Optimizing Study of Some Factors That Influence the Performance of Valve Trays in Crude Oil Distillation Towers

Abstract

Abstract Valve trays play an important role in the productivity of crude oil distillation towers. The performance efficiency of these valves depends on their erosion-corrosion and fouling corrosion. In this research, NiCrAlY powder with constituents of different ratios of Molybdenum (Mo) was used as a deposited coating layer on the surface of 446 stainless steel. The scanning electron microscope and XRD were used to study the microstructure of the coating layer. Microhardness test was carried out to evaluate coating layer hardness. Erosion – corrosion test was performed to evaluate the performance of the coating layer under an aggressive medium of glass sand and a mixture of sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid. Contact angle test was carried out to evaluate the contact angle of coated and uncoated samples. Taguchi / ANOVA technique was used to tabulate data and to optimize the results. The results showed that the coating layer containing 4% Mo exhibit high erosion-corrosion resistance and good contact angle, which improving the fouling resistance of the samples under working conditions.