Maximize The Run Length of Your Coker Heaters

In this webinar we have discussed, how to maximize run length in Coker heaters. Coker heaters started around 1930. We had a single fired twin cell heater design as a standard offered by most of the companies. In 1980, Foster Wheeler developed the double fired heater configuration. This design was touted as solution of all the problems and it took off. This design does offer an exclusive advantage and that is on line spalling. This heater has been constructed where each pass has its own radiant section. The heater design is such that you can carry out steam spalling in the affected pass and it will remove part of the coke layer. Typically refiners gain about 100-150 degree reduction in the TMT but its effectiveness keeps on going down and after 2-3 steam spalls, the end user is forced to shutdown the heater for cleaning. The cleaning takes about 4-5 days and significantly effects profitability. We have several clients who are facing short run lengths of 3-5 months in their Coker heaters. We have discussed how to examine the root cause of the coking and how to minimize the coking in fired heaters. It is possible to improve the run length. Coker heater may be requiring upgrade every 8-10 years. The radiant section tubes need to be replaced and that provides a good opportunity to get the coil design right. Similarly we have seen very large flames from ultra low NOx burners causing problems with flame impingement. The good news is that the burners are very inexpensive and can be upgraded to provide the right heat transfer. Chapters 00:00 Intro 05:30 Furnace Improvement Services 08:13 Major Refinery Heater 10:28 Coker Heater 19:40 Coker Heater Design Criteria 20:43 Coker Heater Data Base Analysis 22:30 Coil Side Parameter 23:03 Fluid Mass Velocity 24:12 Radiant Heat Flux 24:32 Relative Coking Rate 26:10 Fire Side Parameter 27:22 Uniform Heat Transfer in Radiant Section 29:05 Typical Coker Heater: Burners 29:56 Double Fired Coker Heater : Burner & Tube Layout 31:48 Typical Tube Metal Temperature Calculation 34:36 Coker Heater Tube Skin Temperature 35:38 Case Study : Double Fired Heater 39:35 Existing Burner Layout 40:50 Flame Profile with Inclined Burners 41:27 Coker Heater Retubing Study 43:01 Radiant Coil Retubing - Proposed Options 44:07 Don Not Overlook Your Convection Section 45:18 Operation Tips to Extend Run Length 46:19 Revamping Tips For Existing Coker Heater 46:48 Coker Heater Coking Index 47:25 Double Fired Coker Heater 48:40 Design Parameter of Coker Heater 49:27 Q&A