International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpvp

Life assessment of steam reformer radiant catalyst tubes the use of

damage front propagation methods
J.M. Brear*, J.M. Church 1, D.R. Humphrey, M.S. Zanjani 2
ERA Technology Ltd, Cleeve Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7SA, UK

Abstract
Steam reformers provide a primary source of hydrogen for rening and processing purposes. The highly endothermic reaction takes place
in vertical, catalyst-lled tubes that are directly red. Because of the severity of the operating conditions, these tubes are fabricated from
centrifugally cast, thick section material, typically to the generic specications HK40 and HPNb, or their proprietary derivatives.
The dominant loading on these tubes is the through-wall thermal stress and life consumption is by cyclic creep relaxation, on a time-scale
controlled by the operational pattern of the unit. Strain and damage accumulate through life and may, respectively, be monitored by diametral
measurements and non-destructive techniques based on eddy current or ultrasonic methods. Experience shows that in many cases, a
signicant portion of service life is available after crack initiation.
The combination of stress and thermal gradients, coupled with microstructural variation through-wall, leads to damage initiation within the
inner third of the tube wall. Creep cavities nucleate and grow linking to form cracks, which propagate to the inner and outer surfaces. It is
usual to nd a dense network of parallel cracks, of similar length, spaced radially by the width of the columnar grains. For much of the growth
period, the stress eld ahead of the cracks is compressive towards the outer surface.
Under these circumstances, classical creep crack initiation and growth models are not easy to apply. The most practical approach is to use a
continuum damage mechanics philosophy, extending this into the crack growth phase by means of Kachanov's damage front propagation
method.
This paper describes the application of this method to the life assessment of steam reformer radiant catalyst tubes. Particular attention is
given to the determination and treatment of the stress distributions associated with embedded and surface breaking damage elds. q 2002
Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Keywords: Steam reformers; Catalyst tubes; Thermal stresses; Continuum damage mechanics; Creep crack initiation; Creep crack growth

1. Introduction
Steam reformer units are critical to many processes in
rening and chemical plant. They are used in the production
of hydrogen for oil rening, ammonia production, direct
iron reduction, hydrogen and carbon monoxide generation
for nickel reduction and purication, and syngas as a precursor to methanol, acetic acid and various other chemicals.
The life management of reformer units is ordinarily
dominated by the service capability of the radiant catalyst
tubes. Because of the severity of the operating conditions,
these tubes are fabricated from centrifugally cast, thick
section material, typically to the generic specications
HK40 and HPNb or their proprietary derivatives.
Tube life is primarily limited by creep, driven by a combination of internal pressure and through-wall thermal stresses
* Corresponding author.
1
Present address: NRG, Petten, The Netherlands.
2
Present address: ALSTOM Power, Rugby, UK.
0308-0161/02/$ - see front matter q 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
PII: S 0308-016 1(01)00113-2

that are generated during start-up cycles and operating transients. Creep life exhaustion is evidenced by progressive
grain boundary cavitation, which, due to the signicant
inuence of thermal stresses generated during operating
transients, initiates within the tube wall towards the bore.
The design of tubular components is ordinarily based on
pressure stresses, outside wall temperatures and factored
lower-bound materials rupture data. However, this does
not provide a realistic basis for remaining life assessment
of steam reformer catalyst tubes. Indeed, life prediction by
an inverse design procedure using actual materials properties and service conditions can result in highly optimistic
estimates of future operational capability, which are not
borne out by service experience. Realistic life assessment
must take account of the full range of operational behaviour,
transient as well as steady state, and take due cognisance of
the actual service tube-wall loadings that limit life.
Fig. 1 schematically presents the process conditions along
the length of a catalyst tube. Process gas and steam typically
enter each reformer tube between 450 and 5008C and exit at

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J.M. Brear et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994
1000

15
14
13

900

10

800
To C
Ti C
Tp C

700

Tmw C

9
8
7

P MPa
Heat Flux

Pressure, MPa

Temperature, C

11

Heat Flux kW/m x10

-1

12

6
5

600

4
3
500

2
0

6
Distance from inlet, m

10

Fig. 1. Typical axial proles of tube skin, inner wall and process temperatures, process pressure and heat ux along a steam reformer catalyst tube.

about 8508C, with a slight pressure drop down the length of

the tube. The tube metal skin temperature varies along the
length of each tube and reects the design of the unit, the
ring conguration and the required process conditions.
The thermal through-wall temperature gradient is greatest
towards the inlet end of a tube while the effective creep
temperature (mean wall temperature) is highest towards
the outlet end of the tube. Both the effective creep assessment temperature and local through-wall thermal gradients
play a role in determining tube life, with actual process
conditions and material properties determining the
dominant mechanism in any given case.
2. Assessing catalyst tube life
From the viewpoint of engineering assessment, the intention is to characterise the process conditions along the
length of tubes such that local operating parameters can
be dened with regard to process temperature, pressure
and metal skin temperature. Given this information, the
local through-wall temperature gradient can be determined,
from which the local through-wall stress prole can be
inferred and subsequently the creep response predicted.
The achievement of this objective requires a good understanding of the operational behaviour of steam reformers, a
suitable model of materials behaviour under the relevant
loadings, and a method of determining the stresses in the
tube and their evolution as the material deteriorates through
successive operational cycles. These factors are discussed in
the following sections.
In the context of ERA's `REFORM' methodology, which
is described more fully in Ref. [1], analysis is performed
probabilistically. Process conditions and metal skin
temperatures vary with both space and time throughout a
reformer unit. A probabilistic approach allows variations in
process conditions and material properties to be accounted

for. Further, it allows the interactive effects of forward creep

and stress redistribution to be reconciled for any position
along a selected reformer tube.

3. Operational factors
During operation, catalyst tubes experience both thermal
and mechanical stresses. Upon rst loading, these stresses
are elastic. However, with time under load at temperature,
these stresses evolve. The secondary (thermal) component
relaxes to zero while the primary (pressure) component
redistributes, with creep strain and damage accumulation
occurring during both processes. Ultimately, steady state
conditions may be reached, such that subsequent strain
accumulation occurs under conditions of load-controlled
creep. It is a usual feature of reformer operation, that the
shut-down/start-up cycles associated with production,
inspection, maintenance or upset events impose a loading
transient sufcient to ensure that the elastic stresses are reimposed at their original value after each such incident.
Thus, reformer tube operation is characterised by a cyclic
relaxation process. The balance between transient and
steady state effects in life consumption is a function of
many features of operating practice, and may vary considerably along the red-length of the tube.

4. Materials model
4.1. Crack initiation
Both stress relaxation response and load controlled creep
can be described using a primary modied continuum
damage mechanics model of the RabotnovKachanov
type [2,3], as given by coupled equations of the general

J.M. Brear et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994

987

form:

1_ C s n t1=m21
v_ t

Ds tn
t1=m21
1 2 vt h

The above equations, in time- or strain-hardening form as

appropriate, may be integrated numerically over any loading history to give the evolution of strain and damage until
failure. The classic forward-creep solutions for a simple
geometry are well known. Under conditions of displacement
control, total relaxation of the initial stress occurs at innite
time. Under general thermo-mechanical loading conditions,
where there are contributions from primary and secondary
stresses, combined stress redistribution and relaxation will
tend, generally, to a non-zero value of stress, which is
achieved within a nite time.
For a more complex structure with spatial stress or
temperature variation, nite element methods allow local
strain and damage levels to be calculated, with due
allowance for displacement compatibility and force balance.
Failure of a local element may then be equated to discrete
crack initiation.
4.2. Crack growth
Crack development can be treated in either of the two
ways.
Classical creep fracture mechanics has evolved from
elasto-plastic fracture mechanics in a fully logical manner.
Broadly speaking, the remote stresses are calculated for the
defective part of the structure and these are then modied to
generate measures of stress intensity or energy density in a
sufciently smaller region containing the crack tip. Methods
have been devised for integrating this philosophy with that
of continuum damage mechanics [4], particularly with
regard to the interaction between crack tip damage and
damage in the remaining ligament. The normal twoparameter approach to nal failure prediction can be used,
provided that allowance is made for ligament rupture. This
approach works well for single cracks or simple
interactions.
Damage front propagation methods are more suited for
dense networks of parallel, similar-sized cracks. This
approach was an immediate development of Kachanov's
creep damage mechanics [2]. Stress and temperature elds
are calculated across the structure and the resultant strain
and damage elds are determined as described before. The
`damage front' is the envelope of all points for which local
failure has been predicted, (i.e. where the local value of the
damage variable is unity) and can generally be equated with
the advancing front of the crack network. Final failure
results from the inherent interaction between the accelerating damage front and the increasing damage levels in the
regions ahead of it.
The nature and distribution of cracks and pre-crack

Fig. 2. Typical damage distribution in a reformer catalyst tube, HK40

material.

damage in reformer catalyst tubes (Fig. 2) suggest that

damage front propagation methods are more appropriate.
Comparisons between predicted and observed damage
levels and crack lengths conrm the suitability of this
choice.
5. Stress analysis of uncracked tubes
Solutions for the elastic and steady state stress proles
through the wall of a tube subject to thermal and pressure
loadings are well established [5,6]. Figs. 3 and 4 show the
principal stress components on elastic loading and after a
steady state has been achieved, for a typical reformer tube.
The difference in magnitude between the elastic and steady
state stresses is noteworthy. Modelling the evolution from
the former state to the latter, even for a simple axisymmetric
component, requires numerical solution. The approach
adopted by ERA has been to divide the tube wall into a
number of concentric rings (usually 20) and solve damage
mechanics equations for each, iterating to displacement
compatibility and force balance.
Initially, a plane-strain constraint was adopted, but
experience [7] has shown that a looser criterion that of
plane sections remaining plane is more appropriate. This
is because on application of an external heat source to a
mildly pressurised tubular component, the thermal stresses
(hoop and axial) are compressive at the outer surface.
During the course of stress redistribution, therefore, the
outer surface of the tube strains compressively, but subsequently, when steady state is achieved, this region deforms
in a tensile manner. Given that the inner surface of the tube
maintains tensile behaviour during the redistribution and
steady state periods, the tube must increase in length to

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J.M. Brear et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994

Fig. 3. Total (pressure 1 thermal) elastic stresses on loading of a reformer catalyst tube.

maintain the constancy of volume that pertains under creep

conditions.

6. Stress evolution with crack propagation

6.1. Principles
Given the above, it might be expected that the evolution
of stress, as the damage front propagates over successive
stress relaxation cycles, requires careful consideration. The
principles of continuum damage mechanics are best
interpreted if the damage variable is taken as a directed
quantity, analogous to strain. Under this assumption,
damaged material may be taken to have the following
properties. It can transmit heat, compressive forces and
displacements in any direction. However, tensile forces
and displacements can only be transmitted in the damage

plane, not normal to it. These properties are seen to follow

directly Kachanov's original postulate of `continuity'.
For a reformer tube, the situation is somewhat simplied
in that the damage is conned to planes normal to the hoop
stress. However, it is still necessary to consider primary and
secondary stresses separately.
The primary (pressure) component of the hoop stress can
simply be taken as the result of the total pressure load applied
over the remaining wall section. It thus increases with crack
length. For a surface-breaking crack array, this is equivalent to
a general metal loss and is therefore simple in both concept and
demonstration. For an embedded crack array, that the same
result emerges is due to the continued ability of the damaged
zone to transmit radial displacements. The solution may
formally (though laboriously) be derived either by adaptation
of the classical solutions for creeping tubes or by analogy with
the propagation of disturbances through the regular array of
potential elds in an idealised crystal lattice.

Fig. 4. Steady state stress distribution in a reformer catalyst tube.

J.M. Brear et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994

989

200

150

Stress, MPa

100

50

Pressure
0

-50

-100

-150
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Radial position, from inner surface

Fig. 5. The primary (pressure) component of the initial elastic hoop stress, proles plotted at 10% increments in crack length from initiation at the inner
surface.

same, but somewhat less intuitive. The stress change

through each ligament is controlled by its local temperature
prole, but the absolute values of stress are governed by the
ability of the damaged material to transmit forces and
displacements. It thus transpires that in the undamaged ligaments, either side of the crack array, the thermal component
of the hoop stress is unchanged from that of the undamaged
structure, but in the cracked region, the secondary hoop
stress, like the primary, is zero.

In determining the secondary (thermal) component of the

hoop stress, it must be realised that damaged material is
unchanged in its thermal properties. Therefore, the temperature distribution in a structure is independent of the damage
level. Again, once it is accepted that tensile displacements
can be transmitted in the damage plane, and compressive
ones in any direction, the solutions emerge by development
of the classical methods. For a surface-breaking array of
cracks, the thermal stress eld in the remaining wall is
governed simply by the temperature prole across it. The
thermal stresses reduce with crack length since the proportion of the overall temperature gradient borne by the remaining section is also a decreasing function of crack size. For an
embedded crack array, the situation is, in principle, the

6.2. Results
The similarities between the evolutions of the primary
and secondary stresses are largely a result of the hypotheses

200

150

Stress, MPa

100

50

Thermal
0

-50

-100

-150
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Radial position, from inner surface

Fig. 6. The secondary (thermal) component of the initial elastic hoop stress, proles plotted at 10% increments in crack length from initiation at the inner
surface.

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J.M. Brear et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994
200

150

Stress, MPa

100

50

Total
0

-50

-100

-150
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Radial position, from inner surface

Fig. 7. The total initial elastic hoop stress, proles plotted at 10% increments in crack length from initiation at the inner surface.

and conditions as those in Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 8 shows the

corresponding steady state stresses. The rst and last of
these, which are both governed solely by pressure, show a
steady rise in stress with effective loss of section. The
second shows the decrease in magnitude of the thermal
stress as the temperature difference borne by the remaining
ligament decreases, but demonstrates that the essential
tensile/compressive symmetry is preserved. The total elastic
stress shows a similar decrease in range, but loses symmetry
due to the increasing pressure component.
It is these gures that explain most clearly the observed
crack propagation behaviour in reformer catalyst tubes. At
low crack length, throughout much of the period before
steady state stresses are established, there is a compressive
stress eld extending over a signicant portion of the
remaining ligament. For many reformers, the operating

advanced with regard to the properties of damaged material.

The differences would seem to result from the effects of the
dening equilibrium conditions, with external loads for
primary stresses and internal for secondary. It is for these
reasons that it has been considered necessary to synthesise
the overall solution from separate treatments of the primary
and secondary stresses. Once this has been done, the
classical results for uncracked cylinders can be extended
algebraically to describe the initial elastic and steady state
stresses in cylinders with arbitrary (axisymmetric) regions
of dense cracking.
6.2.1. Surface-breaking crack arrays
Figs. 57 show the pressure, thermal and total elastic
hoop stresses calculated for progressive increases in crack
length from the inner surface, based on the same geometry
60

45

Stress, MPa

30

15

Creep
0

-15

-30

-45
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Radial position, from inner surface

Fig. 8. The steady state hoop stress, proles plotted at 10% increments in crack length from initiation at the inner surface.

J.M. Brear et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994

991

60

45

Stress, MPa

30

intact

15

-15

a/W = 0.1 - 0.35

-30

-45
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Radial position, from inner surface

Fig. 9. The primary (pressure) component of the initial elastic hoop stress for a typical embedded crack array.

conditions and cycle lengths are such that this situation

predominates and rapid crack growth is inhibited. Considerable service may therefore be obtained during the crack
growth phase, and much effort has accordingly been
devoted to methods of inspecting tubes to determine the
damage state.
As the cracks extend through the wall, a point is reached
at which the pressure and thermal components of the stress
become more balanced and this compressive eld is lost
relatively early in the operational cycle. Crack growth
then becomes rapid. In practice, crack lengths in excess of
50% of wall are considered unacceptable. Similarly, where
the tube temperature is particularly high and steady state is
achieved early in each operational cycle, rapid crack growth
can occur and the time between crack initiation and failure
is correspondingly short.

In any reformer tube assessment, it is important that the

full evolution of damage and strain be predicted, so as to
allow the correct interpretation of inspection data and a
reliable prediction of performance. A bare estimate of remaining service hours is insufcient for tube life management.
6.2.2. Embedded crack arrays
Figs. 9 and 10 show the primary and secondary components of the initial elastic hoop stress for a typical embedded
crack array. The geometry and conditions remain as before.
The evolution of the total initial elastic hoop stress with
crack length is seen in Fig. 11. This clearly shows the step
change in stress that occurs as the cracks break the inner
surface.
Ordinarily, these centrifugally cast tubes have a radiating,
columnar grain structure for much of the wall, with a small

200

150

Stress, MPa

100

intact

50

-50

a/W = 0.1 - 0.35

-100

-150
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Radial position, from inner surface

Fig. 10. The secondary (thermal) component of the initial elastic hoop stress, for a typical embedded crack array.

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J.M. Brear et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994

Fig. 11. The total initial elastic hoop stress for an embedded crack array, proles plotted at various increments in crack length from initiation to penetration of
the inner surface.

amount of equiax material at the bore. It is usual for cracks

to initiate at or close to the boundary between these microstructural regions. They then grow towards both surfaces,
reaching the inner wall at an early stage under the strongly
tensile stress eld that pertains there. Thereafter, growth is
as for surface breaking cracks, described before.
6.3. Validation
As some of the results before are not immediately intuitive, it was considered necessary to validate these algebraic
solutions against the results of a nite element analysis.
Fig. 12 shows the comparison between the algebraic
calculation of the elastic thermal stress and the nite
element analysis results, for a surface breaking crack
array. Good agreement is seen. A check was performed as
to the effect of computational variables on the FE result, and

it was concluded that the solutions obtained were correct

and stable.
Figs. 13 and 14 compare algebraic and FE results for
embedded crack arrays. Again, there is good agreement.
This comparison validates the assumptions made as to the
effect of the continuity of damaged material on the evolution
of both primary and secondary stresses. Particularly, the least
intuitive algebraic solution, for thermal stresses in the presence
of an embedded crack array, is seen to be correct.
7. Concluding remarks
1. The response of radiant catalyst tubes in reformer service
is complex, reecting contributions from both mechanical and thermal loading derived from the specic
process conguration.
2. Modern structural analysis was applied successfully to

Fig. 12. Comparison between algebraic and nite element solutions for a surface breaking crack array thermal elastic hoop stress.

J.M. Brear et al. / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 78 (2001) 985994

993

200

150

a/W = 0.15 - 0.25

finite element

100

Stress, MPa

a/W = 0.15 - 0.25

algebraic
50

a/W = 0.35 - 0.45

finite element

a/W = 0.35 - 0.45

algebraic

-50

-100

uncracked, thermal
eleastic stress

-150
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Radial position, from inner surface

Fig. 13. Comparison between algebraic and nite element solutions for two, short embedded crack arrays thermal elastic hoop stress.
200

150

a/W = 0.2 - 0.45

finite element

Stress, MPa

100

50

a/W = 0.2 - 0.45

algebraic

-50

uncracked, total
elastic stress

-100

-150
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Radial position, from inner surface

Fig. 14. Comparison between algebraic and nite element solutions for a longer embedded crack array total elastic hoop stress.

predict the response of radiant catalyst tubes in reformer

service.
3. Application of damage front propagation methods is
demonstrated to be a suitable method of addressing the
growth of crack arrays in these components.
4. In particular, Kachanov's postulate of `continuity' can be
used to dene the properties of damaged material and
thus allow correct calculation of the heat, load and
displacement transmissions that control primary and
secondary stress evolution.
Acknowledgements
This paper is published with the permission of the
Directors of ERA Technology Ltd, and with the approval
of NRG and ALSTOM power, where two of the authors are

now employed. It reects experience gained at ERA through

a large number of plant assessments for various clients. The
authors are grateful to those clients and to many colleagues
in the industry whose comments have directly or indirectly
stimulated the lines of enquiry explored here.
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Conference `Behaviour of Defects at High Temperatures' Shefeld,

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