Continued Investigation into Insulation Driven Intergranular Stress Corrosion Cracking of Carbon Steel

Abstract Insulation driven stress corrosion cracking has been a persistent failure mechanism for carbon steel assets operating in Northern Alberta since 2014. Cracks have occurred on uncoated carbon steel operating between 70 °C and 190 °C and exposed to wet mineral wool insulation. All cracks in the field have been associated with mineral wool insulation produced between the years of 2000 and 2013; however, more recent vintages are also expected to be susceptible based on laboratory analysis. A group of 5 operating companies formed a joint industry project in 2021 to share information and investigate this failure mechanism. This paper provides an update on progress made over the past year, with a focus on the identification of the root cause and the development of a suitable test method to identify susceptibility.