engleski

Eddy current inspection in processing furnace remaining life prediction

Reformer tubes normally used in the refining, petrochemical and fertilizer industries are manufactured by the centrifugal casting process and heat-resistant austenitic alloys such as HK -40, HP-40, and HP – Niobium modified aterials. The cost optimization of industrial plants maintenance by preventing non-scheduled outages or extending service lifetime is increasingly important. Life management is ordinarily dominated by the service capability of the radiant catalyst tubes. Their lives are limited by creep, driven by a combination of internal pressure stress and through-wall thermal stresses generated by operational transients. Although the service life may be estimated making use of theoretical models, due to the degradation process complexity, still it is necessary to characterize the materials of concern by non-destructive testing methods. Nondestructive testing (NDT) plays an essential role on maintenance program to assure operation of industrial plants. Proper determination of tube condition and its remaining life requires specific insitu examinations. The current condition either can be measured by some destructive or nondestructive test method or calculated using an analytical model or statistical model, such as the TUBELIFE computer program. TUBELIFE is a probabilistic tube life assessment software package offered by Magnetische Pruefanlagen GmbH in Germany, US Thermal Technology Inc, and Hainsco in Saudi Arabia. The program analyses data gathered from nondestructive testing techniques to produce a probabilistic rather than deterministic analysis in predicting of reformers remaining life. Custom software program TUBELIFE and inspection technologies (eddy current, laser OD measurement) as well as metallographic examinations are outlined in the papers discussion.

Nondestructive testing; software TUBELIFE; remaining reformer tube life

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