FAILURES AND THE LIFE OF FURNACE TUBES

It is showed after the furnace tubes serviced for 8-10 years that the density of damage in the HAZ (heat affected zone) of the weld has higher than in parent metals, though the depth of damage is not equal to. By the test of creep crack growth, it is also acquired that under same mechanic parameter C* (t), the rate of creep crack growth in the HAZ is more than twice as fast as in parent metals. Two mechanisms (overheating and thermal shock) of failure occurred in an accident are presented. The stress of thermal shock is analyzed, in which the change of the elasticity modulus with the radius ET = /(r) is considered. Based on it, the safety region of the thermal shock is obtained. Finally, two sets of curves for the safe life are suggested which can facilitate to estimate the remaining life of HK-40 or HP-Nb tubes by their creep rupture data.

Effects of aging treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cr25Ni35Nb and Cr35Ni45Nb furnace tube steel

Cr25Ni35Nb and Cr35Ni45Nb alloys are usually used in the ethylene cracking furnaces. However, premature failure of furnace tubes often occurs ahead of design life due to elevated temperature exposure conditions （1050-1100 ℃） and aggressive service environment. Effects of exposure temperature and time on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cr25Ni35Nb and Cr35Ni45Nb steel at aging temperature （1200 ℃） with various exposure time were simulated different service times at 1050 ℃. Change of mechanical properties at room temperature and elevated temperature （900 ℃） of the aged Cr25Ni35Nb and Cr35Ni45Nb steel were investigated. Under exposure at 1200 ℃, ultimate tensile and yield strength, elongation of Cr35Ni45Nb steel increase initially and then decrease, however, strength and ductility of Cr25Ni35Nb steel decrease with aging time increasing. Large amount of fine secondary carbide particles precipitated and dispersed in matrix of Cr35Ni45Nb steel, which increased strength and ductility for dispersion strengthening. However, the effect of the dispersion strengthening is weakened by needle-like secondary carbides. Strength and ductility decreased with fine secondary carbide particles growing. For Cr25Ni35Nb steel, few fine secondary carbide particles precipitated and dispersed in the matrix, and needle-like secondary carbides generated in the matrix, which causes strength and ductility decreased with aging time increasing.

TWO METHODS FOR ASSESSMENT OF RESIDUAL LIFE OF HK-40 FURNACE TUBES

Two methods for predicting residual life of high temperature furnace tubes are studied. One is testanalysis method that is mainly based on the creep rupture tests on postservice specimens. Specimens were taken from the tubes, which had been in service for different times. KachanovRobinsons damage summation concept is employed, however with a modified factor K(ts) to account for prior damage in the specimens. If the foregone total life corresponds with real condition, all of the test data modified by K(ts) should be distributed uniformly nearby the master curve of the new material. The other iscomputer simulation method that considers all of the operating conditions that influence the life. The finite element method (FEM) with iterative calculation is used in the analysis. The variation rates of critical damage element along the wall thickness are determined as a function of the service temperature and current damage. A special program designed based on the method predicts well the residual life of furnace tubes, so long as the maximum depth of critical damage in radius direction of tubes has been detected by ultrasonic techniques.

CuO–TiO_(2) based self-powered broad band photodetector

An efficient room-temperature self-powered,broadband(300 nm–1100 nm)photodetector based on a CuO–TiO_(2)/TiO_(2)/p-Si(100)heterostructure is demonstrated.The CuO–TiO_(2)nanocomposites were grown in a two-zone horizontal tube furnace on a 40 nm TiO_(2)thin film deposited on a p-type Si(100)substrate.The CuO–TiO_(2)/TiO_(2)/p-Si(100)devices exhibited excellent rectification characteristics under dark and individual photoillumination conditions.The devices showed remarkable photo-response under broadband(300–1100 nm)light illumination at zero bias voltage,indicating the achievement of highly sensitive self-powered photodetectors at visible and near-infrared light illuminations.The maximum response of the devices is observed at 300 nm for an illumination power of 10 W.The response and recovery times were calculated as 86 ms and 78 ms,respectively.Moreover,under a small bias,the devices showed a prompt binary response by altering the current from positive to negative under illumination conditions.The main reason behind this binary response is the low turn-on voltage and photovoltaic characteristics of the devices.Under illumination conditions,the generation of photocurrent is due to the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs within the built-in electric field at the CuO–TiO_(2)/TiO_(2)interface.These characteristics make the CuO–TiO_(2)/TiO_(2)broadband photodetectors suitable for applications that require high response speeds and self-sufficient functionality.

Numerical Study of Air Nozzles on Mild Combustion for Application to Forward Flow Furnace

An attempt was made to extend mild combustion to forward flow furnace, such as the refinery and petrochemical tube furnace. Three dimensional numerical simulation was carried out to study the performance of this furnace. The Eddy Dissipation Concept(EDC) model coupled with the reaction mechanism DRM-19 was used. The prediction showed a good agreement with the measurement. The effect of air nozzle circle(D), air nozzle diameter(d), air nozzle number(N), and air preheating temperature(Tair) on the flow, temperature and species fields, and the CO and NO emissions was investigated. The results indicate that there are four zones in the furnace, viz.: a central jet zone, an ignition zone, a combustion reaction zone, and a flue gas zone, according to the distribution profiles of H_2 CO and OH. The central jet entrains more flue gas in the furnace upstream with an increasing D while the effect of D is negligible in the downstream. The air jet momentum increases with a decreasing d or an increasing Tair, and entrains more flue gas. The effect of N is mainly identified near the burner exit. More heat is absorbed in the radiant section and less heat is discharged to the atmosphere with a decreasing d and an increasing N as evidenced by the flue gas temperature. The CO and NO emissions are less than 50 μL/L and 10 μL/L, respectively, in most of conditions.

Measurements of Creep Internal Stress Based on Constant Strain Rate and Its Application to Engineering

This research is carried out on the basis of Constant Strain Rate （CSR） to measure creep internal stress. Measurements of creep internal stress are conducted on the material test machine by using the CSR method. A mathematical model of creep internal stress is also proposed and its application is presented in this paper.

Damage prediction of HP40Nb steel with coupled creep and carburization based on the continuum damage mechanics

HP40Nb steel, used as a candidate material for ethylene cracking furnace tube, suffers creep and carburization damage from the complex environment of high temperature, high carbon potential and low oxygen partial pressure, and they lead to failure of the furnace tubes ahead of designed life. In order to investigate damage evolution under the complex condition, coupled creep damage and carburization damage constitutive equations were developed according to continuum damage mechanics theory. Based on the finite element ABAQUS code, user subroutines were developed for analyz- ing damage evolution of ethylene furnace tube under the action of coupled creep- carburization. The results show that carburization accelerates the damage process dramatically, damage value reaches the critical value along the inner surface after serving for 75,000 h under the action of creep-carburization, meanwhile the damage value is only 0.53 along the outer surface after operating the same time under the action of creep alone, which means that microcracks are generated along the inner surface under the action of coupled creep-carburization, fracture begins along the outer surface of tube under the action of creep alone.