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Investigation of Micro-Structure and Creep Life Analysis of Centrifugally Cast Fe-Cr-Ni Alloy Reformer Tubes
Investigation of Micro-Structure and Creep Life Analysis of Centrifugally Cast Fe-Cr-Ni Alloy Reformer Tubes
Investigation of Micro-Structure and Creep Life Analysis of Centrifugally Cast Fe-Cr-Ni Alloy Reformer Tubes
org
DOI: 10.13189/mst.2015.030413
Copyright © 2015 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License
Abstract Reformer furnace tubes are designed for tubes. This results in forced shutdown of the plant
exposure to high temperatures and pressures for prolonged accompanied by severe economic loss. In the recent years,
time. HP grade steels which are cast austenitic Fe–Cr–Ni remaining life assessment of the materials has been
alloys are used as reformer tubes for service temperatures in considered as an important factor by design engineers for the
the range of 950°C to 1000°C. This paper reports an safety of these tubes. Various creep rupture techniques, such
investigation on the results of analysis of service exposed as Larson-Miller method [5], Orr-Sherby-Dorn method [6],
HP40Nb steel micro-alloyed with Ti. Microstructural Manson-Haferd method [7], Manson-Succop method [8]
investigation of the service exposed tube revealed carbides have been suggested by researchers to assess the remaining
rich in Cr, Nb and Ti at grain boundary regions which are life of a material. These techniques represent the master
typical features of the cast material. No evidence of creep curves which involve stress (σ), temperature (T) and rupture
deformation was observed in this material indicating absence time (tR). Among these parametric techniques, Larson-Miller
of degradation in structure and properties. Accelerated stress parameter (PL-M) is the most commonly used method to
rupture tests at temperatures in the range of 850°C - 1050°C determine creep life [9,10,11,12,13]. PL-M is expressed by the
and stress in the range of 47 MPa - 80 MPa on samples relationship:
machined from tubes exposed for 11 years at 650°C was PL-M (σ) = T (log(tR) + CL-M)× 10-3 (1)
carried out to assess the life of the tube for various where CL-M is the Larson-Miller constant. The CL-M value is
combinations of temperature and stress by Larson-Miller obtained as the intersecting point of iso-stress lines on log(tR)
parameter. Observation of the fractured samples after axis of log(tR) vs. (1/T) plot. It is observed that in most of the
accelerated stress rupture tests revealed nucleation and cases, the value of CL-M is considered as a constant. Feng et al.
growth of voids at Cr rich phases as the main mechanism of proposed a Z-parameter which represents the degree of the
damage at elevated temperatures. This paper also discusses deviation to the master curve due to scattered experimental
the need for using the Larson-Miller constant (CL-M) as a data [14]. CL-M depends on the chemical composition, initial
function of stress rather than considering it as a constant microstructure, grain size [15] and cold-work [16] imparted.
value. The scatter of experimental data from master curve may be
Keywords Reformer Tube, HP40Nb, Larson-Miller due to CL-M value which leads to the assumption of a constant
Parameter, Stress Rupture Test significant value for the prediction of life of the component.
The present investigation aims to study the
microstructural degradation and assess remaining life of
microalloyed HP40Nb austenitic stainless steel reformer
1. Introduction tube material. In this study, the authors have attempted to
Reformer tubes are widely used in petroleum and find a method to reduce the scatter of experimental data from
chemical industries for production of hydrogen from natural master curve by considering CL-M as a dependent parameter
gas [1,2,3]. Reformer tubes are typically made of rather than a constant value.
centrifugally cast microalloyed HP40Nb heat resistant alloys.
At higher temperatures and stresses, high Cr and Ni content
in the alloy facilitate corrosion resistance and creep
2. Experimental Procedure
resistance respectively [4]. Design engineers found that these The material for the investigation was centrifugally cast
tubes made of HP40Nb microalloyed steel can work fora reformer tube obtained from Numaligarh Refineries Limited,
long period of service life at temperatures up to 1000˚C and India having inside diameter of 106 mm and thickness 15.3
internal pressures of 25-27.5 bar. mm. The supplied tube was service exposed to 650˚C for 11
The degradation of microstructure and properties during years. The composition of the alloy analyzed by optical
service many a times results in premature failure of these emission spectrometer was found to be 0.4 C, 1.3 Si, 0.037
156 Investigation of Micro-structure and Creep Life Analysis of Centrifugally Cast Fe–Cr–Ni Alloy Reformer Tubes
Mo, 23.6 Cr, 34.9 Ni, 0.8 Nb, 0.037 Ti and balance Fe (in
weight %). Flat tensile creep specimens of 25 mm gauge
length, 6.5 mm width and 3 mm thick as shown in Fig. 1,
were machined from the longitudinal direction of reformer
tube by wire-cut electric discharge machining (EDM).
Constant stress creep tests were carried out at three different
stresses, viz, 47, 68 and 80 MPa, at temperature levels
ranging between 850˚C and 1050˚C. During testing, the
temperature of the specimen was controlled accurately
within ±3˚C. Rupture time of each test was noted for
parametric study of the material.
Figure 1. Specimen geometry for creep rupture tests. All dimensions are
in mm
Metallographic Observation
The optical micrograph of the as-received HP40Nb
microalloyed steel is shown in Fig. 2. The microstructure
shows dendritic structure. Network of carbide precipitates at
austenitic grain boundary regions are observed. No evidence
of any microscopic defects was observed during
investigation under microscope. Fig. 3 shows the SEM
image carried out using a back scattered electron detector.
EDX results (Fig. 4) show three different types of carbide
precipitates: Cr-rich carbide (dark gray, phase-A), Nb-rich
carbide (white, phase-B) and Nb-Ti-rich carbide (tiny white, (a)
phase-C) at austenitic grain boundaries.
SEM micrograph of the longitudinal section of the
specimen failed by creep deformation at 850˚C and 47 MPa
stress is shown in Fig. 5. Microstructural observation at low
magnification (Fig. 5(a)) indicates presence of micro void at
grain boundary regions. High magnification (Fig. 5(b))
observation reveals nucleation of micro voids (around 3-8
μm) in the vicinity of carbides at grain boundaries. The
growth of these micro voids along the grain boundary region
is also observed. The microscopic feature reveals the failure
mechanism by nucleation of voids in the vicinity of carbides,
(b)
its subsequent growth and coalescences.
Manufacturing Science and Technology 3(4): 155-159, 2015 157
(c)
Figure 4. EDX spectrum of (a) phase A, (b) phase B and (c) phase C.
(a)
(b)
PL-M (σ) = T (log(tR) + (m × σ + A)) × 10-3 (2) Table 2. PL-M values from Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 for different stresses.
where m and A are constants obtained from CL-M vs. σ plot. Larson-Miller Parameter, PL-M
Stress
The value of m and A were obtained as -0.292 MPa-1 and [MPa] Using Constant CL-M
Using CL-M as a Function of
Stress
39.668, respectively. The σ vs. PL-M plot on a log-log scale
for the reformer tube considering CL-M value as a function of 10 30.85 45.56
stress is shown in Fig. 8. The plot of σ vs. PL-M is found to be 20 30.43 41.67
linear with a R2 value of 0.994, indicating a very good fit. It 30 30.00 37.78
may be noted that the R2 value for the σ vs. PL-M plot,
considering CL-M as a constant, was only 0.635. Comparision Table 3. Remaining life of the reformer tube for different stress and
temperature combinations.
of Fig. 7 & 8 indicates a better fit can be obtained
considering CL-M as a function of stress. Therefore, the PL-M Remaining life [years]
Stress Temperature
considering CL-M value as a function of stress shows a Using Using CL-M as a
[MPa] [˚C]
satisfactory result for predicting the long-term creep rupture Constant CL-M Function of Stress
life of the reformer steel. 10 820 0.77 9.79
PL-M values for hoop stresses of 10, 20 and 30 MPa for the
20 810 0.57 5.06
service exposed reformer tube were determined by
extrapolating the curves in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 and is given in 30 790 0.76 4.88
Table 2. Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show the remaining life of the
reformer tube using the following equations:
tR = 10((1000×PL-M/T)-25.4) (3)
and
tR = 10((1000×PL-M/T) – (m × σ + A)) (4)
Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show the remaining life decreases with
increase in tempetrature. At lower stress the material can
work at higher temperature than higher stress for same
remaining life. Comparison of remaining life of the reformer
tube obtained by considering constant CL-M and CL-M as a
function of stress in Eq. 1, at various service temperatures
and stresses are given in Table 3. From Table 3, it is apparent
that remaining life of the reformer tube is very sensitive to
small difference in temperture and CL-M value, even if CL-M
is considered as a constant.
Table 1. CL-M values for different stresses
Stress, σ [MPa] Larson-Miller Constant, CL-M
Figure 9. Temperature–predicted rupture life behavior for the service
80 15.24
exposed steel using constant CL-M value.
68 21.54
47 25.33
Figure 8. Plot of stress vs. PL-M for CL-M as a function of stress. Figure 10. Temperature–predicted rupture life behavior for CL-M as a
function of stress.
Manufacturing Science and Technology 3(4): 155-159, 2015 159