System maintenance is often a crucial component to finding and addressing corrosion under insulation (CUI) before it becomes problematic. That said, many of the traditional techniques for locating and measuring corrosion involve removing the insulation or cutting plugs out of the insulation to see how the metal pipe surface appears beneath it. This type of CUI testing introduces a host of potential problems for facility maintenance teams, including increased cost stemming from removing and (potentially) replacing the insulation and creating weak spots in the insulation at the sight of the plugs.
Instead of removing or damaging the insulation to test for CUI, scientists have developed CUI test methods that are non-destructive. These types of test methods don’t cut plugs or remove the insulation to test the pipe underneath. They use different scientific methods to determine whether or not the pipe below the insulation is at risk for CUI. This article details what those methods are for process pipelines and how they can effectively help maintenance teams mitigate CUI.
