Corrosion under insulation (CUI) is one of the costliest avoidable problems facing the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) today. CUI afflicts refineries—specifically; the steel piping, storage tanks, container vessels and other process equipment within the plants that are subject to extreme temperature fluctuations. Calcium silicate or mineral-wool insulation applied to the pipe or vessel can mitigate the thermal cycling effects. But the presence of seams, gaps or other discontinuities in the insulation layer makes them susceptible to infiltration by outside moisture or from the process environment itself.
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