Catalyst Cooler Baffle Plate for Side-Inlet Tube Erosion
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high erosion of catalyst cooler tubes in residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) units due to the concentrated gas flow from the regenerator, leading to unscheduled shutdowns and reduced campaign times, is not adequately addressed by existing solutions, such as those proposed by the state of the art.
Innovation Solution
A baffle plate is installed in the catalyst inlet region of the catalyst cooler with a side inlet to deflect and capture the gas flow, redirecting it away from the critical erosion zones near the inlet nozzle, using anti-erosion refractory protection and side passages to distribute the gas flow into a less erosive region.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple bundle assemblies are inserted to allow independent isolation, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The catalyst cooler bundle is divided into multiple independent bundle assemblies that can be isolated individually. This segmentation allows one assembly to be blocked while others continue operating, improving reliability without requiring complete shutdown of the entire cooler system.
Solution Approach 2:
A baffle plate is introduced as an intermediary component between the catalyst inlet and the bundle assemblies. The baffle plate redirects the catalyst flow to distribute it more evenly across multiple assemblies, preventing concentrated erosion at specific locations while maintaining the independent isolability of each assembly.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If hard coating is applied to tubes to increase erosion resistance, then tube life is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to coating failure after 36-48 months
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful concentrated gas flow is extracted and redirected away from the tube bundles by the baffle plate. This removes the root cause of the erosion problem rather than relying on protective coatings that can fail over time.
Solution Approach 2:
The concentrated gas flow, which originally causes harmful cavitation and erosion, is redirected to create a beneficial distributed flow pattern across multiple bundle assemblies. This converts the harmful concentrated flow into a beneficial distributed flow that reduces erosion everywhere.
3Productivity
If catalyst enters through side inlet, then productivity is improved, but erosion of first rows of tubes increases leading to unscheduled shutdowns
Solution Approach 1:
The baffle plate serves as an intermediary component that intercepts the concentrated gas flow from the side inlet and redirects it. This mediator distributes the flow across multiple bundle assemblies, preventing the harmful concentrated erosion that would otherwise occur in the first rows of tubes.
Solution Approach 2:
The baffle plate introduces a spatial dimension to flow distribution by redirecting the catalyst flow from a concentrated side inlet direction to a distributed pattern across multiple assemblies. This dimensional change in flow distribution eliminates the concentrated erosion problem while maintaining the side inlet configuration's productivity benefits.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The baffle plate effectively prevents cavitation and erosion, extending the campaign life of the catalyst cooler by maintaining performance and reducing unscheduled shutdowns, thereby increasing operational efficiency and profitability.
Implementation Method 1
The strong erosion in the tubes of the first and second rows results in unscheduled shutdowns of RFCCs due to holes in the catalyst cooler bundles
Implementation Method 2
The greater amount of coke in RFCC units results in a high energy release in the regenerator, far above the energy demand of the converter
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure discloses a baffle plate, and associated methods, installed in a catalyst inlet region of a catalyst cooler with side inlet, wherein the baffle plate is fixed in front of the first row of tubes of a bundle closest to the catalyst inlet region of the catalyst cooler, positioned so as to deflect gases entrained by the catalyst flow that enter a shell of the catalyst cooler through the upper section of the inlet nozzle.