Kiln of a lime plant, a part of an integrated steel plant, converts limestone (CaCO3) into lime (CaO) by heating at a temperature of around 900 °C using coke oven gas as a fuel. Coke oven gas is a by-product of the coke plant, which contains mainly hydro-carbons. The coke oven gas is lanced into the kiln through a number of pipes attached to the kiln. The lance pipes are cracking prematurely within 6 months of their service against an expected service life of 3 years. The analysis of cracking of the lance pipe is presented in this article. It will be published in Engineering Failure Analysis in December 2013.
More information at : Cracking of an austenitic stainless steel lance pipe in a lime calcining plant.