Failure Assessment of an Admiralty Brass Oil Exchanger Tubes.

Failure analysis of a tubular oil heat exchanger made up of admiralty brass in an industrial unit was investigated. In the oil exchanger, circulating water is used as a coolant inside the brass tubes to reduce the temperature of oil flowing inside the brass shell. The causes of failure of the leaked admiral tubes were investigated performing various visual and microscopic examinations. Chemical analysis of the corrosion scales and its phase analysis with x-ray diffraction and microstructural examinations by optical and scanning electron microscopy were carried out. The study revealed that tube material was suffering from extensive de-zincification and under-deposit pitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]