Heurtey Petrochem: Coker Furnace Run Length

HEURTEY PETROCHEM
Coker Furnace Run Length

Higher Coker Furnace Run Length
Benefits Refineries
How to Achieve Higher Run Length?

FURNACE DESIGN
DCU - Objective
Maximize Days of Operation (Run Length)

before decoking/shutdown
Furnace performance has direct impact on
unit run length
Ensure proper furnace performance by
Design
Operation
Online Spalling
Furnace Design
Furnace Design Parameters

Uniform firing
Film Temperature
Residence Time (velocity)
Flux Distribution (Profile)
Uniform Firing
Double Fired design ensures uniform firing
compared to Single Fired design
(1.8 – 2.0) X Average Flux (1.2 – 1.3) X Average Flux

Flux Profile
Delay coking as much as
possible in the furnace
Ideally all the flux should be at
the radiant outlet tube
Other designs, initially used for
syngas reforming where
reaction needs to commence at
radiant inlet, result in peak flux
at the radiant top
On the contrary, our design
focuses the peak flux towards
the bottom tubes, thereby
delaying the coke formation.
CASE STUDY
Background
North American Installation
Heavy feed with inorganic contents
Furnace supplied by PCD, Licensor selection by
End User
2 radiant cells
22.5’ Common Convection
radiant i/s 2 rows of burners in each cell
height
Natural Draft
Problems Reported
Run time between De-Coke was around 60-
70 days (90+ expected)
High tube metal temperatures on the upper
5 or 6 radiant tubes
Coking concentrated mainly in these same
upper radiant tubes
Velocity steam - no effect
No apparent flame impingement on the
tubes, looked OK
Review of Problem
Review of heater process performance did not
show any probable cause
Process and operating parameters within
specified design conditions
Elimination of other factors left only burner/flux
profile
Visible Flame height was 10 to 11ft, ~50% box
height
Detailed review found errors in burner design
We felt this resulted in higher flux at radiant top
Burner vendor was confident that burner was not
the cause
Burner Review
Burner tested previously but flux profile not
measured.
Decided to retest the burner, as close to the burner
operating conditions as possible, maintaining actual
dimensions of the burner relative to the heater wall
and floor.
Measure Flux profile for the above condition
If test result showed what we suspected, modify
burner design to shift flux from radiant top to bottom
Verify the change by measuring flux profile with the
new design
Burner Test
Burner
Test Furnace
Test Results
Top of Radiant Box
Existing Burner – Flux

peaking at the top of
radiant section
Modified Burner – Flux

peaking at the bottom of
radiant section
Existing Burner Modified Burner

Site Results after Changes
Existing burners replaced with modified burners
in one furnace at site
Run length increased to 120+ days
Tube metal temperature dropped significantly
for the upper radiant tubes
No flame impingement on tubes
Burners on all furnaces replaced
PCD/BHTS DESIGN
PCD/BHTS Design
PCD/Heurtey offers BHTS’ state of the art
design incorporating Proprietary
Flux profile
Burner to tube/wall clearance
Design specification for heater coil and
transfer line resulting in proper online
spalling – repeatable ∆T after each spalling
PCD/BHTS Flux Profile
PCD/BHTS specifies the target flux profile
Burner design incorporates the flux profile
This is checked using CFD modeling
Followed by Flux Profile measurement during
burner test
CFD Modeling
CFD Modeling
SUMMARY
Summary
Flux Profile critical for ensuring proper run
length
Heater and burner designs to account for the
target profile
Flux profile to be checked and confirmed using
CFD Modeling and Flux Profile Measurement
during burner test
Other heater design results in peak flux at the
top of radiant box and shorter run length
Heurtey Group
ST. PETERSBURG
FRANCE CHINA
LOS ANGELES ROMANIA
TULSA KOREA
HOUSTON
UAE INDIA
KUALA
LUMPUR
BRAZIL
Group Subsidiaries
Support / Sales Offices
Manufacturing workshops
Worldwide Activity
Owns design software: FRNC5 for heaters & REFORM3 for SMR
Dedicated manufacturing facilities,
Highly qualified staff providing an unparalleled expertise,
Local network operating on all strategic foreign markets,
Capacity to conduct any type of projects, from an engineering study to the turnkey delivery
of fully manufactured equipment.
Questions ?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR

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HEURTEY PETROCHEM

Coker Furnace Run Length

How to Achieve Higher Run Length?

Maximize Days of Operation (Run Length)

Furnace Design Parameters

(1.8 – 2.0) X Average Flux (1.2 – 1.3) X Average Flux

Existing Burner – Flux

Modified Burner – Flux

Existing Burner Modified Burner

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

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