7/1/2019 Crude Unit Overhead Corrosion - velocity of EC1010H - Flat

Refinery DiscussionsCrude Unit Overhead Corrosion - velocity of EC1010H Flat

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Edited: 6/24/2019 1:49 PM View Properties Reply

Crude Unit Overhead Corrosion - velocity or EC1010H?

Is anyone noticing increased corrosion in their crude unit overhead since switching to EC1010H (from EC1010A)? I realize that answer is probably no, and this is just a
coincidence, but I will give some history.
Beckett, Brittney
- Our coupon history since taking over the unit in 2012 has been <5 mpy consistently. Usually 1-2 mpy.

- May 2017 – July 2017 we saw up to 33 mpy on our coupons. We eventually related this to inadequate wash water volume. Due to tower fouling they were running their OH
temp up to 320F (up from 270F) and wash water was not increased immediately. We increased our WW goal from 1.25x minimum to 2x minimum to be safe.

- Once we corrected the WW volume we had great coupons (<2 mpy) right up to our February - April 2019 coupon. Now we've had two bad coupons from 10-15 mpy.

In that February to April period two things changed:

1. Due to crude availability the OH traffic (naphtha) went from their normal 34 mbpd to 40 mbpd. Velocity is still only 60 ft/s. And since an increase in naphtha drives the
required WW up we’ve been injecting more than ever – 140-180 gpm. Could it be a velocity thing??

2. We switched from EC1010A to EC1010H in March. We switched at our other crude unit too with no change in corrosion rates but I have to ask anyway.

Other things to note:

The corrosion probe that is right beside the coupon has not picked up anything. We do not have Permasense on this unit yet. Chloride, NH3, Fe, acid, everything has been
low. We do not inject an organic neutralizer. We checked for oxygen in the system and got <20 ppb DO.

Since taking out the last bad coupon last week we decreased WW to 1.5x Pathfinders minimum in case it is velocity related. If it’s not, we are at a complete loss.

Posted: 6/24/2019 10:43 PM View Properties Reply

Hi Britney,

Where exactly did you grab the water sample that showed the O2 at <20 ppb?

Is the unit that started utilizing the city water as part of the wash water sources?
Fearnside, Paul

Posted: 6/25/2019 7:46 AM View Properties Reply

Hi Brittney,

Per the second part of your question, EC1010H is analogous to EC1010A. Wheelbox analysis, which was shared in the last Corrosion Core Telecom, showed that the two
Zenasni, Oussama
products have the same performance.

Posted: 6/25/2019 8:03 AM View Properties Reply

First things first:

EC1010H IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS EC1010A IN TERMS OF ACTIVE COMPOSITION AND PERFORMANCE.

If you are not using an organic neutraliser, I assume you are using ammonia? How is this injected? With the wash water? How is the wash water distribution? Do you have
Thornthwaite, Philip multiple injection points & if so have you checked the flow to all injection locations? Could distribution of the water and neutraliser be a factor?

Where are the coupons located reletive to each other? Are they located to any changes in direction / elbow that may affect turbulance and shear effects that could be
infuenced by velocity? Could poor wash water distribution be a factor?

You could probably do with an ITC / SME help you troubleshoot / investigate this issue.

Posted: 6/25/2019 12:34 PM View Properties Reply

Got it. EC1010H is not the culprit. I just had to ask before my customer did (they haven’t yet).

City water is added to the vac seal dream as makeup water to maintain level. This isn’t new and has been their set up since the unit started up in 2000. We thought since
they are adding more now it may just be starting to cause problems.
Beckett, Brittney
The coupon we have in our finfan bank really looked like O2 attack. They’ve also been doing a lot of work in the finfans so oxygen could be coming from somewhere else?

The coupon from the OH line looked like acid attack, not O2.

We used the vac seal drum water sample point to do the DO test since it has the city water added directly to it. Our water rep did the test so we know it was done
properly. The sample point was flushed for ~18 hours before doing the test. The vac seal drum water goes to the desalters for wash water and the water from the atmos OH
water boot is used for overhead wash water. There is no makeup water added to the atmos drum. We chould also test the atmos OH water for oxygen in case it is coming
from somewhere else.

Yes, we use ammonia as neutralizer, and it is added to the wash water before it goes to the OH line and finfan banks. There is one injection into the OH line and two
injections into each separate finfan bank (6 banks, 12 injection points). We had inspections do a RT scan on the OH line nozzle and it looks great (photo attached).

There is an elbow about 4 feet above the OH line coupon. And then another elbow a few feet down. Definitely a possibility that the extra OH traffic (naphtha and WW) could
be causing some turbulence around the coupon. It would also make sense because Doug has been doing Fe tests everyday and is getting <0.1 ppm. We had some corrosion
in the finfan banks in 2017 and our Fe numbers were 0.2-0.6 ppm.

We are very hopeful that decreasing the wash water to 1.5x the minimum will result in a better coupon in a month. We’re getting another PATH analysis done as well.

Posted: 6/25/2019 12:34 PM View Properties Reply

Got it. EC1010H is not the culprit. I just had to ask before my customer did (they haven’t yet).

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7/1/2019 Crude Unit Overhead Corrosion - velocity of EC1010H - Flat
City water is added to the vac seal dream as makeup water to maintain level. This isn’t new and has been their set up since the unit started up in 2000. We thought since
they are adding more now it may just be starting to cause problems.

The coupon we have in our finfan bank really looked like O2 attack. They’ve also been doing a lot of work in the finfans so oxygen could be coming from somewhere else?

Beckett, Brittney The coupon from the OH line looked like acid attack, not O2.

We used the vac seal drum water sample point to do the DO test since it has the city water added directly to it. Our water rep did the test so we know it was done
properly. The sample point was flushed for ~18 hours before doing the test. The vac seal drum water goes to the desalters for wash water and the water from the atmos OH
water boot is used for overhead wash water. There is no makeup water added to the atmos drum. We chould also test the atmos OH water for oxygen in case it is coming
from somewhere else.

Yes, we use ammonia as neutralizer, and it is added to the wash water before it goes to the OH line and finfan banks. There is one injection into the OH line and two
injections into each separate finfan bank (6 banks, 12 injection points). We had inspections do a RT scan on the OH line nozzle and it looks great (photo attached).

There is an elbow about 4 feet above the OH line coupon. And then another elbow a few feet down. Definitely a possibility that the extra OH traffic (naphtha and WW) could
be causing some turbulence around the coupon. It would also make sense because Doug has been doing Fe tests everyday and is getting <0.1 ppm. We had some corrosion
in the finfan banks in 2017 and our Fe numbers were 0.2-0.6 ppm.

We are very hopeful that decreasing the wash water to 1.5x the minimum will result in a better coupon in a month. We’re getting another PATH analysis done as well.

Posted: 6/25/2019 7:21 PM View Properties Reply

I would have tested the water on the discharge side of the wash water pump. This would have also taken into account any pump seals that might be leaking and pulling in
air.

Fearnside, Paul

Posted: 6/26/2019 6:45 AM View Properties Reply

Phil: Those are all valid points but we have had excellent coupoin results for over 5 years as Brittney has pointed out. The coupon types/locations have not changed. The
ammonia/pH control has not changed.. so I do not see why they should suddenly morph into a problem. What has changed is wash water requirement due to overhead
temperature and traffic as well as our change to EC1010H. at this point we are doing the KT things and tracking down what has changed since the problem started.
Do you have anything along the lines of a film persistency study for H vs A ?
-Doug
Farrell, Douglas

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Posted: 6/26/2019 6:50 AM View Properties Reply

Paul: We don't have a discharge sample loaction. However, the area manager says that the seals are water jackets and should not permit O2 ingress.
We have a PATH sample in at the moment. Let's see if that shows some sulfates etc.
-Doug

Farrell, Douglas Show Quoted Messages

Posted: 6/26/2019 12:19 PM View Properties Reply

Doug,

To reiterate so there is no ambiguity - EC1010H is exactly the same as EC1010A.

Thornthwaite, Philip Show Quoted Messages

Posted: 6/26/2019 3:03 PM View Properties Reply

Can I see the wheel test data?

Show Quoted Messages

Farrell, Douglas

Posted: 6/27/2019 5:07 AM View Properties Reply

It’s in the launch package that you should have. If not contact the Regional Marketing Team

Thornthwaite, Philip

Posted: 6/27/2019 6:40 AM View Properties Reply

All I can see is a graph showing % Coverage on the Y axis. I need more than that to talk to the customer about it.
What is the X axis. different wheel speeds which are meant to simulate velocities?
The other stuff is about MSEP , which is not a concern right now.

Farrell, Douglas Show Quoted Messages

Posted: 6/27/2019 5:01 PM View Properties Reply

Brittney and Doug,

Any possibility at the highest wash water rate you somehow upset the spray nozzle ability to provide a nice dispersed flow regime?

ie instead of nice uniform small droplet sizes it became larger less dispersed water droplets which directionally could cause an erosion concern?
Fearnside, Paul

Posted: 6/28/2019 7:08 AM View Properties Reply

Paul: I did consider that. The specs on the nozzle show that it is good for 3500gpm. We are well short of that.
Based on the coupon appearance, we are suspecting erosion. Other than the EC1010H change, the only other change was wash water increase so yes I believe that we have
caused something to happen via:

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7/1/2019 Crude Unit Overhead Corrosion - velocity of EC1010H - Flat
1. Increased steam traffic
2. Dispersion of water is some different manner than previous
3.Liquid water impingement at higher velocity.

You have seen the overhead line coupon. Big wash out on the most inserted half, like new on the most pipewall half.
Farrell, Douglas We have dialed wash water back and are taking the coupons out in a month. I am hoping we have made the right correction.
-Doug

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Posted: 6/30/2019 3:27 PM View Properties Reply

Don't know what document you are looking at but the Y-Axis is %Protection while the X-Axis is ppm Dose Rate

If you want to talk about the results, contact John Scholz

Thornthwaite, Philip Show Quoted Messages

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