Investigation on high temperature thermal conductivity of various coke samples

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NOVA Chemicals is a leading manufacturer of chemicals and polymeric materials in Calgary, Alberta. Theydevelop and manufacture materials for customers worldwide who produce consumer, industrial and packagingproducts. One of the techniques to produce industrial polymers in NOVA Chemicals is thermal cracking ofhydrocarbons.One of the challenges of NOVA Chemicals is the creation of coke material within the cracking reactors. Due tothe very high operating temperature in the thermal cracking method (about 1000C), a coke layer is created onthe internal surface of the cracking coils. This undesirably deposited material creates some difficulties such asdecreasing the heat transfer from furnace surfaces to the processing gas and increasing the pressure drop acrossthe coil. To remove the coke material, the production line should be stopped for decoking. Various methodsand techniques have been developed for reducing the coke generation; however, the formation of this unwantedmaterial has remained inevitable. To optimize the processing condition for more efficient ethylene productionand less decoking, it is very crucial to investigate the thermal properties of the generated coke during thethermal cracking process in NOVA Chemicals reactors. With original Engage Grant, University of Calgary(UCalgary) team has designed and fabricated a new thermal conductivity measurement system capable ofoperating up to 1000C under inert gas environment. In addition, UCalgary team has demonstrated hightemperature thermal conductivity measurements with coke samples provided by NOVA Chemicals. Now, theoutcomes of original Engage Project allow us to further investigate various coke samples produced in NOVAChemicals thermal cracking reactors and enable us to investigate thermal conductivity of coke samples as afunction of porosity and compositions. Comprehensive understanding of thermal properties of various cokesamples may give NOVA Chemicals good ideas how to optimize processing conditions of their thermalcracking reactors. Therefore this proposed study is very vital for the sponsoring company.