New Inventions for Extending The

Service Life of Coke Drums

Mahmod Samman, Ph.D., P.E.

Houston Engineering Solutions, LLC

(+1) 832-512-0109

mms@hes.us.com

RefComm

Galveston 2016

www.hes.us.com

Overview

Three issued and pending HES patents in last

two years aimed at mitigating or minimizing

classic coke drum failures:

• Non-welded skirt attachment

• Non-bolted skirt anchors

• Fatigue-resistant shell

2

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Non-welded skirt attachment

3

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Skirt Attachment Cracking

4

API 1996 Survey

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HES Tongue-and-Groove Skirt

5

6www.hes.us.com

Status

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• Precedents:

– Sliding skirt 2002 (24+ drums in operation)

– Retrofit 2011 - in operation

– Undocumented set 30+ years in operation

• Being implemented

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Non-bolted skirt anchors

7

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Skirt Bolt failures

8

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HES Clearance-Restraint Anchors

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10www.hes.us.com

Status

10

• Not aware of any precedents

• Being implemented

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Fatigue-resistant shell

11

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Seam Bulging

12

Weil & Rapasky 1958

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HES Staggered-Seam Shell

13

14www.hes.us.com

Status

14

• Not aware of any precedents

• No pending implementation

www.hes.us.com

Summary

Three issued and pending HES patents in last

two years aimed at mitigating or minimizing

classic coke drum failures:

• Tongue-and-Groove skirt attachment

– Being implemented

• Clearance-Restraint skirt anchors

– Being implemented

• Staggered-Seam shell design

15