J Fail. Anal. and Preven. (2009) 9:57 DOI 10.

1007/s11668-008-9190-1

FEATURE

Failure Avoidance Brief: Estimating Heater Tube Life

Daniel J. Benac

Submitted: 29 October 2008 / Accepted: 29 October 2008 / Published online: 3 December 2008 ASM International 2008

The intention of this Failure Avoidance Brief is to provide lessons learned from materials, structure, and equipment failures so that costly failures can be prevented through good design, maintenance, and inspection practices, thus increasing safety, equipment reliability, and integrity of designs. How long will heater tubes last? This question is frequently asked by those who use heater and reformer tubes in ammonia, renery, and chemical plants. Tubes are critical to the processing, rening, and heating of product for optimized product processing. Beginning with research performed in 1928 at the University of Michigan, tube lifetime has been researched to understand the factors that inuence high-temperature tube strength. Even though the degradation phenomena that occur in tubes are now better understood, tube failure is still a concern to the plant operator. Failures of heater tubes have resulted in res, fatal accidents, loss of production, and leaking of hydrocarbon products that can ignite and result in an explosion. The failure causes of heater tubes varies; one of the most common causes is overheating, which results in a stress or creep rupture. Stress rupture is a time-dependent phenomenon that occurs in tubes when temperatures and stresses exceed a design-selected value after continuous overheating for a long period of time or after many shorttime overheat excursions. A heater tube stress rupture failure is shown in Fig. 1. The stress rupture fracture is identied by features such as minimal bulging, axial crack extension, internal cracking (Fig. 2), microvoid formation

(Fig. 3), carbide coalescence (Fig. 4), and/or intergranular facets along grain boundaries. A stress rupture failure can be avoided when the estimated remaining life of the heater tube is known. API standard 530, Calculation of Heater Tube Thickness in Petroleum Reneries, offers guidance on remaining tube life, heater tube design, and wall thickness. To estimate the remaining tube life, the in situ microstructure of the tube is often examined for changes in the structure. In addition, stress rupture tests can be performed. The in situ microstructure approach is effective in determining remaining tube life provided there is historical data on the condition of the tube, and correlation can be made to tube strength. Another approach is to conduct stress rupture tests and compare the tested life values to the LarsonMiller creep rupture curve, which is shown in Fig. 5 [1] for an HP-modied curve. The following steps are performed in stress rupture testing to estimate the remaining life of a tube. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Verify the tube material. Know the time in service. Know the operating temperature. Select the appropriate Larson-Miller curve for the material. Select an elevated test temperature well above the operating temperature. Calculate the Larson-Miller Parameter (LMP) for the material. Predict the time for failure (h) using the LMP. Determine the test stress at the elevated temperature. Machine multiple specimens from tubes of interest [2]. Test specimens at stress and elevated temperature. Determine actual time to failure from the tests. Use Life Fraction Rule to estimate remaining life.

D. J. Benac (&) BakerRisk, San Antonio, TX, USA e-mail: dbenac@BakerRisk.com

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J Fail. Anal. and Preven. (2009) 9:57

Fig. 1 Stress rupture region for a tube showing the rupture crack extended along the axial orientation of the tube

Fig. 4 Microstructure of an overheated tube showing microvoids and agglomeration of the carbidesglyceregia etch

Fig. 2 Cross section of a tube showing the ssuring and cracking that initiated from the inside diameter (ID) surface Fig. 5 Larson-Miller curve for heat-resistant HP-modied

To estimate remaining life, the Life Fraction Rule is used [3]. The Life Fraction Rule is often used to estimate remaining life of components subjected to elevated temperatures. The remaining life is calculated according to: ts =Ts tt =Tt 1 where ts is time in service, tt is time to rupture in the accelerated test, Ts is time to rupture in the service condition, and Tt is time to rupture for the new material. Using the Life Fraction equation, the estimated total life is: Ts ts =1 tt =Tt For example, the remaining life of a heat-resistant HP-modied material that operated at about 1480 F with some excursions for about 13 years is determined using the steps above and the Larson-Miller curve in Fig. 5. The stress rupture results and predicted values are shown in Table 1.

Fig. 3 Microstructure showing the coalescence and alignment of microvoids and subsurface ssuring at the inner diameter (ID) surfaceunetched

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J Fail. Anal. and Preven. (2009) 9:57 Table 1 Stress rupture results Average stress Test Rupture side Opposite rupture Temperature (F) 1800 1800 MPa 41.37 41.37 psi 6000 6000 Larson-Miller Parameter Minimum 31.37 31.37 Average 31.6 31.6 Predicted failure (h) 100 100 Minimum curve Actual failure (h) 22.6 16.1

Fraction of predicted 0.23 0.16

Using the Life Fraction Rule and the stress rupture results: ts is time in service = 107,328 h. tt is time to rupture in the accelerated test = 16.1 and 22.6 h. Ts is total time to rupture in the service condition = To be determined. Tt is time to rupture for new material based on LarsonMiller Curve = 100 h. For 16.1 h, the total estimated service life is: Ts 107; 328=1 16:1=100 127; 924 h For 22.6 h, the total estimated service life is: Ts 107; 328=1 22:6=100 138; 666 h The remaining life (Tr) is equal to the total estimated service life (Ts) minus the actual time in service (ts). Thus, For 16:1 h : Tr 127; 924 107; 328 20; 596 h 2:4 years For 22:6 h : Tr 138; 666 107; 328 20; 596 h 3:6 years

It is concluded that the estimated remaining life in the example tube, based on stress rupture testing, is from 2.4 to 3.6 years. This estimated life assumes that the temperatures and pressures are not greater than the previous service condition. This short time to failure would indicate that tubes should be replaced within the next year, or that the operating temperatures should be reduced. Stress rupture failures of heater tubes can be avoided through good design practices, controlling operating temperatures and excursions, periodic inspection practices, and estimating remaining life using accepted techniques as described in this paper.

References
1. MetalTek, Data sheet for 2535Nb, 7 February 2002 2. Test Methods for Conducting Creep, Creep-Rupture, and Stress Rupture Tests of Metallic Materials. ASTM E139, Annual Book of ASTM Standards 3. Benac, D.J., Swaminathan, V.P.: Elevated temperature life assessment for turbine components, piping, and tubing. In: Failure Analysis and Prevention, vol. 11, p. 298. ASM Handbook, ASM International, Materials Park, OH (2002)

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