In the world of oil and gas, refining, and chemical processing, material failure is not just an economic issue—it is a safety and environmental catastrophe waiting to happen. One of the most insidious threats to high-performance alloys is Sulfide Stress Cracking (SSC) and Chloride Stress Corrosion Cracking (CSCC) . To combat this, engineers and integrity managers turn to a critical standard: NACE SP0170.
Heat Treatment: It explains how "baking" the metal after welding can soothe the internal stresses that lead to cracks. 🛡️ The Legacy
References
The full title of the standard is "Protection of Austenitic Stainless Steels and Other Austenitic Alloys from Polythionic Acid Stress Corrosion Cracking During a Shutdown of Refinery Equipment".
Her phone buzzed. It was Dave, the night shift manager at the Gulf Coast Refinery. nace sp0170 pdf
Combine with NACE SP0107: SP0107 provides guidelines for the design and fabrication of stainless steel equipment to avoid sensitization in the first place (e.g., controlling solution annealing temperature).
Years later, when the next revision of SP0170 was circulated for public comment, Maya kept a single printed copy with the yellowed sticky note scanned and clipped inside. She submitted a concise proposed change: language encouraging site-specific overlay checks and recognition of mobile or transient measurement techniques where static coupons and fixed probes might miss early damage. She attached anonymized case studies from Site 7 showing how supplemental actions prevented a major shutdown. The Ultimate Guide to NACE SP0170 PDF: Protection
Accuris (formerly IHS Markit): Provides both the PDF and printed editions. Document Scope & Contents