Using Infrared Surveys to Locate Corrosion under Wet Insulation

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) is a major problem for petroleum and chemical process industries. Historically, there have been limited options for evaluating the presence and extent of CUI. Locating corrosion under wet insulation (CUWI) is of primary importance in the petrochemical industry. Unseen corrosion can lead to the release of process materials and cause costly downtime. Removing insulation and examining the equipment is very effective, but it’s costly and time-consuming. Moisture density gauges (MDG) give good results to trained individuals, but they are cumbersome and slow to work with and require maintaining a radioactive isotope that must have specific licensing and regulatory monitoring. Infrared (IR) surveys can be the answer to the problem of locating CUWI in an economical, efficient way before it reaches the point of failure