Apparatus and method for protecting the tube-sheet of a syngas loop boiler

1. A syngas loop boiler comprising:

a tube bundle; and

a casing that surrounds the tube bundle,

wherein said tube bundle comprises a plurality of tubes,

wherein one end of each of the plurality of tubes is joined to a tube-sheet provided with a plurality of tube-sheet inlet holes for inletting syngas in the boiler, and

wherein a first tube-sheet inlet hole of the plurality of tube-sheet inlet holes is provided with:

a protective sleeve welded at both ends to said first tube-sheet inlet hole,

a first weld overlay placed at an inlet mouth of said first tube-sheet inlet hole, the first weld overlay encircling a first end of the protective sleeve so that the first end of the protective sleeve is welded to said first weld overlay, and

a bore groove that contains a second weld overlay, the second weld overlay having a first end and a second end spaced from the first end in an axial direction of the protective sleeve, the second overlay encircling and directly contacting a second end of the protective sleeve so that the second end of the protective sleeve is between the first end and second end of the second weld overlay,

wherein the second weld overlay is spaced from the first weld overlay in the axial direction of the protective sleeve.

2. The syngas loop boiler according to claim 1 , wherein the tube-sheet is manufactured with a material selected in the group consisting of:

grade F11 alloy steel;

grade F12 alloy steel;

grade F21 alloy steel;

grade F22 alloy steel; and

grade F22V alloy steel.

3. The syngas loop boiler according to claim 1 , wherein the protective sleeve is manufactured with an austenitic nickel-chromium-based superalloy.

4. The syngas loop boiler according to claim 1 , wherein the first weld overlay and the second weld overlay are each manufactured with an austenitic steel or nickel based alloy.

5. The syngas loop boiler according to claim 1 , wherein said plurality of tubes are U-shaped tubes.

6. A method for inserting and welding a protective sleeve in a corresponding tube-sheet inlet hole of the syngas loop boiler according to claim 1 , the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining the first tube-sheet inlet hole in the tube-sheet of the syngas loop boiler;

obtaining the bore groove inside the first tube-sheet inlet hole by groove machining;

depositing the second weld overlay into the bore groove by welding;

inserting the protective sleeve into the first tube-sheet inlet hole;

welding of the protective sleeve, at a second end thereof, to the second weld overlay; and

welding of the protective sleeve, at a first end thereof, to the first weld overlay.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said second weld overlay is welded to the bore groove by a multiple pass welding process.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the second weld overlay is obtained by at least 5 weld passes according to a predetermined welding sequence.

9. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the second weld overlay has a thickness greater than 4.5 mm.

10. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the first tube-sheet inlet hole is obtained by drilling of the tube-sheet.

11. The method according to claim 6 , wherein, after the second weld overlay deposition step and before the protective sleeve insertion step, a pre-machining step of the second weld overlay to a cylindrical shape is performed for facilitating the insertion of said protective sleeve into the first tube-sheet inlet hole.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein, after the pre-machining step, a final machining step of the second weld overlay is performed to create a welding bevel.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein, after the second weld overlay deposition step and after the pre-machining step, a non-destructive testing (NDT) procedure is performed in order to check the second weld overlay, wherein said second weld overlay is inspected by an ultrasonic testing (UT) performed through a UT probe.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein a preliminary calibration process of the UT probe is performed using a calibration block that simulates a tube-sheet inlet hole provided with a bore groove and an in-bore second weld overlay,

wherein a weld overlay shape and main dimensions of the calibration block are substantially identical to ones obtained on the tube-sheet of the syngas loop boiler, and

wherein the calibration block is manufactured with the same material grade and form of said tube-sheet.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein, after the second weld overlay final machining step, both the second weld overlay surface and the protective sleeve, once welded to said second weld overlay, are checked by a penetrant test (PT) adopting an optical inspection device.

16. The loop boiler according to claim 1 , wherein the first tube-sheet inlet hole of the plurality of tube-sheet inlet holes extends between a first surface of the tube-sheet and a second surface of the tube-sheet, and

wherein the bore groove is between and spaced from the first surface of the tube-sheet and the second surface of the tube-sheet.