Reliable life prediction and design methodology for thermal-mechanical fatigue of coke drums

焦炭塔是加工油砂沥青的主要设备。焦炭塔以鼓包变形或开裂的形式损坏的情况时有报道。每年，数百万美元用于维修，甚至更多(每天约200万美元)因生产中断而损失。我们最近完成的工作已经确定了引发和传播损害的主要机制。这项工作还表明焦炭塔的基本设计方法有许多进一步改进的机会，包括材料选择、应力/应变历史评估、热机械疲劳寿命评估和操作程序。在这个拟议的项目中，我们将专注于开发一种更准确的焦炭塔寿命预测和可靠的设计方法。还将为用户部门的设计师、加工和维护工程师开发相应的设计软件工具。上述目标将通过计划周密和紧密耦合的研究活动来实现，包括获取现场测量数据、实验室实验、数值模拟和理论建模。通过参与这一研究项目，将培训五名高素质人才。更准确地了解损坏机理和新的设计原则将导致建造更坚固的新焦炭塔，并改善现有焦炭塔的管理。作为研究项目的最终产品，开发的设计和分析软件将使我们的研究成果更容易为焦炭塔制造和用户社区共享。它将在需求旺盛的市场中得到商业应用。在加拿大西部，对油砂的大规模投资仍在继续。这项拟议研究的贡献不仅将使所涉及的工业合作伙伴受益，还将延伸到加拿大石油行业的很大一部分领域。它将提高加拿大公司在世界市场上的竞争力，改善加拿大行业的盈利能力，释放劳动力需求，并促进对技术的了解。

Coke drums are primary equipment associated with the processing of oil sand bitumen. Damage of coke drums, in the form of bulging deformation or cracking have been reported from time to time. Every year, millions of dollars are spent on repairs and even more (~ $2 million per day) are lost due to interruption of production. Our recently completed work has identified the leading mechanisms to initiation and propagation of damage. The work has also shown a number of further improvement opportunities in the fundamental design methodology of coke drums, including material selection, evaluation of stress/strain history, assessment of thermal-mechanical fatigue lives and operational procedures. In this proposed project we will focus on the development of a more accurate life prediction and reliable design methodology for coke drums. A corresponding design software tool will also be developed for designers, processing and maintenance engineers in the user sectors. The above targets will be reached through well planned and tightly-coupled research activities including acquiring field measurement data, laboratory experiments, numerical simulation and theoretical modeling. Five high quality personnel will be trained through participation in this research project. A more accurate understanding of damage mechanisms and the new design principles will result in constructing more robust new coke drums and in improving management of existing coke drums. As an end-product of the research project, the developed design and analysis software will make our research contributions more easily shared by coke drum fabrication and user communities. It will have commercial application within a high-demand market. Large investments in oil sands continue to occur in Western Canada. The contributions from this proposed research will not only benefit the industrial partners involved, but also extend to a large portion of the Canadian oil industry. It will increase the competence of Canadian companies in the world market, improve the profitability of the Canadian industry, free up labor demands and advance knowledge of the technology.