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Apex PetroConsultants, LLC

Furnace Reliability: The Cornerstone of Ethylene Plant Success

8/13/2023

1 Comment

 
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Cracking furnaces’ reliability, in simplistic yet effective terms, can be measured by looking at the actual production relative to their overall capability. Many factors, from design/engineering/fabrication/construction through operation and maintenance, contribute towards overall availability and reliability. The furnaces typically determine the total ethylene plant capacity limits and require significant attention, throughout their lifecycle, to achieve best-in-class performance and availability expectations.
Key factors during project development and execution:
  • Selection and design of main components – radiant coils, convection coils, transfer-line exchangers, burners, fans, SCR, etc.
  • Process controls, monitoring, and safety systems
  • Engineering specifications
  • Fabrication details, inspection
  • Quality of construction
Operation and Maintenance (a lot depends on operation and maintenance strategies along with discipline):
  • Working knowledge of fundamentals on the process side (feeds, yields/severity, selectivity, coking/fouling/run-length, decoking, corrosion, erosion, etc.) and fireside (combustion, burners, SCR, emissions, fouling/corrosion/erosion, etc.)
  • Design limits, process safety
  • Operating variables/interactions, controls, performance monitoring
  • Operating modes and procedures
  • Predictive and preventive maintenance, frequency (relationship of operating parameters, failure modes, etc.)
  • Equipment monitoring
  • Personnel training and competency
Many of these factors are interconnected and require a deep understanding to develop a holistic approach for maintaining high reliability and availability to achieve maximum utilization of cracking furnaces.
1 Comment
Srinivas Mazumdar
8/14/2023 12:24:03 am

Would like to understand the working process of a steam cracker vis a vis feedstock purity .

Reply



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    Author

    Sanjeev Kapur is Principal Consultant at Apex PetroConsultants. He focuses on consulting/advising olefins based petrochemical businesses. He is a leading expert in petrochemicals and integration.

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