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provides you with information about the
inspection of the heat exchanger and heat
Home
exchanger testing during the manufacturing
phase, as well as in-service inspection in
GENERAL operating units. You may want to review
shell and tube heat exchanger inspection THIRD PARTY
Third Party procedure and related inspection and test INSPECTION
Inspection plan.
SERVICES
Vendor
Inspection Shell and Tube Heat CONTACT US
Factory Exchanger
Acceptance
Test
Inspection in
Inspection and
Manufacturing Shop
Test Plan
The construction code for shell and tube
Commodity heat exchangers is ASME Code Section
Inspection VIII, and it covers the minimum
requirements for design, materials,
Industrial
fabrication, inspection, testing, and

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preparation for initial delivery.

After the 2003 addenda of ASME Code

Section VIII Div. 1, the design of the shell
and tube heat exchanger needs to be done
based on Subsection C, in UHX part. The
design based on TEMA, or any similar code
might be accepted which meeting the
requirements of UHX part.

The heat exchanger still is a pressure

vessel and all requirements for ASME
pressure vessel does apply for heat
exchanger as well. We are going to avoid to
repeat those requirements for the heat
exchanger. You may review pressure vessel
inspection article for those requirements.

There are several inspection requirements

that only apply to the heat exchanger and
not regular pressure vessel:

Tube Inspection - The tube outside

diameter, inside diameter, thickness, and
ovality shall be checked before the building
of the tube bundle. You need to refer to
ASME Section II to get the acceptance
tolerances.

For example, if your tube material is SA

179, you have to refer to the SA 179 and
that will refer you to the SA 450 (

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Specification for General Requirements for

Carbon, Ferritic Alloy, and Austenitic Alloy
Steel Tubes) for acceptance tolerance. You
have to use your caliper, machinist ruler,
etc. to make these measurements and
make sure the values fall within acceptance
range.

Tube Bundle Inspection - The bundle

dimension shall be checked based on the
approved drawing. The baffle diameter and
distance between them shall be controlled
and meet the acceptance tolerances in the
drawing.

The tightness of stay bolts and spacers

must be controlled. The shell cleanliness
needs to be verified and make sure the
inside welds are complete and are ground
as per drawing requirements.

Tubesheet Inspection - The Tubesheet

shall be inspected before welding to the
shell. The hole diameter, grooves
dimensions, drilling pattern, the thickness of
the tubesheet and surface finish shall be
measured and checked aginst acceptance
tolerances in the approved drawing.

Tube Rolling Inspection - The tube rolling

shall be checked based on customer
specification. The wall reduction (after
rolling) and depth of roll shall be measured
and shall meet the customer specification.
The wall reduction should not be less than
5% and should not be more than 8% of the
tube wall thickness.

Leak Testing of Seal Weld (Tube to

Tubesheet) - if seal welding considered,

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then the leak test will be a mandatory

requirement. The shell side will be
subjected to the air pressure, and water and
soap solution will be sprayed to the
tubesheet to make sure all seal welds are
defect free. The bubble will be developed if
there was any welding defect such as
crack, pinhole, etc.

Shell side Hydrostatic Testing - After

manufacturing completion, the heat
exchange shell side will be subjected to the
hydrostatic testing. The test pressure
amount shall be consistent with the value
indicated in the approved drawing. The
holding time shall be based on the supplier
approved test procedure.

The pressure gages calibration and range

shall be controlled. The pressure gage
range shall be within 1.5 thru 4 times of test
pressure. The shell body and welding
seams shall be inspected. The tubesheet
also shall be checked. No leakage is
allowed.

The test pump hose shall be disconnected,

and no pressure drop is allowed. The test
result will be satisfactory if no leakage being
observed and no pressure being dropped
while the shell side was under pressure.

Tubeside Hydrostatic Testing - After

successful completion of shell side
hydrostatic testing, the bonnets are
assembled, and tube side is subjected to
hydrostatic testing. Similarly, the amount of
test pressure shall be as the one indicated
in the approved drawing. Other requirement
is similar to the shell test. No leakage and

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pressure drop shall be observed while the

tube side is under pressure.

Third Party Inspection for Shell and Tube

Heat Exchanger article provides you a
procedural content for heat exchanger
inspection. Review following standard
Inspection and Test Plan for Shell and Tube
Heat Exchanger.

You might be interested in reviewing

following related articles:

Heat Exchanger Theory

Fin Tube Heat Exchanger Inspection

Third Party Inspection for Fin Tube Heat

Exchanger

Inspection and Test Plan for Fin Tube Heat

Exchanger

Shell and Tube Heat

Exchanger
Application
Shell
and
Tube
heat

exchangers are the most popular type in the

industry. This type is made from 3

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components as listed below:

Two heads (one rear head, and the

other one stationary head)
Shell
Tube

One fluid is in the tube side and the other

one in the shell side. The heat transfer is
done through the tube wall.

So your heat exchanger with more tubes

will have more heat transfer surfaces, and
at the same time will have a higher heat
exchanger diameter.

There are different kinds of shell and tube

heat exchangers with different
applications.The reason for the high amount
of applications is that they are easy to
maintain.

Besides, the shell and tube heat exchanger

is the only type that can be designed and
operated at a temperature greater than 360
degrees centigrade, as well as in pressure
higher than 30 bar.

In-Service Inspection
of Shell and Tube
Heat Exchanger
The In-Service Inspection code for shell and
tube heat exchangers is API STD 510. The
other API recommended practices and
codes also have to be used in with this
Code.

Some of these Recommended Practices

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are
API
RP
572,
API
RP
577,
and
API
RP 571, and also construction code
sections might be used, such as ASME
Code Section VIII and ASME Code Section
IX.

For repair, the requirement of API STD 510

or ASME-PCC-2 needs to be met. The title
of ASME-PCC-2, which was first published
in 2006, is: “Repair of Pressure Equipment
and Piping.”

Please note: if your shell and tube heat

exchanger is “U” stamped and you need to
do the repair, you have to use a Repair
Organization holding an “R” Stamp from the
National Board Inspection Code.

The API 510 Pressure Vessel Inspectors

are qualified persons to perform shell and
tube heat Exchanger inspection. You may
also review the Industrial Plant Inspection
article.

What are the

Important Items in
the Shell and Tube
Heat Exchanger
Inspection in

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Overhaul?
Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Inspections
are categorized in the following way:

Shell and Structure in Heat Exchanger

Inspection:

Neutralization of Austenitic Stainless

Steel shell, clads, liner or weld
overlay, which contains H2S service.
The process needs to be done based
on approved procedures by a
corrosion engineer.
Neutralization is also required for shell
material with admiralty brass to
reduce the risk of SCC.
Neutralization of thermocouples, if
necessary, and doing dye penetration
test
Sampling from shell fouling and
corrosion products and making lab
analysis and making interpretation by
corrosion engineer (if necessary)
Cutting small area of insulation sheet
and removing the insulation and doing
visual inspection for any sign of
corrosion under insulation
Thickness measurement of different
parts of shell and shell nozzles and
making corrosion rate and remaining

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life calculation
Inspection of shell cleaning and
approval i.e. water jetting etc.
Checking inside surface for any
cladding, liner failure or separation
Inspection of Shell flange gasket
seating area for any erosion, damage
and cracking
Inspection of longitudinal and
circumferential weld joints, inlet and
outlet nozzles, reinforcement pads
and small bore connections for any
crack, corrosion and mechanical
damage and deformation
Dye penetration test on weld joints
that are susceptible to cracking,
austenitic flange face, weld overlay
and cladding surface and exchangers
exposed to amine and caustic
Hydrogen blistering inspection in
hydrogen services (hand lamp
procedure)
Heat exchanger support, steel
structure, foundation, bolt and nut
inspection

Bonnet in Heat Exchanger Inspection

Thickness measurement and making

corrosion rate and remaining life
calculation
Girth flange inspection for corrosion
and erosion
Internal surface inspection for
corrosion and fouling
Painting inspection of external surface
Dye penetration or magnetic particle
examination of weld joints susceptible
to cracking

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Tube

Bundle in Heat Exchanger Inspection

Taking care in the pulling out of tube

bundle to avoid any mechanical
damage
Sampling from tube side fouling and
corrosion products and making lab
analysis and making interpretation by
corrosion engineer (if necessary)
Controlling of water jetting or lancing
cleaning process
Controlling wire brushing process of
inner tube edge and rolling area
(preparation for ID measurement)
Inside diameter measurement in tubes
and tubes rolling areas
Rate off and accordingly plugging the
tubes when their OD reaches to the ID
plus one thickness
Retubing of tube bundle if more than
10% of tubes reach the above
rejection limit
Inspection from tube bundle
components such as tubesheet, tube,
tie rods and spacers, transfer baffles
or support plate, impingement baffle,
floating head flange and floating head
backing device
Inspection from internal surface of
tubes for corrosion and fouling
Pulling out a sample tube for

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sectioning and corrosion anlaysis if

necessary
Retubing when sectioning result
proves the thickness is half of the
nominal value
Visual inspection and dye penetration
test from tube to tubesheet seal or
strength weld
Eddy current testing if it is necessary

Channel in Heat Exchanger Inspection

Thickness measurement and making

corrosion rate and remaining life
calculation
Inspection of gasket seating area,
pass partition and nubbing for
corrosion and deformation
Inspection of internal surface for
fouling, corrosion and soundness of
linings (if any)
Balance hole inspection for corrosion
and erosion
Welding joints inspection for any
possible cracks
Reinforcement pad inspection and
doing soap test if necessary
Cathodic protection anodes inspection
and replacement if necessary
Diaphragm and division box visual
inspection and dye penetration test of
diaphragm for any possible cracks (for
high pressure exchangers)

Channel Cover in Heat Exchanger

Inspection

Thickness measurement and making

corrosion rate and remaining life
calculation

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Inspection of gasket seating area for

corrosion and deformation
Inspection for internal surface for
fouling, liner, cladding and coating
soundness
Soap test in channel cover with liner
Lifting lug weld joint inspection for any
possible crack

Floating Head Inspection:

Thickness measurement and making

corrosion rate and remaining life
calculation
Inspection of gasket seating area,
pass partition and nubbing for any
possible corrosion and deformation
Girth flange weld joint inspection for
any possible crack and corrosion
Internal surface inspection for
corrosion and fouling and soundness
of liner, coating and cladding (if any)

Expansion Joint Inspection

The heat exchangers with expansion

joints need to be inspected for:
Flange inspections for corrosion and
erosion
Inspection from internal surface for
corrosion and erosion
Air test

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The tube and shell hydrostatic test

need to be done after the above
stated inspection activities.

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Heater Inspections, Pressure Vessel Certification,
Pressure Vessel RT Test, Pressure Vessel Dimension
Inspection, ASME Impact Test Requirement, ASME
Pressure Vessel Joint Efficiencies, Pressure Vessel
Plate Material

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14 Comments

Pramono Tirtohamijoyo
It is good for reference... it is beneficial for me... how I can get
free standard API for shell and tube exchanger?
Like · Reply · 1 · 7y

Sujen Saithong
It is very good for new beginer to learning.
Like · Reply · 1 · 7y

Lalu Rajendran
it is very useful.....especially for oil&gas professionals.
Like · Reply · 7y

Nikhil Raj
useful..........we can know which standard has to follow for
different activities and inspection.
Like · Reply · 7y

Mot G. Oleur
very useful for me. thanks a lot,. please continue to inspires us.
Like · Reply · 1 · 6y

Atta Ul Noor Saquib

very useful
Like · Reply · 6y

Syed Raza Ali Zaidi

Thank You Its very Use Ful Articles For Me Thankx again
Like · Reply · 5y

Graham Clark
Super site can give you more examples and information if
required
Like · Reply · 5y

Blair Tucker Gilman

Need a great piece of equipment to help with heat exchange

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