Feb-2023

How to cut emissions and fuel and increase capacity in fired heaters

Fired heaters have the greatest running cost in a refinery or a petrochemical site.

Integrated Global Services

Article Summary

If any one of these heaters is 1% or 2% inefficient it can consume an additional $1m in fuel over a year or result in millions of dollars in lost revenue. High fuel consumption also translates to high emissions.

IGS Fired Heater Efficiency Solutions
Cetek efficiency coatings
High-emissivity ceramic coatings for process tubes and refractory
Cetek Ceramic Coatings provide a durable, protective, thin-film layer on the outer surfaces of process tubes, which prevents oxidation, corrosion, and carburisation of the metal and maintains the tube thermal conductivity coefficient close to new tube conditions.

Tube coating can be applied in conjunction with a refractory coating, increasing the benefit and encapsulating the refractory.
Coating benefits
• Typical productivity benefits of 4% to 10%
• Fuel savings
• Production increases
• Decreased BWT
• Increased tube life/reliability
• Rapid payback on investment

Tube Tech Engineered convection section cleaning
Tube Tech’s fired heater convection section cleaning service is recognised by world-leading refining and petrochemical companies as the most effective technology to achieve OEM performance clean fired heaters.

A 90% clean guarantee even on the most fouled assets.
The benefits
• Removes 90%+ of fouling
• No refractory damage
• Safety – no man entry
• Reinstates thermal efficiency and reduces CO₂ emissions
• Extends asset life due to reduced stack temperature

Hot-tek
Online maintenance & emergency services (during the heater’s normal operation)
Hot-tek is the industry leader in hot maintenance and online fired heater repair and cleaning techniques and holds multiple patents on the approach, methods, and tools used to carry out these services. The approach is customised for every client’s needs. Often, multiple Hot-tek services are employed simultaneously to achieve the best results.

Hot-tek fired heater services include:
• Hot tube descaling
• Hot tube stabilisation
• Hot convection cleaning
• Hot inspection service

Hot Tube descaling
The benefits
• Average bridgewall temperature reduction of 50°F (10°C) to 100°F (38°C).
• Fast, effective short-term solution
• Restore production rates

Hot tube stabilisation
Hot-tek has developed an online repair service to stabilise the process tubes while the heater is in full operation. Our service can prevent shutdowns and allows the operator to run the unit until the planned turnaround dates.

The benefits
• Prevents costly unplanned shutdowns
• An intermediary repair saves time and money
• Rapid global mobilisation

Hot convection cleaning
Hot convection cleaning process removes convection section tube fouling and scale during furnace operation. The tube cleaning process uses consumable abrasive media projected through specially designed application lances to blast away years of accumulation, while the heater is in service.

The benefits
• Increased heat transfer efficiency in the convection section
• Increased steam production
• Increased process preheat
• Lower stack temperatures

Hot inspection service
Cetek’s Lancescope system provides real-time, close-up, or wide-angle views of virtually any area inside a fired heater, or other high-temperature equipment while it is still in operation. A thorough inspection provides data needed for other Hot-tek online services.

The benefits
• Performed while the unit is in operation
• Provides insight for production availability
• Identifies damage in early stages
• Reduces maintenance costs
• Minimises repair downtime
• Maximises production