Improving the Refinery Vacuum Heater
AIChE Spring Meeting and Global Congress on Process Safety
2018
2018 Spring Meeting and 14th Global Congress on Process Safety
21st Topical Conference on Refinery Processing
Fouling and Corrosion / Heat Exchangers
Monday, April 23, 2018 - 1:30am to 2:00am
Coking has long remained a key limit in crude vacuum heater performance. Many alternatives are available to reduce heater coking. These include dual-fired heaters, extended tube spacing (3-diameter) heaters, and velocity steam injection.
Another alternative that can be used in combination with any of the previous techniques is a cocurrent flow heater. In this heater, the passes are arranged to moderate the oil film temperatures and reduce coking rates. An analysis of the cocurrent flow heater is presented.