API TG 934-G

Coke Drum Design and Meeting

Fabrication Issues April 2010

1
Reference and Outline

 ASME PVP 2010 paper, “Coke Drum Design and

Fabrication Issues,” C. Shargay, A. Singh, T.
Munsterman and L. Antalffy

 Description of Coke Drum Operation and Basics

 Damage Mechanisms

 Design Issues

 Materials Options – Base Metals, Weld Metals

 Brief List of Skirt Issues

 Plan for Industry Standards by API

2
Coke Drums

3
Coke Drums

4
Coker PFD (courtesy of VCEDamage Mechanisms)

5
Coke Drum Cycles / Operating Conditions

6
Coke Drum “Old” Deheading Design

7
Coke Drum Deheading Valves

8
Coke Drum Trend to Larger Diameters

Courtesy of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.

9
Damage Mechanisms

 Thermal Fatigue Cracking and Bulging

 High Temperature Sulfidation
 Erosion and Erosion/Corrosion
 Reheat Cracking (Creep Embrittlement)
 Graphitization (C-1/2 Mo)

10
Thermal Fatigue and Bulging

Courtesy of CB&I
11
Factors Affecting Fatigue Life

 Key factors are:

– Magnitude of temperature swings, and
– Frequency (number) of cycles.
 Occur with all materials used for coke drums
 Notches and stress concentrations can serve as
initiation sites
– Attachments (insulation support rings)
– Toes of unground welds,
– Minimize peaking or weld suck-in
– Sharp corners at nozzle welds
 Cracks at bulges in the shell courses, and at skirt
attachment welds, keyholes, nozzles, bottom
flanges, etc.

12
Examples of Bulging/Cracking Modes

 Older drums bulged a few feet above and below

circ welds
 Bulges ran for 25-100% of circumference and
were 2-4 inches high
 Cracks occurred on concave surfaces of bulges
(ID at apex and OD at top and bottom of bulge)
 Newer drums bulging and cracking at circ welds
(industry has adjusted strengths of base and weld
metals to have a better match)

13
Bulge and Cracking (Older Drum)

COKE DRUM SHELL

BULGING AND CRACKING

CRACK
LOCATIONS

14
Thermal Fatigue Mitigation

 First Priority – Major Design/ Fabrication Steps:

– Grind weld flush, smooth transition of welds
– Limited attachment welds
– Skirt attachment designs
– Backcladding with Ni-based filler metals (not E-309)
 Operational Variables
– Quenching rates
– Affected by new deheading devices (more time)
– Lower importance: Type of coke, heating rates

15
Thermal Fatigue Mitigation (con’t)

 2nd Level Design Factors:

– Wall thicknesses (uniform shell thickness)
– Material strengths – closer matching of weld and base
metal strengths
– Placement of plates to match strengths

16
High Temperature Sulfidation

 McConomy curves (derated) give some indication

of expected corrosion rates but conservative
since not all sulfur species in Coker feeds are
reactive
 Some debate on whether coke layer provides
sufficient protection to allow the use of no
cladding (concerns with vapor space)
 Cladding with 405 or 410S provides resistance
 Ni-based welding material for backcladding
provides sulfidation resistance with >14% Cr

17
Erosion and Erosion-Corrosion

 Has occurred in 8 to 15 years of service

 On bottom cone, due to sliding of hot, wet coke
during drilling part of cycle
 Once cladding is penetrated, base metal has
much higher metal loss rates
 Monitor, and when cladding is thin or gapped, the
area should be overlayed with Ni-based filler
material
 Current design is acceptable

18
Reheat Cracking

 Problem on 1 ¼ Cr- ½ Mo Cat Reformer reactors

after 15-20 years due to operation at 980-1020F
(similar to coke drums)
 No reports of problems on coke drums
 Differences are that Cat Reformer reactors are:
– Thicker, not clad and much fewer thermal cycles
 Steps to minimize stress concentrations and
WFMT for thermal fatigue at nozzle welds, etc. will
also find any reheat cracking
 Can also occur during repairs after PWHT if there
are large thermal gradients

19
Material Options – Base Materials

Material 410S No. % Remarks

Cladding Drums
Carbon – ½ Mo yes 12 7

1 Cr–½ Mo yes (except 35 19 All Cl. 2

for two)
1 ¼ Cr–½ Mo yes 121 65 All Cl. 2
2 ¼ Cr–1 Mo yes 12 7 All Cl. 2
3 Cr–1 Mo-V yes 2 1
(SA 832)
Total 182

20
Factors in Selecting Materials

 Operation: cycle time, temperature, pressure

 Feed Chemistry (sulfur, naphthenic acid)
 Coke type (sponge, shot, needle)
 Repairability
 Prior operating experience

 Class 1 or Class 2:
– Cl 1 is lower strength and can be annealed (but not required).
– Cl 2 is normalized or Q&T.
– No strong reason to prefer either.

21
Additional 1 ¼ Cr Materials Requirements

 X-bar (12 max.)

 Toughness testing after 4-7 PWHT cycles (40/32
ft-lbs – can not have extremely low test
temperature)
 Cladding – can be roll bond or explosive clad
 UT testing (100%)

22
Goal of Matching Base/Weld Strengths

 Three steps:
– Filler Metals – limit YS to +10% of base metal YS
– Base Materials – 60 ksi min YS which is 33% higher
than ASME Code requirements
– Placement of plates to match strengths

 One concern is that strength (and toughness)

need to be maintained through 4 to 7 PWHT
cycles during base material and weld procedure
qualifications
 Allows for future weld repairs

23
Closer Weld / Base Metal Strengths

Courtesy of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.

24
Layout of Plates to Optimize Strengths

25
Shell Design and Fabrication Steps

 Grinding welds smooth and flush,

 Uniform shell plate thicknesses (which generally results in
thicker walls),
 No attachment welds (except round insulation clips),
 Especially, no insulation ring attachments,
 Minimum weld-induced plate peaking and suck-in, and tight
alignment tolerances,
 Matching adjacent plate strength levels as much as
practical,
 Proper skirt design and attachment welding
 Use of more sensitive NDE.

26
Skirt Issues

 Location of attachment weld (to cone or shell), and

proximity to the cone-to-shell weld,
 Use of a machined skirt-to-cone attachment forging,
 Blended fillet weld design with a generous internal crotch
radius
 Skirt thickness,
 Skirt center line location,
 Use of keyhole slots (and if used, proper hole size,
chamfering of hole edges, etc.)
 Use of new “egg in cup” sliding skirt design and other
innovative designs

27
Future Industry Documents

 Three documents (Reports or Standards) are

planned:

 Materials, Design and Fabrication Requirements

for New Coke Drums,
 Operational and NDE Steps for Existing Coke
Drums to Optimize Fatigue Life
 Repair Procedure Options for Bulges and Cracks

28