Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint Petersburg, Russia:

B. S. Ermakov, Head of Laboratory, Doctor of Technical Science, Professor
S. B. Ermakov, Director of the Research and Education Centre

Saint Petersburg Mining University, Saint Petersburg, Russia:
S. A. Vologzhanina, Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Technology of Art Products, Doctor of Technical Science, Associate Professor, e-mail: svet_spb@mail.ru
R. M. Khuznakhmetov, Postgraduate Student

Reliable operation of equipment is essential for further progress in the field of extraction, processing, storage and transportation of liquefied natural gas. This highlights the importance of properly selecting the material for manufacturing low-temperature equipment components. It should be taken into account that such components operate in a wide range of temperatures and are subjected to loads of different type – static, dynamic, cyclic, as well as to corrosive external and working environments. That is the reason why chromium-nickel austenitic steels (in particular, steel 12Kh18N(10–12)T) are most commonly used for critical parts, assemblies, vessels and pipelines. One knows that such steels are quite reliable when operated at low temperatures, as low as the temperatures of liquid helium (i. e. –253 ^oC). However, when the heat applied reaches high temperatures (as high as 1400 ^oC) during welding or maintenance operations and when the part goes through multiple heating cycles for process reasons (e. g. high-temperature purging of one-piece filtering systems), this can lead to redistribution of impurities within the grain boundaries. Emerging nano- and ultradispersed grain boundary defects can cause corrosion cracks, which can eventually lead to corrosion cracking and intercrystalline corrosion. This paper considers the effect of extended operation periods and high-temperature heating cycles on the reliability of equipment made of steel 12Kh18N12T. It is shown that they are weld joint areas that may potentially lead to failures in terms of low-temperature equipment. Therefore, special attention should be given to heat-affected zones when extending the life of equipment that has done its expected service life and when doing the equipment testing.

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