Furnace Improvements Low Cost Solutions

Furnace Improvements Services
Low Cost Value Added Solutions for Fired Heaters

Increased Capacity Higher Efficiency
Longer Run Lengths Lower NOx Emissions

Furnace Improvements Services Inc. A.G. Furnace Improvements Pvt. Ltd.
1600 Highway 6, Suite 480 K-33, Kalkaji
Sugar Land, TX 77478 New Delhi – 110019
Tel: (281)980-0325 Tel 1: 91-11-405 8 8696
Fax: 1-877-395-0760 Tel 2: 91-11-262-8 6775

Email: info@heatflux.com
Web: www.heatflux.com

Furnace Improvements Global
AUSTRALIA, SINGAPORE,
NEWZEALAND, INDONESIA & TAIWAN
MALASYA Douglas Chang
Kate Gimblett Tel: 886-2-2706-1544
Tel: +61 (0) 7 5435 2205 Mobile:886-921-069-827
Mobile: +61 (0) 417 087 129 China.abc@msa.hinet.net
kate@energysystem.com.au

BAHRAIN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
George Mathew Sarwar Ali
Tel: 00 973 17 785757 Tel: ++971 6 742 50 35
(M): 00973 36683942 Mobile:++971 50 6317452
instrum@aljazeerais.com mists@emirates.net.ae

VENEZUELA, ARUBA, ARGENTINA,
BRAZIL COLOMBIA,
Jose Fleischmann Carlos Alarcon
Tel: (+55) 11-5641-4361
Tel: 58-4416-6093444
Fax: (+55) 11-5641-4361
Fax: 58-414-3668406
jofleis@attglobal.net
caav-ramasco@cantv.net

CANADA CALIFORNIA, USA
Paul Henry David P. Diggins
Tel: 450-676-3222 Tel: (949)497-6551
Fax: 450-676-5997 Mobile: (949) 463-8591
Bjuren@bellnet.ca digginsinc@cox.net

INDIA
LOUISIANA, USA
R. Rajamani Ajai Agarwal Charles H. Thatcher
Tel: + 91 94483 79108 Tel: (+9111) 421-43751 Tel: 985-892-4224
Tel2: +91 80 65971113 Mobile:(+91) 981-01-59901 Mobile: 985-966-5513
rajamani@iprefining.com aqology@gmail.com cht@bellsouth.net

KUWAIT SOUTHEAST, USA
Alex Ambi David Gangle
Tel: (965) 248-29160 ext.126 Tel: 205 437-1702
Mobile: (965) 338-41712 Mobile: 205 542-7006
alex@alzahemgroup.com dgangle@gancoheat.com

MEXICO TEXAS, USA
Jorge Ruiz Silva Stan McHugh
Tel: (713)839-8788
Cel: 1+52 55 54 62 04 09
Mobile: (713) 703-8907
scubasha@hotmail.com
sam.co@sbcglobal.net

UTAH, MONTANA, NEVADA, IDAHO,
SAUDI ARABIA
WYOMING
Azfar Mahmood
Tel: +966-3-899-6333 Allan Woodbury
Mobile: +966-5-3451-2635 Tel: + 801 274-3333
azfar@smartbde.com Mobile: + 801 918-4826
northassociates@yahoo.com

Revamping – Training – Troubleshooting
www.heatflux.com

Furnace Improvements
Low Cost Solutions for Fired Heaters

Furnace Improvements Services (FIS) was started in March 1996 in Sugar Land, TX. Our
mission is to provide services for improving the performance of existing fired heaters in
refineries and petrochemical plants. FIS started with conducting engineering studies for fired
heaters and provided solutions to customers to overcome operational problems. FIS also saw a
need for training young engineers and operators on how to operate fired heaters and started
offering heater training courses.

For over 15 years, FIS has been helping end users and owners with design and engineering
services to improve the performance and efficiency of their fired heaters, boilers and reduce
refinery NOx emissions.

After handling more than 300 studies and projects for CITGO, Valero, ConocoPhillips, Alon,
Frontier and other refineries, FIS has developed into a full service engineering and consulting
company. FIS started supplying new heaters on a turnkey basis in 2002.

FIS currently has a team of forty-five people employed, with offices in Sugar Land, TX and in
New Delhi, India. We have been growing at the rate of 35% per year with a vision to be the
ultimate technology provider for fired heaters and boilers.

Our Expertise
FIS can design and revamp all refinery fired heaters including Crude, Vacuum, Catalytic
Reformer, Hot Oil, Coker Heater and CO Boilers. Our skilled group of engineers has a combined
experience of over 300 years.

FIS also provides design of new fired heaters to end users. Our designs are the most economical,
efficient, and reliable. We ensure that key design parameters are not compromised and heaters
perform to their full capacity from day one.

We are the only heater company that has developed expertise in rating of industrial boilers and
CO boilers. FIS has rated boilers for:

• Exxon Beaumont (TX) – CO Boiler
• Citgo Corpus Christi (TX) – CO Boiler
• Valero Port Arthur (TX) – Boiler NOx Reduction
• ConocoPhillips Borger (TX) – Boiler NOx Reduction
• ConocoPhillips Wood River (IL) - Boiler NOx Reduction
• Targa HRSG Boiler (TX) – Performance Improvement
• ConocoPhillips Bayway (TX) – Performance Improvement of Economaizer

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New Heaters
FIS provides these services for design, engineering and supply of fired heaters:

1. Engineering
• Thermal Design and Modeling of New Fired Heaters
• Development of API Data Sheets
• Mechanical Design
• CFD Modeling
• Pressure Parts Design
• Intermediate Tube Sheets, Hangers Design
• Structural Analysis and Design (STAAD)
• GA, Fabrication and Erection Drawings

2. Procurement
• Material Requisitions and Engineering
Specifications.
• Vendor Bid Evaluation
• Purchase Requisitions

3. Project Management
• Planning and Scheduling
• Project Monitoring
• Project Progress Report
• Vendor Coordination/Follow Up with Client

4. Fabrication
• Fabrication Sub-contracted to Renowned
Shops
• Shop Inspection and Quality Control

5. Site Services
• Job Walk with Erection Contractors
• Erection Supervision
• Heater Start-Up/Commissioning

New Heater Supply

Furnace Improvements has supplied the following heaters:

• Citgo Corpus Christi - GHT Heater
• Devon Energy - Hot Oil Heater
• ConocoPhillips - Hot Oil Heater
• ConocoPhillips - Vacuum Heater
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Revamping Services
Revamping fired heaters is a practical and effective way to improve heater performance. This
focuses on working with existing components and as a result, investment and downtime is
minimized. FIS projects are accessed in the following areas:

• Capacity Increase
• Efficiency Improvement
• NOx Reduction

A fired heater revamping project typically has the following phases:
Phase I → Engineering Study +/- 30% Cost Estimates.
Phase II → Project Design Basis Report with +/- 10% Cost Estimates.
Phase III → Detailed Engineering, Project Services, Execution

Furnace Improvements’ scope of services includes but is not limited to:

• Design
• Engineering
• Project Management
• Procurement
• Fabrication
• Site Services

Here are some revamp projects FIS has carried out:

• Valero, Wilmington Refinery - Platformer Heater, Capacity Improvement
• Citgo, Corpus Christi, TX - Platformer Heater, Efficiency Improvement and NOx
Reduction
• ConocoPhillips, Borger, TX - U40 Boiler NOx Reduction

FIS office in Delhi carries out Mechanical Design and Detailed Engineering. Due to the time
difference, work is performed on a 24 hour basis and at much lower cost kept schedules.

www.heatflux.com


Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Modeling
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) involves the solution of mass, momentum and heat
transfer equations in a particular domain, which is comprised of the geometry of interest. CFD
was developed during the past two decades. Its accuracy in predicting real world problems has
improved with the present age computers and better models.

At Furnace Improvements we utilize CFD to study the design and operating conditions of
heaters, analyze problems and provide solutions.

The following are a few areas of concern where FIS has applied this tool:

1. Flow Maldistribution
2. Mixing (Ammonia Injection Grid & Flue Gas Recirculation Mix Box Design)
3. Combustion (Burner & Heater Design)
4. Tube Failures
5. Heat Transfer

Note: The CFD applications are not limited to the listed items. Furnace Improvements is making every effort to
explore its varied applications and use this powerful tool if and when it is required.
CFD gives a competitive edge over other analysis due to its visual presentation of the observations.

FIS has applied the CFD studies in the following cases:

• ConocoPhillips, Roxana, IL - CO Emission Reduction
• ConocoPhillips, Alliance Refinery - NOx Reduction of Crude Heater
• ConocoPhillips, Borger, TX - U40 Boiler NOx Reduction
• ConocoPhillips – Economizer Flow Modeling
• Citgo Lake Charles – Modeling of Combustion Air Ducts

www.heatflux.com


FIS Technologies
FIS has realized that many heaters present common problems such as:

• Low Capacity
• High Tube Skin Temperature
• Coking Issues
• Bad Burner Flame

FIS developed and patented three different technologies to eliminate these issues Flue Gas
Injection, Split Flow and the Inclined Firing System.

Flue Gas Injection *
Furnace Improvements has developed Flue Gas
Injection (FGI) as a remedy to:

• High tube skin temperatures
• Coking issues
• Increasing capacity but not increasing
radiant flux.

This new technology reduces the firebox
temperature by taking a part of the flue gas from the
stack and injecting it near the radiant tubes through
specially designed nozzles in the heater floor.

This technology requires the following additional
hardware:

• FGI Fan (Induced Draft Fan)
• Cold Flue Gas Ducting to Heater Floor

Flue Gas Injection Scheme

*Patent # US 7,484,478 B2

www.heatflux.com


Split Flow Technology*
Furnace Improvements has developed a new approach to increase the capacity of fired heaters
without increasing the process side pressure drop. “Split Flow” aims at improved utilization of
thermal energy for process heating. This is achieved by splitting the process fluid into two
parallel streams:

Main Stream – The fluid in the first stream is heated predominantly by the convection and
radiant heat transfer mechanism.

Split Stream – The fluid in the second stream is heated predominantly by the
convective heat transfer mechanism.

The streams are combined at the heater outlet.

This technology has been very successful for capacity increase revamps in Platformer Heaters. It
is extremely efficient and a low cost process. It is very suitable for an increasing capacity by 15-
30%. We have implemented this technology at:

• Alon - H2 Heater • ConocoPhillips - ReformerCatalytic Heater
• Alon - DHT Heater • Valero Texas City Refinery
• Citgo Corpus Christi Refinery • Valero Wilmington Refinery

Typical Reformer Heater Split Flow Reformer Heater

*Patent # US 7,204,966 B2
www.heatflux.com


Inclined Firing System *
Most tube failures in fired heaters occur due to high tube skin temperatures. Bad burner flames
could lead to high tube skin temperatures through flame impingement in the tubes.

Furnace Improvements developed the Inclined Firing System technology in order to avoid flame
impingement on tubes.

The burners are installed at 5-10° angles. With this arrangement the heater will have the
following advantages:

• Elimination of flame impingement
• Increase of tube life
• Increase run length

12'-9"
TCD

4'4 ½"

4'4 ½"

4'
BCD

Original Firing Scheme Inclined Firing System

*Patent # US 7,484,478 B2

www.heatflux.com

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New Heater Case Studies

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Combined Feed Heater

The first new heater job by Furnace Improvements
(FIS) was for a Corpus Christi refinery. This heater job
was executed through Jacobs Engineering Group.

The new vertical cylindrical heater was a combined feed
heater with a natural draft. It is used to heat a mixture of
hydrocarbon and hydrogen.

The heater was designed for a heat duty of
49MMBtu/hr and an efficiency of 82%.

FIS’ scope of services included:

• Design
• Engineering
• Fabrication
• Supply

The heater was successfully commissioned in August
2005.

…

www.heatflux.com


Hot Oil Heater
Furnace Improvements (FIS) was employed to supply a new Hot Oil Heater (HT-501) for a gas
plant in Wyoming.

FIS executed the following activities:
The total
• Process Design
duration
• Mechanical Design of this
project
• Structural Analysis from
• Material Procurement and Supply start to
end was
• Field Installation of the Hot Oil 12
Heater months.
This
• Piping heater
• Instrumentation was
successf
• Foundation ully
commiss
FIS supplied the burner management system ioned in
and procured all the instrumentation controls August
of the heater. 2007.

This hot oil heater is designed for a heat
duty of 25.0 MMBtu/hr. The heater has an
efficiency of 85.3%.

…

www.heatflux.com


Hot Oil Heater
Furnace Improvements (FIS) was employed to supply a new hot oil heater (H-3) in Illinois.

The heater was designed for a total heat duty
of 165 MMBtu/hr. The design efficiency of
this heater is 88%. This heater is fitted with
18 Ultra Low NOx Burners.

FIS executed the heater process, mechanical
design, structural analysis, material
procurement and fabrication. This heater was
supplied in 12 months from the date of award
of the contract. The heater was designed in
parts and modules to minimize work at the
site. All the connections were designed to be
bolted connections.

This is a 6 pass heater and radiant panels
were designed for each pass to fit in each
radiant panel. The stack outside diameter is
11’ 3 5/8” and the height is 97’ 2”. This stack
was shipped in two pieces which would be
bolted at the site.

The installation of the hot oil heater has been
completed in 2009.

…

www.heatflux.com


Vacuum Heater
A refinery was facing coking problems in their Vacuum
Heater. In addition, they also wanted to revamp the heater
to handle Canadian Crude and reduce NOx emissions. FIS
did the process study and as a result of the study, the client
decided to build a new Vacuum heater with an existing
heater foundation. The new heater is 4 ft wider.

This vacuum heater is a horizontal tube box with a
convection section. It is designed for a heat duty of
43MMBtu/hr. FIS’ scope involves design, engineering,
structural analysis and supply of this heater to the site. The
heater has an efficiency of 90%. It was successfully
commissioned in March 2009. The heater was delivered
within 7 months of starting the job.

A few months after the start up, FIS received the following
feedback from the client.

“.. we talked about the performance of the VF4
H28 heater since startup. It has been fantastic!
The stack temperature is 370-380°F and the fuel
gas usage has dropped about 40% from the old
heater. This is one of the most efficient heaters
in the refinery. The NOx stack testing came
back 0.026 lb NOx/MMBtu, which is also
outstanding. They are even trying to reduce the
O2 even lower, from 4% to 3%. It's a lot
different when you have a tight firebox. Great
job!!!”
-Client

…
www.heatflux.com

Revamping Case Studies

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NHT and Platformer Heater Capacity Increase
Project
Furnace Improvements (FIS) was employed to
develop the best capacity improvement scheme
for a #2 Platformer Heater and NHT Heaters.

The Platformer Heater (H-20/21/22) was
originally designed for 12,000 BPD operation and
rated for 119.6 MMBtu/hr process heat duty. The
design thermal efficiency of the heater is ~ 88%
and was operating at 80 – 81%.

Three all radiant heaters (H-18/19/23) along with a
3-cell Platformer Heater, share a common
convection section and a stack.

The heaters were running at 13,000 to 15,000
BPD charge rate. The client wished to revamp the
heaters to 18,000 BPD capacity.

The conventional revamp option was to extend the existing radiant cells. The other option was to
install a new heater for the extra duty required. Extending radiant cells has the following
disadvantages:
• Space limitation
• Higher firing rates
• Very high cost
FIS’ recommendation was to increase the capacity of the heater with our patented “Split Flow
Technology”. Based on this, the convection section was replaced with a new one. The existing
convection section was used for steam generation. The new convection section is being used for
heating split flow streams for all NHT heaters (H-18/19/23) and Platformer Heaters (H-20/21), in
addition to steam generation.

The heaters were revamped for 18,000 BPD capacity and a design heat duty of 150.4 MMBtu/hr.
The revamp cost was one fourth of the alternate design. The heater firing was limited to the
design firing rate. The thermal efficiency of the heaters was increased from 80% to 89%. The
heater was successfully revamped in January 2006, not only for increased capacity but also for
improved thermal efficiency and improved reliability. In addition, the Platformer Heater burners
were replaced with new Ultra Low NOx flat flame burners.

…
www.heatflux.com


Alky Heater (H-2) NOx Reduction and Efficiency
Improvement Project
Furnace Improvements (FIS) was hired to perform a
turnkey NOx Reduction revamp on an Alky Unit Heater
(H-2). The target NOx emission rate was 0.035 lb/MMBtu
(HHV). The Alky Heater is a vertical cylindrical heater
with a design heat duty of 55 MMBtu/hr. The heater
efficiency was very low at 66%.

Excess oxygen in the firebox was very high at 8.5%. The
heater floor was in bad shape. The heater did not have any
stack damper for draft control.

FIS’ scope included finalization of thermal design and
engineering, procurement of material, fabrication, supply
and field installation of the heater.

FIS’ scope of services included:

• Modification of Existing Floor

• Install Eight New Ultra Low NOx Burners (ULNB)

• Install New Convection Module

• Installation of New Stack and Damper

After the revamp, the efficiency increased by 20%. The total cost of the project for the design
services, engineering services, fabrication and installation was $1,560,000. The project payout
was estimated to be less than 2 years. This heater was successfully commissioned in March
2008.

…

www.heatflux.com


Convection Section Modifications in CO Heater for
SCR Installation
Furnace Improvements (FIS) was contacted to help with a carbon monoxide (CO) heater (CCU-
1) in a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit. It is used to combust the FCC off gas (mainly CO gas)
from the spent catalyst regenerator unit.

The hot flue gases generated from combustion of FCC off gas are used to preheat the oil and
generate super heated steam @ 600 psig / 700 °F. The client was installing a new SCR unit
downstream of the CO Heater as a part of their consent decree agreement to reduce the NOX
emissions.

The new SCR requires a flue gas inlet temperature in the range of 680-700 °F, which required
reconfiguring the heat transfer surface in the convection section.

Furnace Improvements modeled the
convection section for five proposed cases
and provided a revised design. The client
approved FIS design and we have completed
the detail engineering of the revamp
convection section.

They also had CO slippage problems and
post combustion in the convection sections.
FIS analyzed this issue as well and came up
with a practical solution.

FIS developed a computational fluid
dynamic (CFD) model of the existing
combustion chamber and found out that
mixing of FCC off gas and air was very poor
in the combustion chamber leading to
incomplete combustion in the firebox and
post combustion in the convection section.

All modifications to CO Heater (CCU-1) were successfully executed during the February 2008
turnaround.

…

www.heatflux.com


CDHDS Reboiler Heater (H-60) Efficiency
Improvement Project
Furnace Improvements (FIS) was employed by a Texas refinery to develop an efficiency
improvement scheme for CDHDS reboiler heater (H-60).

The CDHDS reboiler heater is a vertical cylindrical natural draft heater built in 2002. The CDHDS
reboiler heater (H-60) was designed for a process duty of 72 MMBtu/hr. With the help of Furnace
Improvements it now has a design efficiency of 81%. The heater was operating at an efficiency of
79%, with the flue gas stack temperature of 780°F.

FIS reviewed the design and proposed the following
changes to improve the efficiency:

• Adding six rows of steam generation coil in
convection section
• New stack transition cone
• 25 ft of stack extension

In this scheme, 71,000 lb/hr of 450 # steam condensate is
flashed to 150 # 2 phase, vapor-liquid stream. Flashing is
completed before it enters the convection section.

The total heat duty of the heater was increased to 82
MMBtu/hr. The extra 10 MMBtu/hr is absorbed in steam
generation coil. Flue gas temperature leaving the stack
was reduced at 400°F. The efficiency of the heater was
increased to 90%, which brought energy savings of
approximately USD $ 590,550 per year. The payback
period is 1 year 3 months.

This project has been successfully commissioned in
October 2007.

…

www.heatflux.com

Technical Articles

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Furnace Improvements Low Cost Solutions

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Furnace Improvements Low Cost Solutions