Abstract
In early 2019, cracks were found in the shell of a furnace that had been in operation since 1975 with four to six shutdowns per year. The cracks were located at thermal stress risers, and so initially, the failure mode was expected to be thermal cycle fatigue. However, examination of the fractures revealed an intergranular fracture mode in the mild steel, indicating chemical attack. Chemical analysis revealed that the failure was caused using burners without NOx control in the furnace during the first 29 years of operation, resulting in a buildup of nitrate compounds in the refractory material and nitrate stress corrosion cracking of the steel shell.
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Hoerner, M., Sheth, P. & Corleto, C. Failure Analysis of a Furnace Shell in a Petrochemical Plant. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 23, 2315–2321 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01791-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01791-9