(96b) Heat Exchanger Selection Improves the Performance of Refinery Preheat Trains: Industrial Case Studies

This paper shows how the advanced heat exchanger network simulation software SmartPM® allows refinery engineers to better understand and manage heat exchanger fouling behaviour. In addition to guiding on the most profitable cleaning schedules, the predictive analytics in SmartPM® can assess the benefits of using HELIXCHANGER® heat exchangers to extend run lengths between cleans in refinery heat exchanger trains.

Refinery case studies of crude preheat and vacuum distillation heat exchanger trains show how HELIXCHANGER® shells can improve fouling performance among other benefits.  These benefits are  being realized as HELIXCHANGERS® are increasingly adopted by leading engineering designers where SmartPM® provides the framework for their decisions.