While the ultimate purpose of operating a refinery is to produce gasoline, diesel or asphalt, key objectives include improving return on investment (ROI), net profitability and cash flow.
Plate-and-frame (P&F) heat exchangers were first manufactured 100 yr ago for use in the dairy industry.
According to API Recommended Practice (RP) 521, 4.4.13.1, “Fire exposure on equipment can result in overpressure due to vapor generation and/or fluid expansion.
Fired heaters are designed with castable refractory in various sections of the heater.
Alfa Laval has introduced wide-opening design plates in its Packinox heat exchangers.
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.