(119b) Maximizing Smr Furnace Capacity without Compromising Tube Wall Integrity
AIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety
2023
2023 Spring Meeting and 19th Global Congress on Process Safety
Topical 12: Hydrogen Safety
Hydrogen Safety & Industrial Applications as part of the Energy Transition I
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 - 8:22am to 8:44am
This paper will discuss how tubeskin thermocouples can help improve IR scanning results in steam methane reformers as verified in the Wika R&D process unit. Differentiating between the radiation emitted by the target tube and the surrounding hot surfaces, temperature loss at the viewing port and the inability to reach target tube due to SMR geometry are just a few of the challenges operators face when using IR scanning for measuring tube temperature. Tube skin temperature estimation can be highly inaccurate without an accurate reference temperature for fine-tuning emissivity.
We will cover why continuous tube temperature monitoring is critical during startup and what is the cost of inaccuracy while we go over a case study about how tubeskin temperature monitoring can help operators reach furnace full capacity without compromising tube integrity.
Finally, we will discuss the results of the patent-pending new generation tubeskin thermocouples developed in Wikaâs R&D center with even higher accuracy and simplified one-step installation ideal for SMR furnace tubes.