The Paton Welding Journal, 2026, №05

2026 №05 (05)

DOI of Article 10.37434/tpwj2026.05.06

2026 №05 (01)

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The Paton Welding Journal, 2026, #5, 43-50 pages

Damage of stainless rolled pipes of gasoline vapor cooling units at oil refineries

S.O. Osadchuk, L.I. Nyrkova, L.V. Goncharenko, V.P. Yelahin, S.Yu. Kovalenko

E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NASU. 11 Kazymyr Malevych Str., 03150, Kyiv, Ukraine. E-mail: svetlanaosadchuk@meta.ua

Abstract
The peculiarities of damage of stainless rolled pipes of gasoline vapor air cooling unit at an oil refinery after 1 year of operation, which were detected on the boundary of transition from the rolled section of the pipe to the unrolled section, were investigated. Stress corrosion cracking occurred as a result of the combined effect of a hydrocarbon environment at elevated temperature (more than 80 °C) and the stressed state of the product caused by rolling. Optical microscopy showed that the pipe wall thickness was uneven. The propagation of a through crack and corrosion damage to the inner surface in the form of a network of cracks located transversely to the pipe axis developed by the mechanism of intergranular fracture. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of sulfur and chlorine in pits, which indicates their entering from the hydrocarbon environment. A decrease in nickel content from 2.59 to 7.47 % compared to the base metal (10.5 %) was also found, which caused electrochemical heterogeneity and a difference in microhardness (the potential difference between the rolled and unrolled areas on the inner surface of the specimen was 0.087 V, microhardness was 405 HV and 356 HV, respectively).
Keywords: stainless steel, gasoline vapor cooling unit, rolled pipes, inner corrosion, stress corrosion cracking

Received: 21.01.2026
Received in revised form: 10.03.2026
Accepted: 05.05.2026

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Suggested Citation

S.O. Osadchuk, L.I. Nyrkova, L.V. Goncharenko, V.P. Yelahin, S.Yu. Kovalenko (2026) Damage of stainless rolled pipes of gasoline vapor cooling units at oil refineries. The Paton Welding J., 05, 43-50. https://doi.org/10.37434/tpwj2026.05.06

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