Piping Asset Preservation for Static Equipment

Preserving Static Equipment 

Static equipment may come from the vendor with a nitrogen purge. If nitrogen purge is present, check N2 pressure weekly and re-purge as required. The process below is when N2 purge is removed before connecting piping to static equipment.

Materials:

• flangeDOT + VCI or flangeDOT +Tag+VCI
• flangeBUMPER or flangeBUMPER + Gasket
• multi-NUTS or nuts/bolts
• Tags-“N2 Removed” Tags
• SNOOP (soap/leak detection liquid)
• Project approved outdoor flange face corrosion inhibitor
• P3-GIT

Process:

1. Establish a 10-foot exclusion zone around flange opening to be vented. Vented flange is preferred to be at highest point at gauge attachment. If venting an exchanger, ensure both the shell side and tube side are both open.
2. Apply snoop to flange, loosen bolts of flange, and listen for N2 escaping. Do not directly breath vented nitrogen (SAFETY precaution).  Only competent persons in well ventilated area shall perform  N2 depressurization. Continue to snoop until bubbles do not appear while monitoring gauge until reading is ‘0”. Check for N2 presence using N2 sniffer. Safety protocols on your project may only allow an AGT(AUTHORIZED GAS TESTER) to use a N2 monitoring device. Check with your project safety representative for direction.
3. Open low point of static equipment to ensure not water is present.
4. Remove N2 purge tags/signage if present.
5. Remove shipping plates and blinds.
6. Inspect flanges/nozzles per PCC-1 guidelines using P3-GIT
7. Cover flanges or nozzle connections using  flangeDOT+VCI/flangeBUMPER/multiNUTS combination. If using flangeBUMPER +Gasket instead of flangeDOTS, application of project approved outdoor flange face corrosion inhibitor is recommended to provide flange/nozzle corrosion protection.

*Ensure manufacturers short/long term preservation and storage procedures are followed...  Follow OEM recommendations where possible*