Investigation on high temperature thermal conductivity of various coke samples

NOVA Chemicals是阿尔伯塔省卡尔加里的一家领先的化学品和聚合物材料制造商。我们为世界各地生产消费品、工业产品和包装产品的客户开发和制造材料。NOVA化学公司生产工业聚合物的技术之一是碳氢化合物的热裂解。NOVA化工面临的挑战之一是在裂解反应器中产生焦炭材料。由于热裂解法的操作温度非常高（约1000℃），在裂解盘管的内表面会形成一层焦炭。这种不希望沉积的材料产生了一些困难，例如减少了从炉子表面到加工气体的热量传递，增加了线圈上的压降。要除去焦料，应停止生产线进行除焦。为了减少焦炭的产生，已经开发了各种方法和技术；然而，这种不需要的物质的形成仍然是不可避免的。为了优化工艺条件，提高乙烯生产效率，减少脱焦，研究NOVA化工反应器热裂解过程中生成的焦炭的热性质是非常重要的。卡尔加里大学（UCalgary）团队在原始的Engage资助下，设计并制造了一种新的导热系数测量系统，该系统能够在惰性气体环境下工作高达1000摄氏度。此外，UCalgary团队还演示了用NOVA化学公司提供的焦炭样品进行高温导热系数测量。现在，原始Engage项目的结果使我们能够进一步研究novchemicals热裂解反应器中生产的各种焦炭样品，并使我们能够研究焦炭样品的导热性作为孔隙率和成分的函数。全面了解各种焦炭样品的热性质，可以为NOVA化学公司如何优化其热裂解反应器的处理条件提供良好的思路。因此，这项建议的研究对赞助公司是非常重要的。

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.