Reactor Turnaround Training

Section 5

Reactor Inspection

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Reactor Turnaround Training

Section 1 - Safety and Environmental

Section 2 - Pre-Turnaround Work
Section 3 - Shutdown Procedures
Section 4 – Cleanup Procedures
Section 5 – Reactor Inspection
Section 6 - Catalyst Loading
Section 7 - Startup Procedures
Section 8 - Follow-up and Documentation
Section 9 - HOTT Team Certification

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Contents

• Reactor internal functions and types

• Principles—conditions required for internals to work well

• Pre-load inspection and checklist

• Interbed inspection
• Cleanliness

• Documentation (photos, video, reports, etc.)

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Functions of Interbed Internals

• Provide beams and screens to physically support catalyst while

allowing reactants to pass down reactor

• Gather hot reactants from outlet of bed above and mix them uniformly
with cold quench gas to control inlet temperature to bed below

• Provide tray(s) to evenly distribute liquid on top of bed below

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Reactor Internals: 1 st Generation Design

(Richmond, Pascagoula I)

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Reactor Internals: 2 nd Generation Design (El

Segundo, Pascagoula II)

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Reactor Internals: 3 rd Generation Design (RLOP

and Pascagoula RDS)

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 Quenching & Mixing – Nautilus

– The key component of the Nautilus internals is a baffled collector tray which
swirls and mixes vapor and liquid entering any inter-bed zone in a reactor,
directing the entire stream to a centrally located mixing box. Cold quench gas
is introduced above the Nautilus collection tray and is thoroughly mixed with
hot effluent vapors. The mixed effluents are then efficiently redistributed
across the reactor diameter using a perforated tray and a bubble-cap
distributor tray. Mixing and redistribution are accomplished with lower pressure
drop and in less reactor shell length than other designs.

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 Quenching & Mixing
ISOMIX Cross-Sectional View
• General Layout

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ISOMIX-e
Reactor Internals Design Features
Wedge Pin Connectors

Two (2) piece Mixing

Box

Minimum Height
Requirements
Upward turned support
beams with tapered ends

No hanger brackets or
rods

Trays supported by truss

system and reactor wall
attachments

Thinner tray plates

Quick access through

uncluttered manways
Quench enters reactor under
catalyst support grid
A CLG and Lummus Technologies Joint Venture

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 ISOMIXTM –T Spray pattern from nozzles

Current ISOMIX® Nozzle New ISOMIX®-e Nozzle

Liquid (water) flow rate: 2.5 gpm; Gas (air) flow rate: 8 scfm

Liquid (water) flow rate: 2.5 gpm; Gas (air) flow rate: 0 scfm
A CLG and Lummus Technologies Joint Venture

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 ISOMIXTM –T Spray pattern and impact on bed
surface from distribution devices
Chimney distributor ISOMIX® ISOMIX®-e

Impact on bed surface 6” from nozzle tip measured with a pressure sheet sensor (0.3-1 psi range):

D=7
”

Single point impact with Spread distribution Spread distribution with most
P≥1psi area un-detectable (P≤0.3 psi)

A CLG and Lummus Technologies Joint Venture

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Principles - Conditions Required for Internals to

Work Well
• Components clean—excessive debris removed from
internals

• Internals installed properly

• All gaps sealed

• Gasketing material in place where seal is critical or there is

a risk of catalyst migration.
–What trays and manways would require gasket material?

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Preload Inspection

• Develop a reactor specific checklist

• Should have sign offs by Operations, Inspection, and

Maintenance as a minimum

• Some items for the checklist:

– Outlet piping is clean

– Screen is clear and free of plugging

– All fasteners are tight and properly installed

– Gaskets are properly installed

– External dump nozzle should have Kao-wool filling the void

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Interbed Inspection

• Trays are level within ¼” (6 mm)

• Quench line holes are not plugged

➢Plan to test with water or air if questionable

• “Cans” at quench lines penetrations installed correctly

• Clearances on catalyst dump pipes are good

• Internal dump pipes are long enough and installed

properly

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Catalyst Internal Dump Pipe Incidents

Example of fluidization of catalyst after seal failure on internal dump pipe

Once catalyst seal is lost, the internals will fill up with catalyst causing a
high pressure drop and unplanned shutdown.

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Catalyst Dump Pipe Requirements

Catalyst Quench Ring

Support Beam Sieve Tray

Quench Pan
Chimney Tray

Dump Pipe
Catalyst Catalyst Seal

1. Catalyst Seal should be the longer of:

A. 30”/750 mm seal between bottom of dump pipe and top of catalyst
bed.
B. 15% of the Catalyst Bed Depth
2. Dump Pipes should be loaded with 1/8”/3mm Denstone 99 Balls and Pie
Plates (see next page)

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Interbed Inspection - Gaskets

• Example of gasket material installation on trays

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Dump Nozzle: Kao Wool Packing & Star Plug

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Reactor Outlet Cones

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Outlet Collector Rope Packing

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Interbed Inspection – Quench Ring

• Quench Ring Checking

All “Grayloc”
fittings on the
quench rings
should be
checked for
tightness then
marked
complete

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Reactor Internals

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Interbed Inspection

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Interbed Inspection

• Check for gaps on tray perimeter and on bed penetration

points (must be less than ¼”/6 mm)
–Quench line
–TI bundles
–Catalyst dump pipes

• Tray and bed attachment welds — general review.

• Check for damage

• Quench line review for corrosion and correct metallurgy.

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Gap on Tray Perimeter

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Inspection: KNPC Johnson Screen

One of the three areas we found gap in Johnson screen

that would have allowed ¼” (6 mm) ceramic balls to fall
below.

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Tray Splice Gap

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Weld Crack at Outlet Collector

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Cracked Weld at Outlet Collector

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Interbed Inspection
• Examples of Jackhammer Damage

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Interbed Inspection – Bed TI’s

• Visually inspect the Gayesco Thermo-couples and their

brackets for any obvious damage. Inspection may use dye-
penetrant (PT).

• Inspect for cracks and dings (Flex-R’s)

• Flame test for response per Best Practice HP-016

recommendation. A propane torch method can be used to
check the TI’s.

• TI’s should be positioned as close to original orientation as

possible. Ensure hold down clips are installed as needed.

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Interbed Inspection

Temperature
Indicators

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Reactor (wall) finger TI

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 Grid / Screen / V-wire failure:

•Mechanical damage to
Catalyst Support Surface.

Possibly from chipping gun

or hydro-drill contacting bed
surface
Patched with mesh overlay.

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 Catalyst Support Screen

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 Johnson Screen Degradation

We have seen an increase in Catalyst support screen

(aka: Johnson Screen or V-wire) damage.

The damage mechanisms have varied:

• Corrosion/degradation
• Mechanical damage associated with catalyst dumping/drilling
• Mechanical damage associated with high bed/end-of-run temperatures.

Damage to the support screen has been seen in El Segundo, Richmond, and
Pascagoula.

This upward trend in required repairs is somewhat driven harder Reactor

cycles, and just by general aging.

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 Case 1:
El Segundo CKN (R-530 Elephant Stool / Bed 5)

Corrosion and
thinning.
Elephant stool (outlet
collector) Area of
damage is ~8” x 11”
(20.3cm x 28cm)

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 Case 1:
El Segundo CKN (R-530 Elephant Stool / Bed 5)

Elephant Stool repair:

Required removal of stool to
facilitate repair
• A significant amount of the
Johnson screen had to be
excised in order to find solid
base metal for welding on
new screen.
• Overall repair time delays
catalyst loading ~ 2 days

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 Pascagoula CHDN (R-8510)
Bottom bed Cone:
Warping and buckling due to high
bed temps / excursion
• Led to some catalyst migration and
significant patching & repair.

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 Pascagoula CHDN (R-8510)

Repairs:

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 Repair Recommendations

Repair with new Johnson Screen

• V-Wire / Johnson screen is a long-lead item.

• Based on the widespread amount of damage CVX has seen

recently, it is recommended that as a contingency, each facility
has enough new Johnson screen in stock to resurface 1 bed of
their largest diameter reactor.

• J-Screen material should be 347SS

• Preferred method of patching is to excise rotten material, then
tack-weld in replacement material
• An overlapping patch (covering over a section of degraded screen
with new) may be acceptable in small to moderate areas.

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 Cleanliness
• Define what is clean upfront — don’t go overboard, it’s
going to be filled with catalyst and gooey oil

• Recommend hydroblasting if needed — no damage to

screens
• Polar Blasting has been used successfully

• Wet Abrasive Blasting has been used successfully

• Repair Johnson Screens — use “in kind” screen and not the
knockoffs that are available
–JOHNSON VEE-WIRE® SCREEN PANELS

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Wet Abrasive Blasting

-more effective than hydro blasting alone

-effective with less pressure than hydro blasting alone
-Dust suppression of over 90%...no containment required
-Reduced media consumption….less clean up

Operates at pressures as low as 30 psi to as high as 130 psi

Media consumption of ~50-150 lbs per hour
As well as water usage as low as 1 qt per minute

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Hydro Blasting

• Small portable units are fast to set up

• Easy to work in confined spaces
• Great for small jobs…cleaning screens, wall scale, etc….

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Cleanliness

Example of catalyst found in a bubble cap tray

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Catalyst Fines in Internals

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Distribution Tray After Vacuuming

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Bubble Cap Tray After Cleaning

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Hardware / Fasteners

Example of T - Bolt

Slot NOT correct Slot should indicate

“Tee” position
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 Wedge Pin
Fasteners

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Wedge Pin Advantages

• Faster to Disassemble and Reassemble internal manways

• Eliminates issues with Stainless Steel bolts…thread galling, broken

bolts , bad threads , etc…

• Does not require special tools for removal and installation

• Eliminates Costly and Specialized hardware such as “Tee” bolts , J

Bolts , horse shoe washers , etc…

• Standardized pins, can be reused.

– Pins should never be altered. Alterations should be made to the
hold down clip only.

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Pascagoula Reactors with Wedge Pins

❑R-6701: Hydrofiner (performed dump/load since modification)

❑R-8510: Coker HDN
❑R-6210: ISO2 New reactor installed 1Q2017
❑R-1201: ISO1
❑RDS R-8120/21/30/31
❑HCR R-8110/11
• Cost to complete work in plants is ~$40,000.
• Reduced S/D duration time by 12 to 16 hours
• Average savings of ~ $790,000 per year in LPO avoidance.

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Wedge Pin Concept

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 Wedge Pins used on Grid Tray assembly

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 Wedge Pins used on Chimney Tray
Manway

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 Wedge Pins used on Perforated Tray

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Documentation and Inspection Report

• Take still photos and video to verify inspection

–Photos of mechanical integrity
–Photos of packing installed
–Photos of internal dump pipes loaded
• Video all critical phases of loading
–Pre-load cleanliness
–Bed and outage once support is loaded in each bed
–Any transition layers
–Final outage after loading each bed
• Prepare detailed report after completion
• Include documentation of all critical steps

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Final Inspection

After the Final Reactor

Inspection is completed,
the reactor should be
ready for catalyst
loading.

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 Appendix

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Standard Chimney Video

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Nautilus Internals Video

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 Isomix Internals Video

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Reactor Internals: First Generation Collector

Tray & Quench Pipe

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Inspection Report
1/29/2010 R-1201 Initial Inspection – PE/HOTT - Work Request

Dump plug –Repair bottom stud with modification per maintenance.

Bed 5

• Vacuuming out annular space hand holes.

• Install new bolts in 3 annular space hand holes. 4” x ½”. If bolt threading is good and won’t back out
leave it alone.
• Install new specialized gaskets in annular space.
• Vacuum screen before loading.

Internals btw Bed 4 & 5

• Install rope packing on 2 TW that not centered in bottom distribution tray if accessible. N/A per TEMA
• Vacuum out internals as needed during loading.
• Replace nuts on quench mixing tray components as needed.

Bed 4

• Replace packing around 2 marked TW.

Internals btw bed 3 & 4

• Vacuum out internals as needed during loading.

• Replace nuts on quench mixing tray components as needed.

Bed 3

• Repack 1 marked TW

Internals btw bed 2 & 3

• Vacuum out internals as needed during loading.

• Replace nuts on quench mixing tray components as needed.

Bed 2

• Make (2) weld repairs on screen

• Repack 2 marked TWs

Internals btw bed 1 & 2

• Vacuum out internals as needed during loading.

• Replace nuts on quench mixing tray components as needed.

Bed 1

• Repack 1 marked TW
• Install new bolts in annular space hand holes. 3” x ½”. If bolt threading is good and won’t back out, leave
it alone.
• Install new specialized gasket in annular space hand hole.

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Reactor Inspection Checklist

Initial Inspection Comments/Date Inspected. Two (2) Final Sign-off / Date Final Comments: All initial findings corrected
inspectors recommended (OK)
Location Item checked & condition PE/ MAINT If OK sign off and OK Final Inspection. If not OK PE/ PE/ MAINT HPA
HOTT FER DE comment, highlight, and follow-thru before sign-off HOTT HOTT FER DE
of Final Inspection
Distribution
Tray
OUTAGES

Depth of Distribution Tray-Bed #1 Internals INITIAL INSPECTION ONLY

(from Alligator Tray to bottom of Chimney
Tray)
Height f/manway to Alligator Tray INITIAL INSPECTION ONLY

Height f/manway to 1st bed screen INITIAL INSPECTION ONLY

Deflection Cone

Attachment bracket welds and bolting FER FER

Deflection cone condition and welds

All bolting tight on final installation FINAL INSPECTION ONLY MAINT

Use upper set of holes on hanger FINAL INSPECTION ONLY MAINT

bracket/lower holes on cone for hose
clearance

Rx Shell Condition/Thermowell Shell

Penetrations
Quench line penetration area condition and FER FER
bolting (3)
Thermowell penetration area condition and FER FER
bolting (3)
Thermowell visual condition (3). Look for wear FER FER
spots or bowing, UT if questionable
Thermowells pressure tested (if new FINAL INSPECTION ONLY MAINT
thermowells were installed must be hydro-
tested)
Annular space inspection port opened (use FER
boroscope to inspect annular space)
Inspection port Garloc gasketed and bolted FINAL INSPECTION ONLY MAINT
tight

Initial Inspection Sign-off

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Reactor Inspection Checklist

Initial Inspection Comments/Date Inspected. Two (2) Final Sign-off / Date Final Comments: All initial findings corrected
inspectors recommended (OK)
Location Item checked & condition PE/ MAINT If OK sign off and OK Final Inspection. If not OK PE/ PE/ MAINT HPA
HOTT FER DE comment, highlight, and follow-thru before sign-off HOTT HOTT FER DE
of Final Inspection
Distribution
Tray
OUTAGES

Depth of Distribution Tray-Bed #1 Internals INITIAL INSPECTION ONLY

(from Alligator Tray to bottom of Chimney
Tray)
Height f/manway to Alligator Tray INITIAL INSPECTION ONLY

Height f/manway to 1st bed screen INITIAL INSPECTION ONLY

Deflection Cone

Attachment bracket welds and bolting FER FER

Deflection cone condition and welds

All bolting tight on final installation FINAL INSPECTION ONLY MAINT

Use upper set of holes on hanger FINAL INSPECTION ONLY MAINT

bracket/lower holes on cone for hose
clearance

Rx Shell Condition/Thermowell Shell

Penetrations
Quench line penetration area condition and FER FER
bolting (3)
Thermowell penetration area condition and FER FER
bolting (3)
Thermowell visual condition (3). Look for wear FER FER
spots or bowing, UT if questionable
Thermowells pressure tested (if new FINAL INSPECTION ONLY MAINT
thermowells were installed must be hydro-
tested)
Annular space inspection port opened (use FER
boroscope to inspect annular space)
Inspection port Garloc gasketed and bolted FINAL INSPECTION ONLY MAINT
tight

Final Inspection Sign-off

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Loading Contractor Checklist

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 Repair Recommendations
Repairing with Metal Grid

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 Repair Recommendations
Repairing with Metal Grid (cont.)

Metal grid (screen)

material
• Base screen material must be 347SS
• Must be Allonized (Aluminum coated)
• Allonization PMI requires a lab test for
Aluminum
• Preferred method of attachment is
tack-welding:
– Fine Stainless Steel wire tends to become
brittle and break or disappear in HP Reactor
service

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