Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) and Fireproofing (CUF)

Eddyfi Technologies for CUI and CUF Inspection Applications

Estimated to cost hundreds of billions of dollars every year, Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) and Fireproofing (CUF) is a common challenge across the power generation, refining, chemical, and other industrial sectors. When it comes to CUI, CUF or corrosion under coatings, most contributing factors are extremely difficult or impossible to control. The power of prevention comes from regular inspection and mitigative maintenance.

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Estimated to cost hundreds of billions of dollars every year, Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) and Fireproofing (CUF) is a common challenge across the power generation, refining, chemical, and other industrial sectors. When it comes to CUI, CUF or corrosion under coatings, most contributing factors are extremely difficult or impossible to control. The power of prevention comes from regular inspection and mitigative maintenance.

Corrosion under insulation and fireproofing occurs as a result of moisture penetration and warm temperatures in pipework, vessels and other insulated assets. It often takes the form of general corrosion. CUI and CUF are difficult to detect as they are hidden by the protective layers and likely only found when insulation or fireproofing is removed for visual inspection or when a leak occurs, unless an advanced non-destructive testing (NDT) method is used. Corrosion under insulation and fireproofing are said to be responsible for the highest occurrence of leaks in the chemical and refining sectors. The cost and occasion of CUI and CUF can be alleviated through implementing systems that allow early detection with NDT while assets remain in service.

Corrosion under insulation assessment has been redefined with the Eddyfi Lyft®. Lyft is a high-performance patented pulsed eddy current (PEC) solution that can scan through thick insulation as well as aluminum, stainless steel and galvanized steel weather jackets. It benefits from a range of probes: single-element, array, and application specific to support various needs and use cases. Lyft is a flexible, fast and reliable solution for CUI and CUF integrity management.

The SONYKS™ system is a guided wave non-destructive testing (NDT) instrument developed to screen pipework for metal loss damage. The technique is a pulse-echo system used to inspect large volumes of material from a single test point. The initial application for the technique was for the detection of corrosion under insulation for the petrochemical industry, but it has found extensive use in other industrial environments where vulnerable pipelines and tubing are inaccessible.

Without being able to control the many forms of moisture that can find its way into locations with optimum temperatures for aggressive corrosion, corrosion under insulation and fireproofing and their associated costs can be reduced dramatically with effective inspection strategies. Eddyfi Technologies offers ideal NDT solutions to prevent the human, capital, social and environmental risks of corrosion under insulation, fireproofing and coatings.