We have the same concern in our 6drum coker unit. If not cleaned properly, inlet distributors got full of hard coke, free space is reduced and inlet pressure increases. Finally they end up coming off the drum (they are welded to the bottom flange), and they fall to the coke pit during drum opening.
Any comments on this? Some people (even coking experts in training seminars) say they are not needed at all, since coke bed will act naturally as a distributor of the incoming feed, and all the operational problems they cause don’t pay off their installation.
But some others feel that events like coke fall outs, bottom plugged lines, etc., may be influenced by the abscence of those devices.
Thanks in advance
Fran
