Fitness for Service and Remaining Life Assessment for 1-1/4Cr-1/2Mo Reactor System Piping on a Catalytic Reformer Unit

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman M. Cheta ◽  
Ray Konet ◽  
F. Skip Hoyt
Keyword(s):  
Creep Damage ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Low Alloy Steels ◽  
General Corrosion ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Reheat Cracking ◽  
Remaining Life Assessment ◽  
Welded Pipe

Fitness for service and remaining life assessment were performed on high temperature reactor piping to verify mechanical integrity for a desired remaining life. The NPS 20 1-1/4Cr-1/2Mo piping, which is the subject of this paper, was built in 1968 to the 1966 edition of ASA B31.3 for design conditions 465 psi at 950 °F / 365 psi at 1000 °F (3.16 MPa at 510 °C / 2.48 MPa at 538 °C) for hydrogen and naphtha service. The actual operating conditions are 400 psi at 900 °F / 330 psi at 950 °F (2.72 MPa at 482 °C / 2.24 MPa at 510 °C). Due to numerous reported failures in the industry in the 1980’s, the ASME codes for piping and pressure vessels lowered the allowable stresses for low alloy steels operating in the creep range, mainly above 900 °F (482 °C). Piping systems designed prior to changing the allowable stress do not satisfy today’s codes. The operating stresses which can lead to failure from potential damage mechanisms, e.g. creep, reheat cracking and general corrosion, are defined and their impact on fitness-for-service and remaining life evaluated. Acceptance criteria for different types of defects were established prior to the unit maintenance turnaround by: 1. Finite element modeling of assumed different degrees of weld peaking and pipe out-of-roundness for longitudinally welded pipe. 2. Piping flexibility / stress analysis to identify areas with the highest operating stresses. 3. Stresses from 1 and 2 above were used to calculate the creep life based on Larson-Miller parameter (API 530). Acceptable flaw sizes were limited by the desired remaining life. Inspection plans were developed to inspect for reheat cracking, creep damage, peaking, out of roundness, as well as general corrosion.

Remaining Life Assessment of an External Pressure Vessel in Creep Range and Inspection Findings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoichi Ishizaki ◽  
Futoshi Yonekawa ◽  
Takeaki Yumoto ◽  
Teppei Suzuki ◽  
Shuji Hijikawa
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
Creep Damage ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Assessment Technique ◽  
Creep Cavity ◽  
Creep Analysis ◽  
Remaining Life Assessment

As widely recognized in the industry, it is important to evaluate the creep damage of an elevated temperature vessel so that the mechanical integrity of the vessel can be achieved through the adequate repair and replacement planning. This is quite straight forward procedure for internal pressure vessels. For an external pressure vessel, it is not easy to assess the creep damage due to the complexity of the creep buckling analysis. Eventually, creep cavity evaluation technique without identifying the correct stress distribution has been used so often. However, due to the uncertainty of the technique itself plus conservative mindset of the inspectors, it tends to leads to an excessive maintenance most of the cases. In order to conduct a reasonable remaining life assessment, it is desirable to use the creep cavity inspection in conjunction with another assessment technique such as FEM creep analysis as stated in API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 10.5.7. In this paper, comprehensive approach with FEM and field inspection such as creep cavity evaluation to reinforce the uncertainty of each method will be demonstrated.

Latest Developments in Optimizing Reformer Tube Life Through Advanced Inspection and Remaining Life Assessment

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Shannon ◽  
Carl E. Jaske
Keyword(s):  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Inspection System ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Centrifugally Cast ◽  
Steam Methane ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Reformer Tubes ◽  
Remaining Life Assessment ◽  
Tube Life

Steam methane reformer tubes must withstand high temperature and pressures during operation and are made from centrifugally cast austenitic materials, typically HK-40, HP Modified, and Micro-Alloy materials. Since operating conditions can result in various forms of damage, the identification and quantification of damage is of vital importance if tube life is to be predicted accurately. This paper describes the recent developments in an integrated inspection system which uses multiple NDT techniques to provide a most comprehensive assessment of current tube condition. This system is coupled with a sophisticated remaining life assessment software model which predicts the remaining life of each tube in a furnace.

Power Turbine Remaining Life Assessment

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce deBeer ◽  
Paul Chilcott ◽  
Dave Seib
Keyword(s):  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Operating Cycle ◽  
Statistical Probability ◽  
Power Turbine ◽  
Remaining Life Assessment ◽  
As Stress

The design life of an industrial power turbine has traditionally been 100,000 hours or 5,000 starts, based on a specific set of assumed operating conditions. Actual operating conditions vary from site to site, and are often less severe than the initial assumptions used by the manufacturer. This is why Dresser-Rand has developed a Remaining Life Assessment program. The objective of this program is to assist operators in extending the life of expensive components, determining inspection intervals, developing component replacement schedules, and establishing a spare parts stocking program. A comprehensive remaining life assessment must take into account unit operating history, a thorough non destructive examination of the components being considered for reuse, thermal and structural analyses using current analytical techniques, and material evaluations. There is some amount of variability in the input and output for each of these steps. Defects smaller than a given size are not always detected, material test results have a statistical distribution, and each operating cycle is unique. Traditionally the expected life has been based on a predetermined set of assumptions, such as stress analyses using typical dimensions, minus three sigma fatigue and creep properties, etc. The Dresser-Rand approach accounts for these inherent variations and establishes the statistical probability of successfully extending power turbine life without failure or unplanned maintenance as a function of time.

Crude Furnace Floor Creep Assessment and Remaining Life Assessment due to Hot Spots

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Lee ◽  
Emerson Galacio ◽  
Romy Junio ◽  
Alex Magtibay ◽  
Elijah Griffiths ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hot Spots ◽  
Creep Damage ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Bottom Plate ◽  
Loading Conditions ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Firm Scope ◽  
Viscoelastic Analysis ◽  
Furnace Floor ◽  
Remaining Life Assessment

Abstract Fitness for Service (FFS) assessment and remaining life assessment of the furnace floor plates in a crude charge heater where hot spots up to 500°C have been observed during operation in 2018 was undertaken as a pre assessment prior to the unit turnaround. The remaining life assessment results would provide the turnaround team with firm scope for repair in order to resintate the bottom plate and avoid discovery scope. Two Finite Element (FE) models were created to account for hotspot temperature conditions measured at November 2018 and June 2019. Each of these FE models involved successive loading conditions, so that the effects of each loading scenario could be investigated. The loading conditions were applied in steps, in the following order: 1. Gravity. 2. Temperature, modelling hotspot behaviour. 3. Creep, viscoelastic analysis. Utilising the FE models created for the two hotspot conditions, remaining life was calculated and suggested that the worst location for creep damage is near burner 2 (the maximum creep damage location of the November 2018 condition). Based on the assessment, the following recommendations are made: 1. Continue to observe and maintain temperatures below the creep temperature range (i.e. no additional hotspots are created and temperatures are not increasing). 2. Undertake creep testing from metal samples. 3. Re-inspect in 8 years at the same locations where metallographic replication was performed in September 2019.

Introduction and Overview

1989 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Failure Modes ◽  
Failure Criteria ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Remaining Service Life ◽  
Design Life ◽  
Remaining Life Assessment

Abstract The ability to accurately assess the remaining life of components is essential to the operation of plants and equipment, particularly those in service beyond their design life. This, in turn, requires a knowledge of material failure modes and a proficiency for predicting the near and long term effects of mechanical, chemical, and thermal stressors. This chapter presents a broad overview of the types of damage to which materials are exposed at high temperatures and the approaches used to estimate remaining service life. It explains how operating conditions in power plants and oil refineries can cause material-related problems such as embrittlement, creep, thermal fatigue, hot corrosion, and oxidation. It also discusses the factors and considerations involved in determining design life, defining failure criteria, and implementing remaining-life-assessment procedures.

Remaining Creep Life Assessment of Service Superheat Tube Boiler

2015 ◽  
Vol 659 ◽  
pp. 686-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pornsak Thasanaraphan ◽  
Pannawat Thapnuy ◽  
Duangporn Ounpanich ◽  
Pratip Vongbandit
Keyword(s):  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
Creep Damage ◽  
Damage Mechanism ◽  
Thickness Measurement ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Remaining Life Assessment ◽  
Maintenance And Inspection ◽  
Creep Life Assessment

The demand of remaining life assessment of the boilers arises from technical, economic, and legal reasons. Creep is major damage mechanism of primary superheat tube boiler during prolong operation at high temperature and pressure in a water tube boiler. This paper presents the calculation method for the remaining life assessment due to creep damage. The service-exposed primary superheat tube made of 2.25Cr-1Mo steels. During scheduled inspection, wall thickness measurement, metallographic investigation by replica technique, design data and operating condition were used to estimate the remaining life in the form of creep damage accumulation rate calculated from life fraction using Larson-Miller Parameter. The results indicate that the primary superheat tubes satisfy in extension service life. By attaining an accurate and timely discussion of the results, the engineer can manage the maintenance and inspection schedule for the critical part in the boiler.

A Remaining Life Assessment of Autofrettaged Tubes From an LDPE Facility

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey D. Cochran ◽  
Charles H. Panzarella
Keyword(s):  
Residual Stress ◽  
Stress Relaxation ◽  
Brittle Fracture ◽  
Creep Damage ◽  
Limit Load ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Creep Model ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Remaining Life Assessment

The manufacture of low density polyethylene by radical polymerization regularly subjects components to extreme pressures exceeding 20 ksi and, possibly, to runaway reactions with fluid temperatures exceeding 2000 °F and pressures above 30 ksi. Components are often treated with autofrettage to induce a beneficial residual stress distribution that retards crack growth and increases fatigue life. This paper presents a case-study remaining life assessment of two autofrettaged tubes in accordance with API 579-1/ASME FFS-1. Measurements of the remaining residual stress after 40+ years in service agree with FEA predictions of the initial residual stress, indicating no significant stress relaxation over this time. Nevertheless, the MPC Omega creep model is calibrated to the tube material and used to estimate the potential for stress-relaxation due to creep. The model correctly predicts no stress relaxation for over 40 years of normal operation, but creep damage and stress relaxation are predicted for temperature excursions as low as 900 °F for 10.8 s. ASME FFS-1 procedures for assessing brittle fracture, fatigue, plastic collapse, and creep damage are then adapted for autofrettaged components. It is found that autofrettage increases resistance to brittle fracture and fatigue, does not affect limit load analyses, and alters creep damage distributions.

A Probabilistic Gas Touched Length Analysis

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl D. Skelonis ◽  
M. Brett Shelton ◽  
Glenn T. Burney
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Creep Damage ◽  
Oxide Thickness ◽  
Thickness Measurement ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Life Assessment ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Specific Test ◽  
Length Analysis

Field measurements of the steamside oxide thickness for high temperature (> 850F) boiler tubing subject to the accumulation of creep damage often are made to support deterministic assessments of the remaining life. Most often, these inspections are undertaken to understand the condition of the tubing at some particular location along a circuit, often as a result of a tube failure. The life assessment is based on relationships that have been developed between oxide growth kinetics and temperature. Unfortunately, because of variability in the oxide-temperature relationships reflecting different original data sets, and because of the inherent uncertainty in materials properties where heat-specific test data is not available, there typically exists a broad range of uncertainty in the deterministic assessment results. Large utility-type boilers typically contain a number of high temperature sections, including various stages of superheat and reheat, each of which will contain miles of tubing. Since the temperature derived from an oxide thickness measurement is relevant only to the specific location where the measurement was made, the deterministically derived life calculation is also specific to that location. As a result, the attempt to draw conclusions regarding the condition of an entire superheater or reheater section from measurements made at only one or two locations in those sections is fraught with difficulties. It is for this reason that the Probabilistic Gas Touched Length Analysis model has been developed. This model makes it possible to calculate creep damage accumulation/remaining life at any point along the steam path. Oxide thickness data and operating data are the primary operating inputs into the model, which performs heat transfer calculations at user-defined locations along the length of the tube circuit. The model applies statistical methods to evaluate variations in operating conditions as well as in physical and mechanical properties using a Monte Carlo simulation to generate values for the probability of failure at selected locations. This paper will discuss the limitations of the existing approach to estimating the remaining life of high temperature boiler tubing and present the underpinning theory of the gas touched length analysis model. A case study showing the analysis results is included.

Effect of Carbide Content on Temper Embrittlement of 2.25Cr1Mo Steel

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yian Wang ◽  
Guoshan Xie ◽  
Zheng Zhang ◽  
Xiaolong Qian ◽  
Yufeng Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Pressure Vessel ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Temper Embrittlement ◽  
Damage Mechanism ◽  
Pressure Vessels ◽  
Nondestructive Method ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Low Alloy Steels ◽  
Carbide Content

Temper embrittlement is a common damage mechanism of pressure vessels in the chemical and petrochemical industry serviced in high temperature, which results in the reduction of roughness due to metallurgical change in some low alloy steels. Pressure vessels that are temper embrittled may be susceptible to brittle fracture under certain operating conditions which cause high stress by thermal gradients, e.g., during start-up and shutdown. 2.25Cr1-Mo steel is widely used to make hydrogenation reactor due to its superior combination of high mechanical strength, good weldability, excellent high temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA) and oxidation-resistance. However, 2.25Cr-1Mo steel is particularly susceptible to temper embrittlement. In this paper, the effect of carbide on temper embrittlement of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel was investigated. Mechanical properties and the ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel were measured by tensile test and impact test. The tests were performed at two positions (base metal and weld metal) and three states (original, step cooling treated and in-service for a hundred thousand hours). The content and distribution of carbides were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The content of Cr and Mo elements in carbide was measured by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDS). The results showed that the embrittlement could increase the strength and reduce the plasticity. Higher carbide contents appear to be responsible for the higher DBTT. The in-service 2.25Cr-1Mo steel showed the highest DBTT and carbide content, followed by step cooling treated 2.25Cr-1Mo steel, while the as-received 2.25Cr-1Mo steel has the minimum DBTT and carbide content. At the same time, the Cr and Mo contents in carbide increased with the increasing of DBTT. It is well known that the specimen analyzed by SEM is very small in size, sampling SEM specimen is convenient and nondestructive to pressure vessel. Therefore, the relationship between DBTT and the content of carbide offers a feasible nondestructive method for quantitative measuring the temper embrittlement of 2.25Cr-1Mo steel pressure vessel.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document