That time a pressure test almost went bad at the Marathon refinery

I was up in Whiting, Indiana on a turnaround at the Marathon refinery back in March. We had this big feed drum that needed a hydrostatic test after some weld repairs. Got it all filled up and pressurized to spec, and I was walking around checking for leaks. Then I heard this pinging sound near the bottom head. Looked closer and saw a small bead of water forming along a repair weld. That's never a good sign. I called the foreman over and we shut the test down right there. Turns out the welder had missed a tiny slag inclusion on the inside pass. We ground it out, re-welded it, and passed the second test no problem. Has anyone else caught a weld defect during a hydro that would have been a nightmare to fix later?

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felixb254d ago

Had a similar thing happen in '17 on a desalter vessel. That pinging sound makes your stomach drop every time.