Metal dusting (catastrophic carburization) of a waste heat boiler tube

A waste-heat boiler at a chemical plant suffered an unusual tube failure. The boiler is part of the partial oxidation (POx) syngas production for a 2-ethyl hexanol unit. The syngas primarily consists of H₂, CO and CO₂ with trace amounts of CH₄. Steam is also reportedly injected into the process. The syngas enters the boiler at approximately 1800°F (980°C) on the internal side of the tube and is cooled, while generating approximately 640 psi (4.41 MPa) steam at 490°F (255°C) on the outside of the tube. The internal surface of the tube contained a region of metal loss that was approximately 1 inches long by inch wide (44.5 mm by 19 mm). The metal loss was very localized with little evidence of attack elsewhere on the tube's surface. Molten salt attack, sulfidation and metal dusting were considered as possible mechanisms for the metal loss. It was determined that metal dusting, also called catastrophic carburization, was the cause of the metal loss. The cause of the metal dusting was localized overheating of the tube, which developed because of water/steam flow disruption due to contact of the tube baffle with the tube. Approximately one year after this tube failure, the boiler suffered two more tube failures, which were also attributed to metal dusting.