In my last coker AOS performed a three months cutting/quench water corrosive and erosive evaluation; findings indicated no issues with coke fines (suspended solids were below 50 wppm), but corrosion rates were high (high 45 – low 35 mpy, as measured by corrosion coupons)
Id suggest working towards getting rid-off of additional fines production; few areas to start looking include watching cutting process techniques, like cutting too fast and/or poor cutting nozzle condition. There also key operational requirements, like using 2-3 ft coke dams in front of the water drains at the end of the coke pit to improve maze efficiency by keeping fines/foam out of the maze. You may also consider watching/sampling whats coming out of your tank when draining and evaluating either frequency or how hard you dump water back to maze; of course, once your tank is full of coke, then it may be better cleaning it out before starting putting in place any new measures. One more area to look for is your heaters; either bad fighting, flame impeachment or simply poor operation due to high asphaltene feedstock, could lead to bad coke formation and/or fueling further fines generation.
None Delayed Cokers I have been deal with excessive coke fines in water nor using hydroclones; the only one Im aware using Hydroclones is for Slurry made in Flexicoker units; so, just adding hydroclones may not be the solution if the root cause has not been detected and eliminated.
Lucky
