Achieving High Utilization in Cracking Furnaces

Furnace availability varies greatly from plant to plant and impacts the production levels, more so for the plants that are furnace constrained.
5 Leading Causes of Furnace Outages

1. Radiant coils – carburization, stress/creep rupture are the leading causes followed by plugging, bowing/twisting and brittle fracture
2. TLE cleaning – tube blockage
3. Instrumentation
4. TLE Repairs – contributing factors include water side corrosion, inlet tubesheet erosion, tube to tubesheet weld failure, gasket or seal failure
5. Refractory repairs

Reliability of furnaces can vary significantly depending on:

• Technology selection – including severity, selectivity, flexibility
• Design approach, specifications and selection of components
• Operation approach and discipline
• Monitoring and process control
• Maintenance approach and discipline

At Apex PetroConsultants, we focus on these aspects during all stages - including technology selection, modifications for performance improvements, design/engineering, operation and troubleshooting. Key is to maximize production at an optimum performance level and capital investment.