Abstract
Materials of construction in an ethylene pyrolysis furnace must withstand severe conditions including high temperatures, alternating oxidizing and carburizing atmospheres, impinging coke particles, and thermal cycling. The creep, high temperature corrosion, and erosion which are experienced by furnace components can be resisted by proper materials selection.
Positioned directly in the process stream, thermowells are used to monitor process temperatures. Thermowell materials of construction must be selected with the extreme process conditions in mind. As always, safety is an underlying factor. Given the highly flammable ethylene stream, thermowell failures must be prevented at any cost. No single material was found to resist both creep and erosion under existing operating conditions. However, the combination of a creep resistant base material with a wear resistant coating was found to not only prevent failures, but also greatly extend thermowell life, reducing downtime and maintenance costs.
Laboratory research and actual operations data have shown a nickel based superalloy with a ceramic hardfacing to be highly cost effective in thermowell applications in resisting the combination of creep and erosion found in ethylene pyrolysis applications.
