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MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY in Steam Reforming Processes Proceedings of the Materials Technology Symposium held on October 21-22, 1964 Organised by the Agricultural Division imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. Edited by C. EDELEANU SYMPOSIUM PUBLICATIONS DIVISION PERGAMON PRESS OXFORD · LONDON - EDINBURGH · NEW YORK TORONTO · PARIS . FRANKFURT Pergamon Press Ltd., Headington Hill Hall, Oxford 4 & 5 Fitzroy Square, London W.l Pergamon Press (Scotland) Ltd., 2 & 3 Teviot Place, Edinburgh 1 Pergamon Press Inc., 44-01 21st Street, Long Island City, New York 11101 Pergamon of Canada Ltd., 6 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, Ontario Pergamon Press S.A.R.L., 24 rue des Écoles, Paris 5e Pergamon Press GmbH, Kaiserstrasse 75, Frankfurt-am-Main Copyright © 1966 Pergamon Press Ltd. First edition 1966 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 65-20478 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY ADLARD AND SON, LTD., BARTHOLOMEW PRESS, DORKING (2347/65) PREFACE SINCE the war a great deal of technical effort has been devoted to materials and the demands of the new industries such as aircraft, electronics, nuclear power and now space, have been so heavy and, in some ways, technically glamorous that the progress made in other fields is perhaps less well documented. Older industries such as the chemical industry have also progressed rapidly during this period and, although naturally a great deal of the progress is due to new chemistry and better chemical engineering, developments in materials of construction and ways of using materials have made a considerable contribution. The number of people involved in these developments is comparatively small and the apparent "scientific" content of their work may appear pedestrian to those accustomed to industries based on more sophisticated engineering but their productivity has been remarkably high. Given sufficient time and money, problems can always be solved elegantly, and scientifically explained, but it is also possible to take short-cuts if you know your technology and have sufficient common-sense. This book contains a number of papers by some of the people involved in the development of one particular process as well as some people who are now helping its further development. The process involving some relatively high temperatures has made severe demands of material and the main purpose is to record what was done and why, and to draw attention to some of the mistakes and how these have been dealt with. Naturally, I hope that the book will also be some use to people not particularly interested in chemical plant but who are, nevertheless, interested in high temperature technology. If I may be allowed a personal view, I feel that there is also a message in the book for those people normally concerned with apparently more sophisticated technology and especially for those, and I was one of them a few years ago, who believe that all worthwhile jobs require a big effort, a great deal of time and, most important, a fundamental understanding of every scientific detail. Naturally, the thorough approach has great merits and is frequently absolutely necessary but we must also accept that success may be attainable by shorter methods arising from inspired guesses made by people having a thorough knowledge of their subject. The time available for decisions in this case is referred to in some of the papers and, in general, was very short. Much of the experimental work had, in fact, to be done after the decisions were made and was aimed at confirming their correctness and hence the likely reliability of the plant. There is perhaps a lesson here. For example. vu Vlll PREFACE much as rupture data is necessary to make predictions on reliability, it is quicker, cheaper and more effective to take an indirect approach and develop a tube isolation techniq