Failure Analysis of Bank-Wall Side Boiler Tube in a Petrochemical Plant

Failure analysis of the petrochemical plant’s bank-wall side boiler tube has been conducted to determine the root cause of tube failure. The tube material is low carbon steel ASTM A178 grade A. Visual examinations of the cracked surface revealed that the fractured surface is flat, without plastic de...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Metals (Basel ) 2022-11, Vol.12 (12), p.2064
Main Authors: Ardy, Husaini, Nurimam, Asep, Hamdani, Mohammad, Firmansyah, Deny, Aditya, Dominico Michael, Setiawan, Asep Ridwan, Wibowo, Arie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bank-wall side boiler tube
Banks (Finance)
Boiler tubes
Carbon steel
Chemical industry
Chemical reactions
Corrosion
Crack initiation
Crack propagation
Equipment and supplies
Failure analysis
Fatigue cracks
Fatigue failure
Heating
Hydrogen
hydrogen attack
Iron oxides
low carbon steel
Low carbon steels
Manganese steel
Microstructure
Optical microscopes
Petroleum chemicals
Petroleum chemicals industry
Plastic deformation
Thermal fatigue
Transgranular cracks
under deposit corrosion
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Summary:Failure analysis of the petrochemical plant’s bank-wall side boiler tube has been conducted to determine the root cause of tube failure. The tube material is low carbon steel ASTM A178 grade A. Visual examinations of the cracked surface revealed that the fractured surface is flat, without plastic deformation, and several longitudinal and transverse fissures are present. The SEM and optical microscope examinations show that the cracks were intergranular and transgranular. A hydrogen attack caused the intergranular crack, and thermal fatigue produced the transgranular crack. Boiler tube failure was caused by a steam blanket on the sloping tube’s top inner diameter that induced iron oxide deposition and accumulation. Hydrogen was produced after a chemical reaction at the deposit-metal interface between the iron oxide deposit and ingress steam. Local temperature variation on the top part of the sloped tube occurred during the splashing and evaporation of water, promoting thermal fatigue.
ISSN:2075-4701
2075-4701
DOI:10.3390/met12122064