Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol.57, No.9, 3138-3148, 2018
Coking Tendency of 25Cr-35Ni Alloys: Influence of Temperature, Sulfur Addition, and Cyclic Aging
25Cr-35Ni base alloys are the most frequently used materials for steam cracking reactors. The influence of cyclic aging, reactor temperature, and adding sulfur containing compounds before or during cracking on the rate of coke deposition on a classical 25Cr-35Ni alloy is evaluated using a jet stirred reactor equipped with an electrobalance. As expected, the initial and asymptotic coking rate increased with increasing reactor temperature. Scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) analysis indicated that more Ni and Fe is present on the surface at higher cracking temperatures. Presulfidation led to increased coke deposition and decreased CO yields compared to the reference. When a sulfur containing compound was added continuously, coke deposition increased significantly but carbon oxide formation was suppressed. A pronounced amount of coke was measured in the reactor, followed by suppressed generated amounts of carbon oxides downstream. When combined with the continuous addition of sulfur containing compounds, presulfidation has little effect. Depending on the conditions, the effect of aging of the material is different: during the reference run and when only presulfidation was applied, coking rates increased as the material aged. When sulfur containing compounds were added continuously, with our without presulfidation, coking rates decreased as the material aged. This can be related with increased amounts of MnCr2O4 and Cr2O3 observed by SEM and EDX analysis.