ARTICLES
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A novel approach to cleaning 
furnace coils
Jul-2013
A modified pigging operation aims to greatly reduce the time required for coke removal from furnace coils
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Why vacuum unit fired heaters coke
Oct-2004
A description of the internal workings of vacuum heaters and the causes of coke formation within them
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When excess air becomes too much
Jul-2020
Excessive use of excess air impacts operating costs through fuel efficiency, furnace reliability, and stack emissions
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Useful tips for fired heater optimisation
Apr-2012
Model predictive control that is native to the regulatory control processor provides high-speed, redundant and robust control for process fired heater ...
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Revamping atmospheric crude heaters
Sep-2007
Revamp of an atmospheric crude unit heater suffering from coking caused by asphaltene precipitation resulted in an increased heater run length
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Role of fired heater safety systems
Jul-2013
A fully automated burner management system operating as a SIS for burner control can meet minimum safety targets, improve system availability and lower ...
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Practical flare gas recovery for minimising flaring
Apr-2015
Flares play a critical role as a safety device in refineries, and in most oil and gas producing or processing facilities.
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Selecting the “Best” fired heater
Jun-2013
Fired heaters are extensively used in the chemical process industry to heat process fluids and generate steam. Typically, fired heaters consume the largest ...
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Efficiency factors in natural gas fired steam boilers
Jul-2020
A study to obtain maximum operating efficiency from a set of refinery steam boilers.
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Effect of reactor inlet temperature 
in a hydrotreater
Sep-2018
Solving a problem of pressure drop in a naphtha hydrotreater led to fresh insights into the role of reactor inlet temperature.
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Visbreaker optimisation: 
a step change
Apr-2009
Optimising visbreakers is not just a matter of monitoring and adding chemicals. Opportunity crudes demand a more integrated approach
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Column preheat improvement to debottleneck furnace operation
Apr-2012
Simulation helped to identify and mitigate the root cause of a furnace bottleneck to maximise the removal of light ends in the feed to a preflash colu ...
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Fired capital equipment: key plant components
Oct-2015
Fired capital equipment is an often neglected asset associated with 
plant operations. The global petrochemical and refining industries remain volatile ...
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Energy management: raising profitability, reducing CO2 emissions
Oct-2010
Case studies show how lower energy demand via revamps and improved maintenance can save money and abate CO2 emissions in refinery operations
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Reducing refinery heater revamp costs
Oct-2005
This article discusses the importance of being able to deliver a safe, cost-effective heater revamp, in the shortest possible shutdown
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Evaluating hydrogen rich fuel gas firing
Mar-2021
A sudden shift to hydrogen rich fuel gas firing may not be prudent if a fired heater is not designed for it.
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Troubleshooting vacuum unit revamps
Jul-1998
While vacuum unit revamps increase gasoil yield, management is pushing the intervals between turnarounds to four or five years
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Avoiding unscheduled shutdowns
Apr-2001
Case studies have demonstrated that correct heater design and consequent performance will determine crude unit run length
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Specifications — importance of getting them right
Mar-2003
Faulty equipment specifications sometimes carry unforeseen penalties, with loss of performance. It is the process design engineer’s responsibility to ...
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Vacuum unit design effect on operating variables
Jul-2002
To revamp vacuum units, process modelling and equipment design know-how are needed, and the understanding of connected equipment performance can lead to ...
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Realities of heat flux in fired heaters
Nov-2020
Uneven radiant heat flux distribution is a major cause of poor reliability in refinery fired heaters.
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Cost efficient revamps in hydrogen plants
Jul-2001
Revamping of existing equipment is often seen as the cheapest and most cost effective solution, but this calls for a thorough knowledge of the plant, its ...
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Structured catalyst for steam reforming
Sep-2018
A catalyst system for steam methane reforming for improved heat transfer, pressure drop and catalyst effectiveness.
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Raising boiler efficiency (TIA)
Apr-2015
When you are processing 100000 b/d or more of crude, reliability is of the utmost importance. There is no justification for unscheduled shutdowns due to ...
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Claus waste heat boiler economics Part 1: process considerations
Feb-2019
The design of the waste heat boiler has a critical role to play in determining process operations, reliability and economic performance in the sulphur ...
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A novel approach to cleaning 
furnace coils
Jul-2013
A modified pigging operation aims to greatly reduce the time required for coke removal from furnace coils
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An introduction to fouling in fired heaters: part 1
Apr-2022
Fouling is the accumulation and formation of unwanted materials on the surfaces of processing equipment.
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When replacement in-kind gives performance that isn’t: a vibration case study
Dec-2020
This story starts with a familiar scenario for a fluidised catalytic cracking unit (FCCU); a 30 year old waste heat boiler (WHB) had become a maintenance ...
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When excess air becomes too much
Jul-2020
Excessive use of excess air impacts operating costs through fuel efficiency, furnace reliability, and stack emissions
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Ceramic coating application in a refinery steam methane reformer furnace
Jun-2022
Increase an SMR’s thermal efficiency by applying a high emissivity ceramic coating on the furnace box walls.
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The keys to successfully revamping a fired heater: how to maximise value
May-2022
Fired heaters are facing scrutiny because they contribute to the global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). For refineries and ...
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May-2022
Fired heaters, also called furnaces, use the heat from combustion of hydrocarbons to increase the temperature of a fluid. Direct-fired heaters are common ...
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Evaluating hydrogen rich fuel gas firing
Mar-2021
A sudden shift to hydrogen rich fuel gas firing may not be prudent if a fired heater is not designed for it.
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Use of tube inserts in fired heaters
May-2022
In 1896 Whitham reported the successful use of twisted tapes (originally called retarders, and now also called turbulators) to increase heat transfer in ...
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Using future rows capacity to debottleneck fired heaters
Jun-2022
Opportunistic usage of the future row provision can lead to a multitude of benefits, provided the refiner knows what they are looking for during the r ...
-
Effect of reactor inlet temperature 
in a hydrotreater
Sep-2018
Solving a problem of pressure drop in a naphtha hydrotreater led to fresh insights into the role of reactor inlet temperature.
-
Realities of heat flux in fired heaters
Nov-2020
Uneven radiant heat flux distribution is a major cause of poor reliability in refinery fired heaters.
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Jan-2022
Improvements in performance and energy efficiency were achieved during the turnaround of a crude distillation unit.
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Dec-2020
Remotely cleaning furnace tubes slashed the cost of hydrogen production for a refiner.
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Heater experts solve common problems with IR thermography
Dec-2020
Many owner operators in the oil/gas and petrochemical industry know infrared (IR) thermography is a pillar of any robust inspection program. At Becht Fired ...
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Apr-2021
Fired equipment is a critical part of most refinery process units. Operating at high temperatures and potentially high pressures make these equipment items ...
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Convection section retrofit (TiA)
Nov-2021
XRG recently retrofitted a convection section in a crude heater that was originally built in 1935. The new convection bank consists of two sections; the ...
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Don’t let furnace emissions derail your expansion project
Nov-2021
Predicting emissions prior to actual furnace design is not just a mathematical calculation
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An introduction to fouling in fired heaters — Part 2: exterior fouling
Apr-2022
An important fouling mechanism on the fireside is corrosion fouling, especially for oil fired equipment.
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Carbon dioxide emissions from fired heaters
Apr-2022
Fired heaters emit an estimated 400 to 500 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. At least 73% of average refinery CO2 emissions come from combustion ...
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Safer and efficient combustion for fired heaters and boilers
Nov-2022
A technological approach to achieving efficiency improvements, CO2 emissions reduction, and parallel effects in NOx emissions control in a crude oil-fired ...
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Cooling tower acceptance testing
Dec-2022
In a recent blog, August 8, 2022, the subject of an independent check-rate or rating of a cooling tower’s thermal design was discussed.
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Run length improvement and emissions reduction in delayed coker heaters
May-2023
For many refineries, the delayed coker unit is a vital component of refinery profitability. The tubes used in delayed coker units foul and must be decoked ...
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Jul-2023
Using hydrogen in fuel to eliminate CO2 emissions in fired heaters.
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Claus waste heat boiler economics Part 1: process considerations
Feb-2019
The design of the waste heat boiler has a critical role to play in determining process operations, reliability and economic performance in the sulphur ...
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Jul-2023
Using hydrogen in fuel to eliminate CO2 emissions in fired heaters.
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Run length improvement and emissions reduction in delayed coker heaters
May-2023
For many refineries, the delayed coker unit is a vital component of refinery profitability. The tubes used in delayed coker units foul and must be decoked ...
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Digital platform for intelligent operation of fired heaters
Apr-2023
An innovative web-based tool that optimises fired heater operation and reduces carbon footprint while doing so.
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How refineries are saving time and money protecting assets
Feb-2023
The oil and gas industry is seeing a rise in demand and is taking vital steps to avoid disruption in production by preventing corrosion in process vessels, ...
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Reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in fired heaters
Feb-2023
A global inventory of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions recently published by One Earth suggests that global cumulative emissions could be reduced by up ...
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How to cut emissions and fuel and increase capacity in fired heaters
Feb-2023
Fired heaters have the greatest running cost in a refinery or a petrochemical site.
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Unfire your heater for better performance
Feb-2023
The benefits of implementing dispersed combustion in fired heaters in order to align with current and future NOx requirements using a practical techno ...
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An introduction to fouling in fired heaters: Part three burner fouling
Feb-2023
Burner fouling: To keep a fired heater operating optimally it is important to distribute heat as evenly as possible.
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Ten easy hacks for heater and combustion engineers
Feb-2023
It’s not possible to run heater simulations out in the field. Here we highlight rules, formulas and easy hacks to help fired heater engineers in their ...
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A confounding problem: Vibration issues in boilers and furnaces
Feb-2023
There’s a whole lot of shaking going on – but why? Identifying industry trends that have contributed to this issue and what can increase the likelihood ...
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Fired heater features – what’s that on top of the stack for?
Feb-2023
Finding out what the purpose of the cone featured on the top of some heater stacks is and what it actually does.
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Introducing hydrogen into refinery boilers, turbines, and HRSGs (TIA)
Feb-2023
Refineries and petrochemical facilities are under environmental pressure on all fronts. They are being asked to reduce their carbon footprints and aim ...
-
Cooling tower acceptance testing
Dec-2022
In a recent blog, August 8, 2022, the subject of an independent check-rate or rating of a cooling tower’s thermal design was discussed.
-
Safer and efficient combustion for fired heaters and boilers
Nov-2022
A technological approach to achieving efficiency improvements, CO2 emissions reduction, and parallel effects in NOx emissions control in a crude oil-fired ...
-
Using future rows capacity to debottleneck fired heaters
Jun-2022
Opportunistic usage of the future row provision can lead to a multitude of benefits, provided the refiner knows what they are looking for during the r ...
-
Ceramic coating application in a refinery steam methane reformer furnace
Jun-2022
Increase an SMR’s thermal efficiency by applying a high emissivity ceramic coating on the furnace box walls.
-
Use of tube inserts in fired heaters
May-2022
In 1896 Whitham reported the successful use of twisted tapes (originally called retarders, and now also called turbulators) to increase heat transfer in ...
-
May-2022
Fired heaters, also called furnaces, use the heat from combustion of hydrocarbons to increase the temperature of a fluid. Direct-fired heaters are common ...
-
The keys to successfully revamping a fired heater: how to maximise value
May-2022
Fired heaters are facing scrutiny because they contribute to the global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). For refineries and ...
-
Carbon dioxide emissions from fired heaters
Apr-2022
Fired heaters emit an estimated 400 to 500 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year. At least 73% of average refinery CO2 emissions come from combustion ...
-
Apr-2022
Did you know that ancient algae impact our lives to this day? Read on to learn how decomposed carbon-based life becomes petroleum products with the help ...
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An introduction to fouling in fired heaters — Part 2: exterior fouling
Apr-2022
An important fouling mechanism on the fireside is corrosion fouling, especially for oil fired equipment.
-
An introduction to fouling in fired heaters: part 1
Apr-2022
Fouling is the accumulation and formation of unwanted materials on the surfaces of processing equipment.
-
Jan-2022
Improvements in performance and energy efficiency were achieved during the turnaround of a crude distillation unit.
-
Don’t let furnace emissions derail your expansion project
Nov-2021
Predicting emissions prior to actual furnace design is not just a mathematical calculation
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