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Coker Furnace On-Line Spalling – Safe, Clean Proven, & Profitable - Jack Adams, Adams Project Managers, Inc., and Gary Hughes, Bechtel, presented this paper at the AFPM's Annual Meeting (previously the NRPA) in San Diego in March-2012. The paper is available by clicking the PDF below. Contact us if you need a copy of the paper or have questions.
APMI/Adams has developed On-Line Spalling Procedures.
On-Line Spalling is an operation carried out in a delayed coker to remove coke deposits from the coker furnace tube walls. This process is normally carried out in one furnace at a time while other parallel coker furnaces remain in service.
On-Line Spalling allows the coker to continue in operation while the furnace tubes are being cleaned thereby reducing downtime and lost profitability. The procedure uses high velocity steam flow or boiler feed water, while thermally contracting and expanding the tubes. The procedure “spalls” the coke from the tubes while the contracting and expanding cracks and dislodges the coke from the tube walls and deposits the coke in the coke drum.
On-Line Spalling Procedure
Care must be taken in the design of an on-line spalling procedure to assure safety, to protect equipment, to protect piping, and to complete a good spall. P&ID’s, equipment specifications, and process conditions must be analyzed as part of preparing an on-line spalling procedure.
Coker Furnace Decoking Options
- On-line spalling is just one of three accepted methods for decoking a delayed coker furnace.
- Steam-air decoking and pigging are also used.
- On-line spalling offers the advantage of allowing the coker to stay on line and has less environmental issues then steam air decoking.
- Pigging may still be required (after spalling) on occasions to bring the furnace back to start of run conditions.
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