Inspectioneering
Inspectioneering Journal

Hydroprocessing Reactor Integrity

The Basics

By Dr. Brian Cane, Asset Integrity Specialist, and Julian Speck, Structural Integrity Department Manager at TWI Ltd. This article appears in the November/December 2004 issue of Inspectioneering Journal.
3 Likes

Demanding Cleaner Fuels

Environmental regulators drive refiners to introduce bottom-of-the- barrel conversion hydroprocessing units, to produce cleaner fuels. These include hydrotreaters and hydrocrackers with reactors that operate at high temperature, and pressure and in the presence of hydrogen. (Catalytic reforming units are in the same category, with respect to the challenge of ensuring the integrity of reactor vessels).

The planning of reactor inspections is complicated because it requires consideration of the resistance to pressurised hydrogen, alloy stability at operating temperature, ambient temperature properties (for heavy- walled vessels), resistance to high temperature H2/H2S corrosion, and the resistance of austenitic alloys to stress corrosion cracking (SCC).

This content is available to registered users and subscribers

Register today to unlock this article for free.

Create your free account and get access to:

  • Unlock one premium article of your choosing per month
  • Exclusive online content, videos, and downloads
  • Insightful and actionable webinars
GET STARTED
Interested in unlimited access? VIEW OUR SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS

Current subscribers and registered users can log in now.


Comments and Discussion

There are no comments yet.

Add a Comment

Please log in or register to participate in comments and discussions.