Remarkable Achievements in Coke Drum Reliability

One of the major reliability challenges that delayed coking operators face is the ability to avoid through-wall cracks in coke drums. These undesirable failures that often develop during operation result in leaks and/or fires that lead to unplanned shutdowns and lengthy repairs. Usually, the uncertainties and economic and safety implications of these failures lead operators to prematurely replace drums at a tremendous cost and disruption only to be back in the same unpredictable situation few years after replacement.

Recent advances in inspection, assessment, and repair technologies have revolutionized the state-of-the-art of mechanical integrity management of these failure-prone vessels and changed their outlook after experiencing first crack. These advances have enabled operators to extend the economic lives of their drums well beyond their original design life. One operator improved the reliability of their 50-year-old drums to the point of cancelling replacement plans. In our two-day training on Mechanical Integrity and Reliability of Coke Drums at RefComm® Budapest 2017, we examine the underlying methods and technologies that led to such remarkable achievements.