Engineering Failure Analysis 143 (2023) 106859

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Engineering Failure Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engfailanal

Failure analysis on abnormal leakage of shell and tube heat

exchanger in specialty chemical plant
Si-Yuan Ma, Tong-Tong Bi, Yi Gong, Zhen-Guo Yang *
Department of Materials Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The shell and tube heat exchanger has been widely used in the chemical industry. However,
Heat exchanger because of complex operating conditions, the heat exchanger tubes sometimes are leaked. This
Terephthalic acid paper conducted in-depth failure analysis on abnormal leakage of several tubes of a shell and tube
Desublimation
heat exchanger, which had been used for nine years in a methyl methacrylate production facility.
Leakage
In order to find out the root cause of the failure, chemical analysis, metallographic structure
inspection and morphology observation of the leakage tubes were carried out. The composition
and properties of the tube scales were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopic analysis
(XRF), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and energy spectrum
analysis (EDS). The micro-zone features of the leaked tubes were observed with three-
dimensional stereo microscope (3D-SM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). According to
the testing results and the actual operating conditions of the heat exchanger, the root cause of
abnormal leakage of the tubes was finally determined. The key finding was that the terephthalic
acid gas was suddenly desublimated into solid particles while its temperature was about 300 ◦ C.
Thus, the gas containing terephthalic acid particles caused erosion wear, abrasive wear and local
corrosion onto the inlet side of the heat exchanger, leading to abnormal leakage of the tubes.
Finally, some suggestions were put forward for the heat exchanger, which were also conducive to
the safe operation and failure prevention of similar equipment.

1. Introduction

Heat exchanger is the equipment that transfers heat between two or more fluids with different temperatures, so that heat can flow
from the higher temperature to the lower temperature. With this equipment, production requirements like energy saving and emission
reduction can be achieved [1]. Heat exchangers are widely used in the petrochemical, nuclear power, thermal power, aerospace,
pharmaceutical and other fields [2]. Thereinto, due to the advantages of mature manufacturing technology, high heat transfer effi­
ciency and safety, the shell and tube heat exchangers that are mainly composed of shells, heat exchanger tubes, tube sheets, baffles, etc.
are mostly used in the chemical industry [3].
The heat exchanger tubes generally use metallic materials with higher heat transfer coefficients, such as carbon steel, stainless steel,
copper, aluminum, titanium and other alloy materials [4]. When the heat exchanger tubes are subjected to complex conditions such as
corrosion, erosion, abrasion, scales, high pressure, high temperature, vibration, and microorganisms for a long time, they may fail
prematurely [5–7], which will shorten the life of the equipment and lead to economic losses and safety issues. Dsilva et al. revealed that

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zgyang@fudan.edu.cn (Z.-G. Yang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2022.106859
Received 3 August 2022; Received in revised form 2 September 2022; Accepted 6 October 2022
Available online 17 October 2022
1350-6307/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.-Y. Ma et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 143 (2023) 106859

Fig. 1. Appearance of the MMA production facility and the failed heat exchanger: (a) The MMA production facility (b) Failed heat exchanger.

Table 1
The operating temperature and pressure.
Parameters Tube side Shell side

Inlet Outlet Inlet Outlet

Temperature/◦ C 300 226 107 170

Pressure/bar 0.48 0.40 20 13

Fig. 2. Appearance of the tube sheet: (a) Inlet side (b) Outlet side.

the gas carrying corrosive substances caused erosion and corrosion of the tubes near the tube-baffle joints, which resulted in thinning of
the tube wall and leakage of the tubes [8]. Panahi et al. showed that inappropriate production caused a gap between the outer surface
of the tube and the tube sheet, and the corrosive agents caused crevice corrosion in the gap, which eventually led to cracks in the steel
tube [9]. Ni et al. revealed that the pits were formed on the inner wall of the tubes due to the unreasonable flushing operation of the
molten steel gun, and eventually the tubes were perforated due to vortex erosion in the pits [10]. Gong et al. illustrated that improper
installation of the titanium tubes and impact of the sand from the sea caused the tubes to leak [11].
This paper conducts a failure analysis on the abnormal leakage of the shell and tube heat exchanger in the methyl methacrylate
(MMA) production of a specialty chemical plant. The appearances of the MMA production facility and the failed heat exchanger are
shown in Fig. 1. The reaction gas firstly flows through the reactors, then is cooled by the X-1040 heat exchanger, and finally enters the
quench tower. In addition, the recovered heat can be used to generate steam at a pressure of 13 bar. The connection between the heat
exchanger tube and the tube sheet adopted the hydraulic expansion process, and the thickness of the tube sheet is 100 mm. For the heat
exchanger tubes, the outer diameter is 25.4 mm (±0.2 mm), the wall thickness is 2 mm (+12% ~ − 10%), and the length is 3000 mm.
Inside the tubes (the tube side), the reaction gas whose main constituents are methacrylic acid, methyl methacrylate, nitrogen, oxygen,
water vapor, carbon dioxide, acetic acid, acrylic acid, propionic acid, terephthalic acid (TPA) and methacrylaldehyde etc. flows, while
outside the tubes (the shell side) is filled with the boiler steam. The operating temperatures and pressures at the inlet and outlet ends of

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S.-Y. Ma et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 143 (2023) 106859

Fig. 3. Macroscopic image of the inner wall: (a)Sample A and B, (b)Sample C.

Table 2
Chemical compositions of 1010# and failed tubes (wt.%).
Element C Si Mn P S Cr Ni Cu

ASTM 0.07–0.13 0.17–0.37 0.35–0.65 ≤0.035 ≤0.035 ≤0.15 ≤0.30 ≤0.25

1010 steel
Tubes 0.093 0.25 0.50 0.010 0.004 0.045 0.041 0.12

the heat exchanger are shown in Table 1. However, the heat exchanger whose design lifetime is 20 years was encountered with an
abnormal leakage of the heat exchanger tubes after 9 years of use. In order to continue to use the heat exchanger, the leaked heat
exchanger tubes were immediately blocked. In the next routine maintenance, it was found that there were many pits in the middle and
lower parts of the inlet end of the heat exchanger, as shown in Fig. 2(a), where the leaked tubes mainly located. Nevertheless, there was
no similar phenomenon at the outlet end of the heat exchanger, as shown in Fig. 2(b).
Therefore, this paper addressed failure analysis of this heat exchanger through a series of chemical analysis, material inspection,
morphology observation and field inspection. According to the analysis results, the root cause of the leakage was identified and the
countermeasures were put forward.

2. Experimental methods

The leaked heat exchanger tubes were cut into small pieces for testing. Carbon-sulfur analyzer and direct-reading spectrometer
were used to inspect the chemical composition of the tubes, and metallographic inspection was performed to judge whether the
material met the quality requirements. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis
(TGA) were used to analyze the scales on the surface of the heat exchanger tubes. In addition, three-dimensional stereo microscope
(3D-SM) was used to conduct microscopic analysis of the tubes, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive
spectroscopy (EDS) were used to perform the microscopic analysis.

3. Experimental results

3.1. Visual examination

In order to avoid damaging the inlet end of the tubes, we pulled out two leaked heat exchanger tubes from the outlet end of the heat
exchanger when sampling. A sample with length of 4 cm was cut from the inlet end of the heat exchanger tube and divided into two
parts. After being cut, one tube was numbered sample A and sample B, as shown in Fig. 3(a). The tube wall of the inlet end of the heat
exchanger tube had become thinner and the inner wall was corroded. There was a circular arc-shaped notch at the inlet of sample A.
The other tube was cut and half of the tube was taken for analysis, which was numbered sample C. From Fig. 3(b), the thickness of the
tube wall at the inlet end of the heat exchanger was reduced. There was no obvious erosion trace on the outer wall of the tubes, and the
thickness of the outlet end of the tube was also not reduced.

3.2. Metal matrix examination

3.2.1. Chemical compositions

The chemical composition analysis results of the failed tubes were shown in Table 2, and were in correspondence with the spec­
ification of 1010 carbon steel in ASTM A1010/A1010M-13 2018 standard [12].

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Fig. 4. Metallographic structure of the failed tube in the heat exchanger: (a) After polishing, (b) After chemical etch.

Table 3
XRF analysis results of the scales in the tubes (wt. %).
Element C Cr O Ni Si Mn Ti Al Cu S Fe

Content 17.51 12.66 7.08 5.87 1.60 1.12 0.56 0.15 0.12 0.01 Remaining

Fig. 5. XRD results of the scales: (a)The scales in the tubes, (b)The scales on the tube sheets.

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Fig. 6. TGA curve for the scales: (a) The scales in the tubes, (b)The scales on the tube sheets.

3.2.2. Metallographic structure

Fig. 4 showed the metallographic structure of the failed tube. From Fig. 4(a), there were substantially no visible inclusions found in
the tube. According to Fig. 4(b), the microstructure of the tube was ferrite and spherulitic pearlite, and the grain size was 7 and
basically uniform. According to the results of chemical composition analysis and metallographic inspection, it can be known that the
failed heat exchanger tubes were made of qualified ASTM 1010 carbon steels.

3.3. Examination of scales

3.3.1. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF)

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy was performed on the scales inside the heat exchanger tubes, and the results were shown in
Table 3. It can be seen that the scales were mainly composed of Fe, C, Cr, O, Ni, and Si, of which most came from the base material of
the tubes. Besides that, Ti came from the metal catalyst and the 16MnR steel of the tube sheet, while the high contents of C and O were
mainly from the organic matters contained in the gas flowing in the tubes.

3.3.2. X-ray diffraction (XRD)

X-ray diffraction analysis was performed on the scales inside the tubes and on the tube sheet, and the results were displayed in Fig. 5
(a) and Fig. 5(b), respectively. After comparing with the standard powder diffraction card, it can be seen that the two kinds of scales
both contained terephthalic acid (TPA), whose peaks were marked in the figure. It can be inferred that these TPA were the deposit from
the reaction gas in the inlet end of the heat exchanger. Thus, it can be determined that the results of XRD analysis were consistent with
the results of XRF analysis.

3.3.3. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)

The thermogravimetric analysis of the scales inside the tubes and on the tube sheet were performed. In the nitrogen atmosphere, the
temperature was ranged from 25 ◦ C to 800 ◦ C, and the heating rate was 20 ◦ C /min. From the results in Fig. 6, it can be seen that the
two kinds of scales both started to lose weight at about 300 ◦ C, and greatly stopped at 400 ◦ C. However, the weight losses of them were
about 25% and 50% at 400 ◦ C respectively in Fig. 6(a) and Fig. 6(b). It is well known that terephthalic acid sublimates at 300 ◦ C, thus it

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Fig. 7. 3D-SM picture of the sample A: (a) Macro image, (b) Erosion wear and corrosion, (c) The thickness of tube wall.

can be determined that the weight loss between 300 ◦ C and 400 ◦ C was caused by sublimation of the terephthalic acid.

3.4. Three-dimensional stereo microscope (3D-SM)

3D-SM was used to observe the notch of the sample A. There were areas with different morphological features such as river-like
impact wear and corrosion, as shown in Fig. 7(a) and (b). As a result, it can be learnt in Fig. 7(c) that the tube wall was partly
thinned by 30%, because the initial wall thickness was 2 mm, while the remaining wall thickness was only about 1.4 mm. Thinning of
the wall thickness would inevitably cause risk of the tubes during service.
In Fig. 8(a) and (c), it can be observed that the sample B had a circular notch. Also, there was a big crack above the circular notch,
and at the end of the crack there were several branches, as shown in Fig. 8(b) and (d).

3.5. Scanning electron microscope (SEM)

From the SEM micrograph of the sample A in Fig. 9(a) and (b), the morphology of relatively flat impact zones and uneven corrosion
zones can be observed. Also, there was a river-like erosion morphology near the annular area at the inlet side of the tube, as seen in
Fig. 9(c) and (d).
Fig. 10(a) showed the overall morphology of sample B. From Fig. 10(b) and (c), it can be observed that there was a big circular
notch. Near the notch, there was a big crack (Fig. 10) and was accompanied by a large number of small cracks at the end, as shown in
Fig. 11(a). Particularly, the surface had already been crazed, seeming like the morphology of intergranular corrosion, as displayed in
Fig. 11(b) and (c).
The microscopic morphology of sample C was shown in Fig. 12, and the right side was the inlet end of the tube. It can be observed
that there were many corrosion pits on the inner wall of the tube from Fig. 12(b), and the river-like impact morphology can be seen
from Fig. 12(c). As shown in Fig. 12(d), the wall thickness of the tube was about 1.2 mm, which was reduced by 52%, and also some
materials of the heat exchanger tube were bulged.

3.6. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS)

Energy dispersive spectroscopy was performed on the specified positions on the inner surface of the sample B. A smooth area near
the notch (position 1) and an uneven area with scales (position 2) were chosen for analysis, and the results were shown in Fig. 13. It can

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S.-Y. Ma et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 143 (2023) 106859

Fig. 8. 3D-SM picture of the sample B: (a) Morphology of the notch and the big crack, (b) Erosion crack above the notch, (c) Erosion wear around
the notch, (d) The end of the big crack.

be seen that in addition to the elements such as Fe, C, Si, and Mn from the 1010 carbon steels, there were also small amounts of el­
ements such as Ti, K, Na, Mg, and Al, which mainly came from the tube sheet material and the metal catalyst during the reaction. In
addition, there were many C and O elements in these two positions, which indicated that there may be organic compound on the inner
surface of the tube.

4. Failure analysis

4.1. Desublimation of terephthalic acid

The results of XRF and EDS indicated that the scales contained C, Fe, O, Cr, Ni and other elements. Most of them came from the
matrix material of the heat exchanger tubes, while the high content of C and O inferred that the scales contained organic matters,
which was proved to be the terephthalic acid according to XRD. Based on these results, it can be determined that the scales were mainly
composed of terephthalic acid and metallic wear debris.
Judging from the operating parameters of the heat exchanger tubes, the temperature of the reaction gas at the inlet end of the heat
exchanger tubes was sometimes lower than 300 ◦ C, and even decreased to 226 ◦ C when flowing out of the heat exchanger. It’s well
known that the sublimation temperature of terephthalic acid is 300 ◦ C, however, at which the other substances entering the heat
exchanger tubes are all gaseous. Therefore, only the terephthalic acid desublimates into particles near the inlet end of the tubes, i.e.,
changing from gaseous state to solid particles.

4.2. Erosion wear

It can be seen from Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 that there were river-like impact morphologies, pits and cracks near the inlet end of the heat
exchanger tubes. The high-temperature gas that contained TPA particles and had a higher flow rate (20 m/s) flowed into the heat
exchanger tubes, so the gas would exert erosion wear effect on the inlet end of the heat exchanger tubes.
Erosion wear refers to the phenomenon of progressive removal of material caused by fluid or solid particles that impact the material
surface at a certain speed and angle. Among them, the erosion wear of solid particles generally includes gas-solid erosion wear and

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Fig. 9. The microscopic morphology of the sample A: (a) Overall appearance, (b) Tube wall, (c) Erosion wear and corrosion, (d) Erosion wear
and corrosion.

liquid-solid erosion wear [13]. There are many factors that affect the erosion wear rate, such as temperature, chemical composition,
microstructure and strength of impacted materials, size, shape, hardness of the impact particle, and impact speed, impact angle and so
on [14–16]. The larger the particle diameter and the higher the speed, the severer the wear effect. For the worn material, the less
smooth the flow channel and the more irregular the shape, the severer the wear effect. There are multiple mechanisms of erosion wear.
It is generally believed that micro-cutting and surface hardening are the two main mechanisms that cause erosion wear of ductile
materials. Brittle materials can develop microscopic cracks when they are subjected to erosion wear. Finnie believed that micro-cutting
leads to erosion wear of ductile materials. When a fluid containing solid particles hits the surface of an object with a small impact angle,
the solid particles will cut off the surface of the object, and a tiny pit will be formed on the surface of the object. Then, other particles
make the pit bigger and bigger [17]. There were many pits on the inner wall of the heat exchanger tubes analyzed in this paper, which
was a solid evidence of this mechanism. Levy et al. proposed the forging extrusion theory, which holds the belief that the surface of the
object is constantly squeezed under the continuous scouring of the abrasive, resulting in a highly deformed, small and thin lip-like
bulges on the surface of the object. Then under repeated impact, the bulges come off from the surface of the object [18]. In this
paper, bulges can be observed on the inner wall of Sample C. For brittle materials, when the fluid hits the brittle material, cracks are
generated on the surface of the object. The cracks continue to grow bigger, and fragments are generated on the surface of the material.
At last, these fragments fall off from the material under the impact of the fluid [19].
Under the constant impact of the gas containing particles, small erosion pits were gradually formed on the inner surface of the heat
exchanger tubes. Part of the materials on the inner surface of the heat exchanger tubes would fall off after impact and became wear
debris. This erosion wear would also cause thinning of the wall of the heat exchanger tubes. The high temperature and the TPA
particles accelerated this erosion wear effect. At the beginning, the surfaces of the inner wall of the heat exchanger tubes were
relatively hard, but the hardness of the TPA particles was not high. The erosion wear effect of the fluid mainly formed tiny pits on the
surface of the tubes, and the pits were shallow. In addition, bulges due to erosion wear can also be observed, as shown in Fig. 12. After a

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Fig. 10. The microscopic morphology of the sample B: (a) Overall appearance, (b) The notch and the big crack, (c) The notch, (d) The beginning of
the big crack.

period of erosion wear, the inner wall surfaces at the inlet end of the heat exchanger tubes become soft due to abrasion and corrosion,
and wear debris were generated. Fig. 14 showed the principle of erosion wear on this heat exchanger tubes. In addition, high tem­
perature gas would cause vortex effect in some pits, as shown in Fig. 15. The gas flowed in the pit, with a high velocity on the upper side
and a low velocity on the lower side, which created a hemispherical pit with a wide top and a narrow bottom. Because of this vortex
effect in the pit, the impact of erosion wear was greater here than elsewhere [20]. Finally, here would be a circular notch as shown in
Fig. 10(c). When the gas entered the heat exchanger tubes, due to less TPA particles and metallic wear debris, the tube nozzles were
mainly affected by erosion wear. Therefore, under the erosion wear of high-temperature and high-velocity gas, the pits gradually
became smooth and flat, showing a river-like impact morphology, as shown in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10.
According to the results of XRF and EDS, the scales in the heat exchanger tubes contained titanium, but the 1010 carbon steel used
in the tubes did not contain titanium. The titanium element mainly came from the 16Mn steel of the tube sheet and was brought into
the tubes by the erosion wear of particles. After the tube sheet was subjected to erosion wear of the gas containing TPA particles, some
of the 16Mn steel grains fell off, flowed into the tubes along with the gas, and deposited near the nozzles. This also confirmed that the
gas entering the tubes had an erosion wear effect on the nozzles. Therefore, erosion wear was the root cause of walls thinning and tubes
leakage.

4.3. Abrasive wear

The mechanical wear caused by cutting or ploughing of particles is called abrasive wear. The results of abrasive wear are affected
by the factors such as particle hardness, size, shape, material hardness, strength, plasticity, microstructure, and environment [21–23].
The thickness of the inlet side wall of sample A had reduced by more than 40%, so it was easy to cause local leakage and affect the
safety of the heat exchanger tubes. The sample B and sample C were also very thin of the inlet side. Affected by the gas flow, TPA

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S.-Y. Ma et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 143 (2023) 106859

Fig. 11. The microscopic morphology of the big crack in the sample B: (a) Overall appearance of the big crack, (b) The end of the big crack, (c) The
small cracks around the big crack.

particles and metallic wear debris rub against the inner surfaces of the heat exchanger tubes. At the same time, these solid particles
exerted force on the inner surface of the heat exchanger tubes. This force can be decomposed into two parts: centripetal force and
tangential force. The centripetal force made the TPA particles pressed into the inner surfaces of the heat exchanger tubes, and the
tangential force made the TPA particles flowed forward. When the shape of the particles and the direction of the force were appro­
priate, the inner surfaces of the heat exchanger tubes would be cut. The width and depth of this cutting were very small. However,
under long-term action and high temperature conditions, thinning occurred near the inlet end of the heat exchanger tubes. This was a
kind of abrasive wear. When the heat exchanger tubes were just put into use, because the inner surface was less damaged, it was not
easy to cause abrasive wear. However, due to the erosion wear of gas and the corrosive effect of TPA, the inner wall of the tubes would
inevitably have defects. Once defects appeared on the inner surface of the tubes, the abrasive wear rate would be accelerated. Through
further inquiry to the manufacturer, it was found that the production line had modified the process flow. One secondary reactor was
removed, which made it impossible to filter out some substances such as TPA. The heat exchanger tubes also leaked again after the
process was modified. TPA particles caused serious abrasive wear of the inner wall of the tubes. In summary, the abrasive wear of TPA
particles at the inlet side of the heat exchanger tubes was another root cause of abnormal thinning of the nozzles and leakage of the
tubes.

4.4. Corrosion

The inner walls of the inlet side of the sample tube were severely corroded, because the 1010 carbon steel has poor resistance to
acid corrosion. Terephthalic acid is acidic and will corrode carbon steel. The tube gas contained water vapor, and the high temperature
environment and a small amount of chloride ions would be dissolved and accelerate corrosion. Observing Fig. 11, we can see that in
addition to a long large crack, there were some small cracks at the crack tip. Because of the high-temperature airflow inside the tubes,

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Fig. 12. Microscopic morphology of the sample C: (a) Overall appearance, (b) Pits of the upper tube wall, (c) Erosion wear of the middle of tube, (d)
Bulges of the lower tube wall.

the tubes would be subjected to circumferential tensile stress, and also because of the corrosion of TPA, stress corrosion cracking and
intergranular corrosion occurred here [7]. These led to many small cracks and a large crack. After the cracks occurred, the tubes were
easily penetrated, which caused leakage. Therefore, the corrosion of carbon steel by TPA was also a cause for the abnormal thinning of
the nozzles and leakage of the tubes.
Gases containing TPA particles caused erosive wear, abrasive wear and corrosion to the carbon steel tubes. Corrosion made the
inner surface more susceptible to defects, which in turn was more susceptible to abrasive wear and erosion wear. Small pits caused by
wear were more likely to accumulate TPA, and corrosion was therefore more likely to occur in these pits. In Fig. 10, three different
failure mechanisms were shown at three different locations on the inner surface of the heat exchanger tube. At position 1, erosion wear
mainly occurred, at position 2, abrasive wear occurred, and at position 3, corrosion occurred. The root causes of the leakage were the
erosion wear and abrasive wear by the high temperature gas containing terephthalic acid. Wear resulted in thinning of the tube wall,
which made the heat exchanger susceptible to stress corrosion cracking. Therefore, corrosion was also an important cause for the
leakage of tubes. Over time, the heat exchanger tubes were more prone to thinning and leakage failure was finally induced.

Conclusions and suggestions

Based on the above experimental results, as well as the tube materials inspection and operating conditions of the heat exchanger,
we can draw the following conclusions:

1. Terephthalic acid was desublimated into solid particles on the inlet side of the heat exchanger tubes. The high-temperature gas
containing TPA particles caused vortex scouring of the tubes and produced metallic wear debris. The erosion wear accelerated the

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S.-Y. Ma et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 143 (2023) 106859

Fig. 13. EDS of the sample B: (a) Test location, (b) Result for area 1, (c) Result for area 2.

Fig. 14. Erosion wear on the heat exchanger tube.

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S.-Y. Ma et al. Engineering Failure Analysis 143 (2023) 106859

Fig. 15. Vortex effect in the pit.

process of local thinning of the nozzles by the gas. Therefore, the erosion wear of the tubes by the high temperature gas containing
TPA particles was the root cause for the abnormal thinning of the nozzles and leakage of the tubes.
2. There were terephthalic acid particles of the gas in the heat exchanger tubes. With the accumulation of TPA particles and the
irregular flow of gas in the tubes, the solid TPA particles and metallic wear debris would exert a force on the nozzles. After a long
time, the tubes would be thinned, that is, abrasive wear occurred on the inner surface of the tube. The abrasive wear of TPA
particles and metallic wear debris on the inlet side of the heat exchanger tubes was another root cause of abnormal thinning of the
nozzles and leakage of the tubes.
3. TPA particles also had a corrosive effect on the carbon steel of the heat exchanger tubes at high temperature, which led to the
interaction between corrosion and wear. The corrosion of carbon steel by TPA was also an important cause for the abnormal
thinning of the nozzles and leakage of the tubes.

Based on the above conclusions, the following suggestions are made:

1. Since the gas in the tube side contained desublimed TPA particles, it was recommended that the temperature of the gas entering the
heat exchanger tubes must be above 300 ◦ C to reduce the precipitation of TPA particles, thereby reducing the erosion wear effect of
TPA particles on the nozzles.
2. Before entering the heat exchanger, a process can be added to remove the TPA. This can also reduce the impact of TPA on the heat
exchanger tubes.
3. If the temperature of the inlet side of the heat exchanger cannot be increased, it is recommended to appropriately reduce the flow
rate and pressure of the tube side gas. In this way, the abrasive wear and erosion wear effect of the gas containing particles on the
inner wall of the tubes is reduced.
4. If the current process conditions cannot be changed, it is recommended to replace the heat exchanger tube material with a stainless-
steel material, which has better corrosion resistance and erosion resistance.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

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