Case Study: Looking At Liners

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•Case Studies: Looking At Liners

In April 2006 CTI Industries Inc. was contracted by a major oil refinery in the southwestern USA to achieve a unique full length tube lining project on two crude tower overhead (OH) fin fan condensers.

Although CTI has been achieving these types of repairs for some 15 years into previously damaged or failed condensers and heat exchangers, in the USA the liners were installed into two new bundles with SA-179 carbon steel finned tubes. Adding to the uniqueness was the fact that the entire installation was achieved in-situ with the bundles approximately 40 ft above ground level. A very similar installation was achieved at four major refineries in Canada, where Hastelloy C-276 liners were installed into badly pitted Monel tubes between 1993 and 1996. These units have run trouble free since the installation. The major factor that prompted the plant metallurgist and fellow engineers to utilize this technology was the historical problems encountered wth these bundles in previous years. These include:

• Excessive corrosion in the original carbon steel crude unit OH fin fan condenser.
• One in-service failure plus additional shutdowns for inspection to avoid loss of containment; unacceptable tube life.
• Undersized water wash.
• Unequal water wash distribution.
• Non-desaltable (phantom) chlorides.
• Chemical inhibition program could not manage the corrosion issue.

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•Case Studies: Looking At Liners