Ashutosh Garg - Furnace Improvements Services
Refiners have started processing shale crudes in their refineries. One of the major issues faced by the refineries in the run length of the crude heater.
One of the refineries in Texas started processing shale crudes in their heater and the run length of the heater came down from 5 years to less than 3 months. The refinery approached Furnace Improvements to look at the crude heater and recommend improvements in the crude heater to extend the run length. FIS reviewed the crude heater design, analyzed the operating data and carried out CFD modeling of the existing heater.
Based on this analysis, FIS recommended modifications on the fire side and the tube side. The tube side modifications were not carried out due to the cost and changes involved. FIS carried out CFD modeling of the fire side modifications and showed improvements to the client. Later FIS implemented the modifications on the fire side and the run length has gone up by 6 times to about one and a half year. It is estimated that the tube side modifications would have restored the heater five year run length.
We will present the issues being faced and improvements that were made to the heater in this presentation.