Internal Corrosion Direct Assessment (ICDA) is a specialized service offered by Broadsword Corrosion Engineering to assess internal corrosion and improve pipeline integrity. This process is performed as per NACE International ICDA standards.
ICDA is used to establish accurate corrosion mechanisms in pipelines and receive innovative recommendations for mitigation and improvement.
There are four (4) steps involved in an ICDA. A separate report is issued for each of the following steps:
Before the Pre-assessment (PreA) can begin, a site visit is normally performed to interview personnel, collect any required samples, clarify what data is required for the ICDA process (Pre-assessment form).
The required data is initially sent from the client and compiled/validated by Broadsword staff before being placed into the report. The purpose of the report is to present all the data to be used throughout the ICDA for client verification and sign-off.
The most important quantities established in the PreA step are modeling inputs, ICDA regions and time-periods.
Indirect Inspection (IDi) is where all modeling is performed, including using Broadsword’s proprietary internal corrosion predictive model (ICPM) 
. Predictions are established and presented clearly in order to be compared to actual results.
The modeling outputs change depending on the product analyzed (i.e. wet gas or crude oil). Some outputs include temperature profile, pressure profile, solids deposition, water accumulation (crude oil), liquid holdup (wet gas) and more. Also, if available and in scope, Microbiologically Influenced Corrosion (MIC) analysis is performed in this step.
The most important quantities established in the IDi step are predicted corrosion rate, predicted wall loss and Detailed Examination (DEx) sites.
The DEx step involves the client or third-party contractors performing digs and UT measurements at the selected DEx sites (or In-Line Inspection) in order to determine the actual wall loss present in the subject pipeline. The actual wall loss is then compared with the predicted wall loss to determine the accuracy of the ICPM.
The main quantities established in the DEx step is the actual wall loss results and the predicted and actual wall loss comparison.
The Post-assessment (PoA) step is the last step of ICDA. The ICDA results are summarized in this report. Since the accuracy of the model is verified at this point, conclusions and recommendations can be made based on experience and ICPM results.
Furthermore, remaining life, reassessment interval and remaining strength are determined in this step, which are based on the actual results.
For more information regarding ICDA, please contact us.