Failure of a furnace outlet pipe in a benzene plant by internal oxidation due to improper welding practice

A furnace outlet pipe made of INCOLOY® alloy 800H to handle gaseous hydrocarbon in a benzene plant developed cracks in the weld heat-affected zone during operation at 595 °C. Microstructural characterization revealed that the cracks were of the ductile intergranular mode, which could be related to localized plastic deformation alongside the grain boundaries. The microstructure of the heat-affected zone was distinguished from the base metal by a coarser grain structure and intergranular oxidation in addition to higher hardness indicating the presence of residual stresses from the welding process. Intergranular oxidation was found to result in a mixture of Cr and Fe oxides enveloping a Ni-rich solid-solution adjacent to the grain boundary. Therefore, the observed ductile intergranular cracking could be related to localized plastic deformation in the relatively “soft” zone of Ni-rich solid-solution. Most evidence indicated that the failure occurred because of improper welding atmosphere leading to internal oxidation under relatively low oxygen potential, which is oxidizing to Cr and to a lesser extent Fe, and reducing to Ni.