Cokebusters is an international company specialising in the mechanical decoking and in-line inspection of process piping within fired heaters, steam generation boilers, transfer lines and pipelines. From two headquarters in the United Kingdom and the United States, Cokebusters are able to consistently deliver high quality services to the oil and petrochemical industries worldwide.MECHANICAL DECOKING
Cokebusters industry-leading scraper pigs have been developed to ensure 360° circumferential coverage of bends and pipework, from 2½ – 12-inch internal diameter. Their unique design means that they are tough enough to effectively remove fouling, but also retain a degree of flexibility to manoeuvre short radius return bends, plug headers, mule ears, flat-back bends and avoid damage to tube walls.
The fleet of double pumping units are manufactured at the Cokebusters Technology Centres in the UK and the US. A team of highly skilled welders and fitters work alongside experienced site operators to ensure that each unit is manufactured to exacting standards. Each unit is self-contained and has a two-stage filtration system for on-board collection and storage of coke and scale fragments. Equipped with automatic Chalwyn and Roda Deaco emergency shutdown, and spark arresters on exhaust systems, Cokebusters DPU’s guarantee minimised risk and improved safety. Teams of highly skilled and experienced operators provide outstanding service with a focus on safety, efficiency and quality.
INTELLIGENT TUBE INSPECTION
As well as decoking, Cokebusters offers Coke Removal Verification and Tube Integrity Analysis via the Merlin “Smartpig”. Merlin is a division of Cokebusters, providing inspection technology that is constantly developing in terms of capability and performance.
The “Smartpig” was developed to overcome difficulties with inspecting certain furnace types. Driven by water through the internal passageway of a pass or coil, ultrasound technology is used to internally scan fired heater tubes. Measurements and surface condition data is recorded directly to the pig and downloaded to a laptop for analysis following the inspection. Problems such as material loss, creep, pitting and other irregularities can be detected and highlighted allowing remedial action to be planned and executed to avoid unsafe conditions and process failure.
Thanks to its narrow passageway capability, it can be used to inspect furnaces and heaters with plug headers, featuring a central crossover passage with a 3-inch diameter, as well as 3-inch schedule 160 tubes with an internal diameter of 2.5 inches (63.5mm).
In order to optimise data interpretation and analysis, the MERLIN system uses powerful, bespoke 3D meshing software to map every wall thickness, internal and outside radius measurement to an immersive view of individual fired heater process piping via full colour coded 3D models of the heater pass. A copy of the viewing software, InsightVision, together with individual interactive viewing files is supplied to the client by Cokebusters as a supplement to every final inspection report.
InsightVision is fully interactive, featuring colour scaling, aspect ratio adjustment, zoom functions, grid referencing and rotation/panning in three dimensions, enabling the user to quickly identify any problematic areas. If any faults are found, teams not only know what the problem is, but know exactly where to go to replace the affected tubing, resulting in increased efficiency and productivity, improved safety and cost savings on maintenance.
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Cokebusters unique combination of new technology, quality, safety and experience results in safe, environmentally friendly and effective mechanical decoking system and inline inspection services to industrial facilities worldwide. Find out more at www.cokebusters.com
