Best Practice

SABP-W-002 11 December 2011

Repair of Tube to Tubesheet
Welds and Retubing of Sulfur Condensers
Document Responsibility: Welding Standards Committee

REPAIR OF TUBE TO TUBESHEET WELDS

AND RETUBING OF SULFUR CONDENSERS

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards

Table of Contents

1 Scope.................................................................. 2
2 Use of Best Practice............................................ 2
3 References.......................................................... 2
4 Seal/Strength Welding Procedure....................... 3

Appendix 1 - Detailed Repair/Retubing Procedure… 5

Previous Issue: New Next Planned Update: TBD

Revised paragraphs are indicated in the right margin Page 1 of 7
Primary contacts: Adnan Awwami Tel. 880-9516 or Sanyasi Rao Tel. 880-9535.

Copyright©Saudi Aramco 2011. All rights reserved.

Document Responsibility: Welding Standards Committee SABP-W-002
Issue Date: 11 December 2011 Repair of Tube to Tubesheet
Next Planned Update: TBD Welds and Retubing of Sulfur Condensers

1 Scope

This Best Practice provides guidelines for repair and retubing of sulfur condensers in
Sulfur Recovery Units at Saudi Aramco operational facilities. It specifically addresses
special cleaning requirements during condenser bundle retubing when new tube to
tubesheet strength or seal welds are applied or when undertaking field repairs to
existing welds.

Field repair welding of sulfur condensers is a difficult task. This is because sulfur
becomes embedded in the tubesheet, making pre-welding cleaning a challenging
operation. Field experience has taught us that, if a high level cleanliness is not achieved
in the field, weld repairs will exhibit porosity and water leakage will occur during
operation.

2 Use of Best Practice

2.1 Disclaimer

This Best Practice provides special cleaning requirements based on current

industry practices. Its primary purpose is to ensure high quality welding of seal
and strength welds to avoid weld porosity and leaks during operation.
It complements Saudi Aramco Welding Procedure Specifications and is
intended for Saudi Aramco internal use only.

Saudi Aramco® is a registered trademark of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company,

Copyright, Saudi Aramco, 2011.

2.2 Conflicts with Mandatory Standards

In the event of a conflict between this Best Practice and other Mandatory Saudi
Aramco Engineering Requirement, the Mandatory Saudi Aramco Engineering
Requirement shall govern.

3 References

This Best Practice is based on the latest edition of the references below, unless
otherwise noted.

3.1 Saudi Aramco References

Saudi Aramco Best Practice

SABP-A-020 Corrosion Control in Sulfur Recovery Units

Page 2 of 7
Document Responsibility: Welding Standards Committee SABP-W-002
Issue Date: 11 December 2011 Repair of Tube to Tubesheet
Next Planned Update: TBD Welds and Retubing of Sulfur Condensers

3.2 Industry Codes and Standards

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

ASME SEC IX Welding and Brazing Qualifications

3.3 Other Documents

Chevron Manuals Volume 3 – Corrosion in Process Plants and
Upstream Operations- Corrosion Prevention
and Metallurgy Manual 3900 Sulfur Plants
(1999)
BP GS 118-8 Heat Exchanger Tube End Fixing (December
1996)

4 Seal/Strength Welding Procedure

A detailed seal/strength weld repair and retubing procedure is given in Appendix 1 with
key recommended steps listed below:
1. Completely remove all corrosion product, sulfur deposits, mill scale, cutting oils,
and dirt from metal surfaces in the weld area by abrasive blasting, grinding, or
steam detergent washing. Dry quickly to avoid rusting.
2. Machine without cutting oils. Any residual oil, sulfur, or iron sulfides will cause
pinholes or porosity in the molten weld metal.
3. Only lightly roll tubes before welding and only if necessary to hold tubes in
position. This allows gas in the crevice between the tubes and tubesheet to expand
and vent out the back of the tubesheet during welding.
4. Seal weld the tubes with a two-pass procedure using E-7018 electrodes. Visually
inspect between passes and repair all flaws observed during welding or inspection.
For repairs, SMAW welding should be used. Coated electrodes have better fluxing
action, which helps to remove residual contaminants that cause weld flaws. Inert gas
welding does not have the same fluxing ability.
5. Pneumatic test seal-welds at 2 psi to 3 psi with soap suds on the face of the
tubesheet.
6. Repair any leaking seal welds and repeat the air test until no leaks are found.
7. Reroll tubes, but don't roll closer than ½ inch from the weld
8. Dye-penetrant inspect the welds and hydrotest to make sure no leaking seal welds
are present. At some locations, several hydrotests are preferred on the theory that
cyclic tests find leaking seal welds otherwise missed.

Page 3 of 7
Document Responsibility: Welding Standards Committee SABP-W-002
Issue Date: 11 December 2011 Repair of Tube to Tubesheet
Next Planned Update: TBD Welds and Retubing of Sulfur Condensers

9. The stresses which occur during startup/shutdown cycles will develop existing flaws
into leaks. Therefore, extreme cleanliness and high quality welding are required
during all stages of tube welding.

Figure 1 – Strength Weld Leaks through Porosity during Hydrotest

Figure 2 – Tubesheet Showing Large Porosity in Tube to Tubesheet

Weld Metal as Revealed by Visual Examination and Penetrant Testing

Revision Summary
11 December 2011 New Saudi Aramco Best Practice.

Page 4 of 7
Document Responsibility: Welding Standards Committee SABP-W-002
Issue Date: 11 December 2011 Repair of Tube to Tubesheet
Next Planned Update: TBD Welds and Retubing of Sulfur Condensers

Appendix 1 – Detailed Repair/Retubing Procedure

# Activity
1 Welders and welding procedure to be qualified per ASME Section IX QW-193.

2 End of tube that will be discarded to be grit blasted to verify that blasting process is not harmful to tubes.
Remove all strength welds and prepare bevels (including empty holes) as described in Figure a.
3
The grinding machines used for strength welds removal is shown in Figure b.
4 Remove tubes having greater than 40% wall loss plus plugged and obstructed tubes.
Power brush clean the insides of all empty holes with new carbon steel brush. Use extreme care to avoid
5
contamination of wire brushes.
6 Remove all traces of oil from the outsides of the new tubes using acetone with clean cotton rags.
No gloves used during steps 1-6; may be used for steps 9 and beyond. New, clean gloves shall be used
7 beginning with step 9 and shall be replaced as needed to minimize contamination of tubes, tube sheets,
tools, welds, and weld consumables.
8 Ensure sufficient supply of new, clean gloves is available at the job site.

9 Insert the new tubes.

Re-clean at least 3” on the outside of both ends of the new tubes using power wire brush (brush to be new
and clean) followed by cleaning using acetone with clean cotton rags to remove contamination that may
10
have transferred to the tube ends while sliding through the baffles. Use extreme care to avoid
contamination of rags and wire brushes.
11 Lightly roll all tubes. Light rolling should not exceed 1-2% tube wall deformation.

12 Abrasive blast both tubesheets, all exposed tube ends and all bevels to white metal.
Remove all abrasive from the tube ends and tubesheets using plant air paying particular attention to the
13
crevice at the bottom of the bevel.
Preheat to 150 to 200°C using a burner and measure the temperature with a laser pyrometer. The burner
14 will also get rid of sulfur contamination so ensure 100% contact with all tubesheet and tube end surface
area plus crevices.
15 Weld first pass using P1-9A (SMAW) with 2.4 mm diameter electrodes.
Remove weld slag after first pass with power wire brush (brush to be new and clean) and / or pencil
16 grinder (grinding wheel to be new and clean). Use extreme care to avoid contamination of wire brushes
and grinding wheels.
17 Perform 100% Penetrant Testing of the first pass.

18 Remove all traces of dye and developer using acetone with clean cotton rags.
Perform pneumatic testing at pressure of 5 psig. Leaks shall be repaired as per step 14-18 followed by
19
repeat pneumatic test.
Preheat to 150 to 200°C using a burner and measure the temperature with a laser pyrometer. The burner
20 will also get rid of sulfur contamination so ensure 100% contact with all tubesheet and tube end surface
area plus crevices.

Page 5 of 7
Document Responsibility: Welding Standards Committee SABP-W-002
Issue Date: 11 December 2011 Repair of Tube to Tubesheet
Next Planned Update: TBD Welds and Retubing of Sulfur Condensers

# Activity
21 Weld second pass using P1-9A (SMAW) with 2.4 mm diameter electrodes.
Remove weld slag after second pass with power wire brush (brush to be new and clean) and/or pencil
22 grinder (grinding wheel to be new and clean). Use extreme care to avoid contamination of wire brushes
and grinding wheels.
23 Perform 100% Penetrant Testing of the second pass.

24 Remove all traces of dye and developer using acetone with clean cotton rags.
25 Perform pneumatic testing.

26 Hydrotest at required pressure for 2 hours.

Page 6 of 7
Document Responsibility: Welding Standards Committee SABP-W-002
Issue Date: 11 December 2011 Repair of Tube to Tubesheet
Next Planned Update: TBD Welds and Retubing of Sulfur Condensers

Figure a – Strength Weld Machining

Figure b – Strength Weld Removal using Pneumatic Machining Tools

Page 7 of 7