghar
Inspection Interval
Inspection Intervals are determined based on the applicable requirements from the Inspection Code. Table below
summarizes the current rules for setting the Inspection Intervals.
Note! When establishing the interval for most inspection types, the Remaining Life must be calculated first.
Without knowing the Remaining Life, the Interval cannot be set!
Inspection Code Inspection Type Inspection Interval Rule
API 510 - Vessels Internal a) Normally, lesser of: 10 yrs or ½ Life, or
b) 2 yrs - if Life is from 2-4 yrs, or
c) Full Life - if Life is < 2 yrs
External Lesser of: 5 yrs or the Inspection Interval
API 570 - Piping Thickness Readings Lesser of: ½ Life or maximum interval specified in API 570 - Table 1. (Max
interval is either 5 or 10 yrs based on Piping Class)
External Per API 570 - Table 1. No relationship to Life.
(Seems a bit weird, but that’s the way the Code is written)
API 653 - Tanks External Lesser of: ¼ Life of Shell or 5 yrs
Internal Lesser of: Full Life of Bottom or 20 yrs
UT of Shell Lesser of: ½ Life of Shell or 15 yrs
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By: Muhammad Usman Asghar
Sample Corrosion Rate Calculations
By: Muhammad Usman Asghar
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Corrosion Modeling Softwares
• Electronic Corrosion Engineer (ECE) by Wood Plc
• PREDICT®-RT by Honeywell
• Larkton CM
• WebCorr's High-value Corrosion Prediction Software
• Hydrocor by Cenosco
• Olga Pipeline Corrosion by SLB
• Etc.
8 By: Muhammad Usman Asghar
THANK YOU
By: Muhammad Usman Asghar
