LAUSR

Abstract Heat exchange tubes are a weak part in reboilers. This paper introduces a cavitation corrosion case of heat exchange tube bundles in an oil reboiler. A series of inspections including chemical, mechanical, energy spectroscopy and metallographic were carried out on heat exchange tube bundles to investigate the material quality. The results show that chemical compositions and mechanical properties of the material agree with requirements. Numerical simulation was performed to figure out the thermal filed of the reboiler heat exchanger. It was found that the temperature of heat exchange tube bundles near support plates was high. The localized high temperature caused boiling bubbles formed faster near support plates than other regions. The impact force induced by bubble collapse lead to cavitation corrosion on the surface of tubes and then produced corrosion pits. The factors causing cavitation corrosion were improper design and operation of the reboiler, and suggestions were given to aviod similar failure ocuured repeatedly.