Abstract: In the process of petroleum refining, hydrogenation technology has become an important means to improve the quality of petrochemical products. Most of the hydrogen required by hydrogenation plants is provided by hydrogenation conversion plants. In the production process, the operating load of hydrogen production converter will be adjusted according to the change of the capacity of hydrogenation unit. The change of hydrogen production converter load will lead to the change of temperature distribution inside the converter, and the change of temperature inside the converter will affect the operating life of the furnace tube directly. On the basis of the structure of the hydrogen production converter, operating parameters, the finite element model is established to simulate and calculate the internal temperature distribution of the converter under different load conditions, analyze the internal temperature change of each part in the converter under different load conditions and provide temperature parameters for the evaluation on the service life of furnace tube. Meanwhile, finite element model can provide guidance for the operation of the converter under different loads.

Key words: hydrogen production converter, different loads, internal temperature, finite element calculation, furnace tube life