Abstract
Many Korean industrial plants including nuclear and fossil power plants use seawater as the ultimate heat sink to cool the heat generated by various facilities. Owing to the high corrosivity of seawater, facilities and piping made of metal material in contact with seawater are coated or lined with polymeric materials to avoid direct contact with seawater. However, polymeric materials used as coating and lining have some level of permeability to water and are degraded over time. Korean industrial plants have also experienced a gradual increase in the frequency of damage to pipes in seawater systems due to prolonged operating periods. In the event of a cavitation-like phenomenon, coating or lining inside the piping is likely to be damaged faster than expected. In this paper, the cause of water leakage due to base metal damage caused by the failure of the polyester lining in seawater system piping was assessed and the experience with establishing countermeasures to prevent such damage was described.