2012 Spring Meeting & 8th Global Congress on Process Safety

(31a) Recent Experiences on Modelling Fouling of Crude Refinery Preheat Trains Handling Complex and Heavy Crude Slates

Authors

Polley, G. T. - Presenter, University of Guanajuato


Recent
Experiences on Modelling Fouling of Crude Refinery Preheat Trains Handling Complex
and Heavy Crude Slates

Ishiyama E.M., Polley, G.T. and Pugh S.J.

IHS ESDU, Houndsditch, London EC3A 7BX, UK

Abstract

Fouling of crude oil streams is the major cause of planned and unplanned
downtime in oil refineries. As crude slates become heavier and more varied, the
refinery operator must decide how to accommodate fouling, by for example
selecting which heat exchangers to clean, against increasingly tight budgeting
constraints. Often, it has not been recognized that fouling is often
unnecessarily severe in poorly designed heat exchangers. In this paper we present
recent experience in the application of dynamic fouling modeling using the novel
heat exchanger network simulation tools, SmartPM and EXPRESSplus. These
experiences illustrate the performance of dynamic fouling models in refinery
pre-heat trains and the identification of opportunities for predictable
improvements, for example through simple equipment modifications.