Identify and correct coke drum foundation bolt failures

Identify and correct coke drum foundation bolt failures
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September 2016 (/magazine/2016/september-2016)

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY (/MAGAZINE/2016/SEPTEMBER2016#MAINTENANCE-AND-RELIABILITY)
Identify and correct coke drum

foundation bolt failures
Coke drums in many operating plants experience foundation bolt failures.
Tharakan, J. (/authors/s/suncor-energy-products/tharakan-j), Suncor Energy Products
Coke drums in many operating plants experience foundation bolt failures. Industry does not have a
consistent approach for the design of foundation bolts for coke drums. Older drums with diameters of up
to 30 ft can be found with 1-in. 24 bolts made from ASTM A307 Grade B steel. A recent trend is to
design coke drums of 30-ft diameter with as many as 48 anchor bolts of 2 in. .
Some drums experience periodic vibrations that worsen if
the anchor bolts become loose or broken. A review is
provided here of coke drum bolt failures, their
consequences and potential corrections.
Survey on coke drums

Data on drum foundation bolt failures and vibration were
gathered from several North American and Asian facilities
with coker units. Most sites had experienced bolt failures in
the shear plane. At some sites, both necking and shear were
observed on broken bolts.
(/media/2257/hp0916-tharakan-maintenancereliability-fig-01.jpg)
Failure in a US refinery. The coker unit has two 26-ft

diameter drums with 44 anchor bolts of 2 in. , conforming
Fig. 1. Anchor chair and bolt deformation for Canadian
to ASTM A307 Grade B. The coke drums have been in
site.
operation since 1984. After 25 years of operation, one bolt
was found to be broken. Several other bolts were observed to be loose.
Violent shaking of the drum structure and piping were

reported during the quenching cycle, especially with the
introduction of big wateri.e., a large flow of water
following initial quenching with steam and a small volume of
water. The failed bolt displayed quasi-cleavage cracking at
the shear plane. The conclusion was that the failure
occurred due to sudden loading.
Failure in a Middle Eastern refinery. The coker unit has

four coke drums of 26-ft diameter with 24 anchor bolts of 1
in. , conforming to ASTM A307 Grade B. The anchor bolts were under fireproofing. After decades of
operation, the drums were found in 1999 to be laterally shifted from the centerline to a maximum extent
of 3.25 in.
Fig. 2. Bending, elongation and necking of the bolts.
http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/magazine/2016/september-2016/maintenance-and-r... 1/3/2017
Page 2 of 7
The fireproofing around the foundation bolt was removed,

revealing that all of the bolts on the two drums had broken.
Corrosion and necking were observed on the bolts, but all of
the failures were found at the shear plane. The foundation
bolts on the other two drums showed preliminary stages of
failure, such as corrosion and necking. These drums did not
have any noticeable periodic vibration.
Fig. 3. Smearing and crushing damage on the threaded
Failure in a Canadian facility. This failure occurred on four

identical 30-ft diameter coke drums with 24 anchor bolts of
1 in. , conforming to ASTM A307 Grade B. The failures were noticed after eight years of operation. The
failure rate increased with time, presumably due to the following reasons:
ends of the bolts.
Two more drums were added to the system, and cycle times were shortened from 16 hr to 11 hr.
Aggressive operations increased drum movements.
As the bolts broke, the remaining bolts experienced larger loads due to drum movements.
The bolts were hand-tightened only during installation. Clear
evidence was seen of tensile loading of the bolts, as
displayed by the necking of bolts and the bending of the
compression plate (Figs. 13). All bolts failed in the shear
plane (Fig. 4).
Drums 1 and
2 had more
bolt failures
than other
drums (Table
(/media/2260/hp0916-tharakan-maintenance- 1). Most bolts
exhibited a
reliability-fig-04.jpg)
(/media/2266/hp0916-tharakan-maintenancecombination
Fig. 4. Lateral shift of the drum and bolt failure on the
reliability-table-01.jpg)
of
tensile
and
shear plane.
shear mode of failure. Bolts were bent in random directions,
exhibiting no correlation with the direction of maximum vibration. The top portions of the bolts, embedded
in concrete, were bent by lateral forces. Potential causes of failure included:
Thermal expansion of the skirt ring. If the skirt expands due to thermal expansion beyond the
diametrical clearance of 0.5 in. between the bolt and the bolt holes, then the bolt will shear. The skirt
was 15 ft tall; therefore, the skirt flange was always at ambient temperature, so thermal expansion of
the skirt ring is not a credible cause.
Banana effect. The drums developed a permanent bowing of their axes during initial periods of
operation with single-side inlets (i.e., the banana effect). Some believed that the banana effect could
cause non-uniform and excessive bolt loads. Detailed analyses of the failures showed no correlation
with the banana effect.
Vibration of the coke drum. The coke drum experienced periodic vibration in the direction
perpendicular to inlets. (Note: At the time of investigation, the coke drum had dual inlets). Detailed
vibration measurements included:
Vibration was maximized at the top of the drum in the horizontal direction, and perpendicular to
the orientation of the feed inlet nozzles. The vibration peaked toward the end of the filling cycle and
measured 500 mils750 mils peak-to-peak at 1 Hz2 Hz.
Using a transducer, the pressure pulses inside the drum were measured during the filling cycle.
The amplitude was very small, but its frequency matched with the vibration at the top of the drum.
The skirt flange displayed a rocking motion of 0.08-in. peak-to-peak at a frequency of 0.3 Hz.
The deformation of the bolt and anchor chairs was
approximately five times the displacement amplitude of
periodic vibration at the skirt. No indication of fatigue was
observed on the failed bolts. Therefore, the bolt failure was
not caused by periodic vibration (Fig. 5).
Resonance could amplify the periodic vibration. Highamplitude periodic vibration at the skirt was not noticed.
The first three natural frequencies of the full drum were
0.62 Hz, 3.88 Hz and 10.87 Hz, respectively. None of
Page 3 of 7
these frequencies matched the measured frequency of

periodic vibration on the drum top or skirt; therefore,
resonance cannot be the cause of bolt failures.
Thermal distortion of the shell and cone due to thermal
gradient can be transmitted to the skirt flange. The skirt
should remain tilted for a noticeable period if it is a static
loading condition. Such observations were absent, ruling
out static load due to distortion.
Fig. 5. Skirt flange vibration displacement peak-to-peak, in
mils.
Dynamic events, such as random movements of high

amplitude, sometimes occur in a coke drum. These
occasional events may rock the drum, causing lateral
movement:
Flexing of the drum due to rapid thermal gradient
occurring in the shell and cone during quenching
An avalanche-like event caused by a large volume of
coke collapsing to the bottom cone during coke
cutting
Flashing of water into steam within the drum.
It is possible to capture occasional dynamic events only if
drum movements are continuously recorded for a
reasonably long period of time. Although this could not be
carried out, most of the observations on the failed bolt and
anchor chair lined up with the potential consequences of a
dynamic drum movement.
Impulsive energy due to dynamic events. The
deformation observed at the anchor chair and the bolts can
be written as X = 0.4 in. (Fig. 1). Working backward from
this displacement of 0.4 in., the impact energy can be
calculated using the following definitions:
Bolt circle diameter, D = 374 in. = 31.1 ft
Bolt circle radius, r = 15.55 ft
Height of the center of gravity of the drum from
foundation, H = 60 ft
Fig. 6. Tilting of drum.
The tilt angle (refer to Fig. 6) = (X D) = 0.4 374 =

0.00107 radian
Tilting radius R = (r2 + H2) = 62 ft
Angle = Tan1 (r H) = 14.53 = 0.252 radian.
The moment arm varies with tilt angle, as shown in Table 2.
The potential energy when the rotation of the drum reaches
its peak, plus the work done to stretch the bolts, is the
impulse energy, as explained in the following definitions:
Potential energy = Moment tilt angle
Tilt angle for 0.4-in. bolt deflection from Table 2 =
0.00107 radians
(/media/2268/hp0916-tharakan-maintenancereliability-table-02.jpg)
Operating weight of the full drum, W = 6E + 06 lb

Moment arm = z (for a bolt stretch of 0.4 in.) = 15.5 ft
(approximate)
Moment, M1 = Wz = 6E + 06 15.5 ft = 9.3E + 07 ft-lb
Potential energy W1 = M1 = 99,510 ft-lb.
Work done in stretching the bolts can defined by the following:

Root area of 1-in. bolt, A = 0.606 in.2
Number of bolts, N = 24
Grip length of the bolt, L = 4 in.
Page 4 of 7
Yield strength of bolt, y = 36,000 psi

Modulus of elasticity, E = 28E + 06 psi
Elastic extension of the bolt = L y E = 4 36,000 28E + 06 = 0.005 in.
Therefore, a 0.4-in. deflection ( = 0.00107) will cause the bolt to yield. Assume that the average
resistance of the bolt during elastic-plastic stretch is equal to the yield strength:
Bolting force, F = y A = 36,000 0.606 = 21,816 lb
Moment that stretches the bolt, M2 = D N F 4
M2 = 31.1 24 21,816 4 = 4.07E + 06 ft-lb
Work done for stretching bolts W2 = M2 = 4,355 ft-lb
Energy of impact (total work done) = W1 + W2 = 99,510 + 4,355 = 103,865 ft-lb.
Are the bolts capable of absorbing the impact energy? Consider 2.5-in. 24 bolts of high strength (y =
100,000 psi) with a grip length of 12 in.:
Tensile area of the bolt = 4.4 in.2
Elastic extension of bolt, X = (y/E) grip length = 0.0432 in.
Tilt angle from Table 2 = 0.00012 radian
Moment arm from Table 2 = 15.51 ft
Restoring moment, M1 = 15.51 6E + 06 = 9.3E + 07 ft-lb
Bolting force, F = y A = 100,000 4.4 = 4.4E + 05 lb
Moment, M2 = D N F 4 = 31.1 24 4.4E + 05 4 = 8.21E + 07 ft-lb
Total opposing moment = M1 + M2 = 9.3E + 07 + 8.21E + 07 = 1.75E + 08 ft-lb
Work done = 1.75E + 0.08 = 1.75E + 08 0.00012 = 21,000 ft-lb; 21,000 ft-lb < 103,865 ft-lb.
The work done is much smaller than the energy of the impact. Therefore, the bolts will be stretched
beyond yield. The situation can be improved slightly by increasing the grip length of the bolts, but the
required grip length to retain elastic stretch sufficient to absorb the energy of the impact is excessive.
Solution with Belleville washers

A design having 24 1.5-in. bolts with 14 Belleville washers stacked in series, at each bolt, will allow a
cumulative extension that is equal to the number of washers multiplied by the deflection of each. The
maximum deflection of each Belleville washer is 0.076 in. at a full flattening load of 32,000 lb. The
Belleville washers will be preloaded to 16,000 lb by deflecting half the load during assembly:
Remaining deflection for the Belleville washers = 0.076 14 2 = 0.532 in.
From Table 2, corresponding tilt angle = 0.00142 radian
Moment arm from Table 2 = 15.43 ft
Restoring moment due to gravity, M1 = 6E + 06 15.43 ft = 9.26E + 07 ft-lb
Average resistance of Belleville washers, F = (16,000 + 32,000) 2 = 24,000 lb
Moment due to Belleville washers, M2 = D N F 4 = 31.1 24 24,000 4 = 4.48E + 06 ft-lb
Total moment, M1 + M2 = 9.7E + 07 ft-lb
Work done = Moment = 9.7E + 07 0.00142 = 137,740 ft-lb.
This result is greater than the energy of impact (103,865 ft-lb). Therefore, using Belleville washers for
absorbing the energy of impact is a feasible solution to the problem. The bolt load will remain between
16,000 lb and 32,000 lb. The design can accommodate a deflection of 0.532 in., which is greater than the
maximum observed deflection of 0.4 in.:
Root area of 1.5-in. bolts = 1.405 in.2
Yield strength of the bolts proposed = 100,000 psi
Tensile strength of one bolt = 1.405 100,000 = 140,500 lb
Stress ratio in tension = 32,000 lb 140,500 = 0.23.
Shear load on the bolt
Page 5 of 7
The use of Belleville washers allows the energy of the

impact to be absorbed by drum tilting within limits. An
unwanted outcome of this motion is a tendency for lateral
skidding on the foundation.
The design includes a 2.5-in. 6-in. sleeve at each bolt to
increase the shear area to compensate for the uncertainty
on the number of bolts sharing the shear load in the tilted
condition. The standard design calculation assumes that
50% of the bolts share the shear load.
Fig. 7. Rocking velocity.
The rocking drum lands on the foundation and may bounce

back. This calculation does not assume bounceback. The
inertia of the rotating mass causes a horizontal force in the
rocking direction prior to touching the foundation. Assume
that rocking causes the center of the gravity of the drum to
lift by h = 0.4 (Fig. 7).
When the drum lands on the foundation:
The vertical velocity Vv = 2gh = 2 384 0.4 = 17.5 in./sec

Vv = Vcos(90 ) = Vsin
Tangential velocity, V = Vv/sin
Horizontal velocity, Vh = Vsin(90 ) = Vv/tan = 17.5/tan(0.253) = 17.5 0.259 = 67.5 in./sec
Assume that Vh changes from 67.5 in/sec to 0 in 1 sec:
Acceleration, a = (67.5 0) 1 = 67.5 in./sec2
Weight of the vessel with contents, W = 6E + 06 lb
Acceleration due to gravity, g = 384 in./sec2
Inertia force in horizontal direction = W a/g = 0.175W = 6E + 06 0.175 = 1.05E + 06 lb-force
The horizontal force is calculated similar to seismic design, with a seismic factor of 0.175 for this
example:
Shear strength of the sleeve/bolt = 50,000 psi
Shear area of bolting assembly = 0.785 2.52 24 2 = 58.9 in.2
Shear stress induced in bolting assembly = 1.05E + 06 58.9 = 17,826 psi
Stress ratio of bolt in shear = 17,826 50,000 = 0.35.
Combined mode of failure of the bolt

Tension and shear modes complement each other. The summation of stress ratio for tension and stress
ratio for shear should be less than 1; i.e., the combined stress ratio = 0.23 + 0.35 = 0.58.
The bearing stress in the grout encasing the bolts can be described as follows:
Horizontal force = 1.05E + 06 lb-force
Bearing area of bolts = 2.5 6 24 2 = 180 in.2
Allowable bearing stress of concrete, fc = 5,000 psi
Allowable bearing stress of grout surrounding bolt = 7,000 psi
Calculated bearing stress = 1.05E + 06 180 = 5,833 psi
Calculated bearing stress of 5,833 psi < allowable bearing stress of the grout.
Modified design details

The modified design of the coke drum anchor bolt system
used at the Canadian facility in anchor bolt restoration work
is shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The new bolts were installed
between the existing bolts, which were either broken or
Page 6 of 7
ineffective. The reanchoring work was completed while the

drums were in operation. The basic features of the
anchoring included the following:
24 1.5-in. bolts
2.5-in. 6-in. long sleeve
14 Belleville washers stacked in series on each bolt.
Takeaway
Several
noticeable
improvements
were
(/media/2264/hp0916-tharakan-maintenanceobserved after
the installation
Fig. 8. Modified anchoring system.
of the new
anchor bolts:
The periodic
rocking
motion of the
drums
stopped; the
(/media/2265/hp0916-tharakan-maintenance- amplitude of
horizontal
Fig. 9. New anchor bolt installation details.
vibration at
the top of the drum was reduced by half; and no bolt failures have occurred in the last four years of
operation after replacement.
Based on this work, the author recommends:
If the coke drum is undergoing periodic vibration, then the bolts cannot be left loose. Bolt preload is
essential to lower the equipment vibration.
The energy released during significant impulse-type events that cause coke drums to rock and move
cannot be absorbed by conventional bolting designs. Belleville washers allow drums that experience
significant impulse loads to move and dissipate energy without damaging the anchoring.
The use of a sleeve increases the effective shear area of the bolt and bearing area in concrete. HP
The Author
Tharakan, J. (/authors/s/suncor-energy-products/tharakan-j) - Suncor Energy Products,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
John Tharakan is a corporate static equipment specialist at Suncor Energy Inc. in

Canada. He specializes in mechanical integrity, with a focus on troubleshooting, failure
analysis and fitness for service. He holds an MS degree in mechanical engineering
design and has more than 30 years of experience in the oil industry.
(/authors/s/suncorenergyproducts/tharakan-j)
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Identify and correct coke drum foundation bolt failures

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COPYING AND DISTRIBUTING ARE PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER

September 2016 (/magazine/2016/september-2016)