Refineries and petrochemical plants form some of the major sections of the hydrocarbon industry and consume much of the fuel that is burned in furnaces (heaters and specialty furnaces, such as reformers and crackers) to meet process heating requirements.
Ahn, E. S.,
Park, S. I.,
Song, I. C.,
Kim, G. B.,
Chang, G. S., GS Engineering and Construction
Most hydroprocessing reactors are fixed-bed reactors comprising several catalyst beds that are divided by quench zones containing mixing chambers that introduce a vapor-quenching medium.
Plate and frame (P&F) heat exchangers were first manufactured 100 yr ago for use in the dairy industry.
Revamp projects are inherently challenging due to the numerous constraints imposed by existing equipment design and space limitations.
Steam ejector vacuum systems are generally considered to be reliable and require little maintenance.
In the recent past, many US refineries have been reconfigured to process heavy opportunistic sour crudes.
Heat exchangers have multiple tubes with fluid passing through and over them that either heats or cools another fluid.
In the chemical and process industries, gases or vapor mixtures must be cooled to temperatures near the water dewpoint in a variety of thermal unit operations.
One of the most misunderstood and misused components of conductive steam tracing systems is heat transfer compound (HTC).