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Investigation the anticoking performance of SiO2 and TiO2 single and double-layer coatings in the steam ethane cracking furnace

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Abstract

The formation of coke on the inner surface of the cracking furnace coils arises from undesirable side reactions during the cracking of hydrocarbons to ethylene. The accumulation of coke not only reduces heat transfer rate, production capacity, and internal diameter of reactor, but also increases pressure drop. To tackle the issue, the inner surface of coils can be coated by different materials. In this study, single- and double-layer coatings of silica (SiO2) and titania (TiO2) are applied over the coil surface of the ethylene cracking furnace, a performance of which is evaluated in terms of inhibitory activity against coke formation during the process. In this regard, the morphology and chemical composition of the applied coatings are studied using EDX and SEM analyses. The characterization results revealed the best inhibition performance of SiO2-coating with the coke reduction of around 68% compared to the uncoated surface. It is also conducted that although TiO2 coating cannot exert significant effects over the coke reduction, the double-layer coatings boost the inhibition performance notably; the coke reduction is around 40% and 57% for the SiO2-TiO2 and TiO2-SiO2 double-layer coatings, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

    Mahboobeh Mobaraki & Mohammad Reza Rahimpour

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

    Benyamin Afshang & Mohammad Ebrahim Bahrololoom

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  1. Mahboobeh Mobaraki
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  2. Benyamin Afshang
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Correspondence to Mohammad Reza Rahimpour.

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Mobaraki, M., Afshang, B., Rahimpour, M.R. et al. Investigation the anticoking performance of SiO2 and TiO2 single and double-layer coatings in the steam ethane cracking furnace. emergent mater. 7, 483–493 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42247-023-00451-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42247-023-00451-w

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