Reformer furnaces : materials, damage mechanisms, and assessment

Abstract EN

The assessment of damage in reformer furnaces is an important factor in determining their remaining safe life.

In this paper the methodology of damage assessment is reviewed, and the concept of characteristic curves to assess damage is introduced: this provides a simplified procedure to give a realistic estimate of the extent of damage and the remaining life of reformer furnace tubes.

An example is also given of a case study to determine remaining life in the presence of a partthrough- wall crack in a component in the header of a reformer furnace using a nonlinear fracture mechanics approach.