CHARGE HEATER REVAMP

XRG was contracted to evaluate options to eliminate flame impingement on a Charge Heater for a refinery in the mid-western U.S. The objective was to provide feasible options to eliminate flame impingement while considering installation complexity and budgetary constraints.

The Problem: The heater had been experiencing significant flame impingement on the tubes after installing ultra-low NOx burners 12 years ago, which significantly limited capacity and reduced efficiency. In the first phase of the project, our CFD model of the heater confirmed that the flame impingement was caused by the burner design and placement causing the flames to merge together. XRG modeled several different options to eliminate the flame impingement and lower Tube Metal Temperature (TMT), and then worked with the site to evaluate and rank the potential solutions.

Options XRG investigated and recommended:

  1. The first option focused on the existing Zeeco Freejet burners. In this model, five of the six burners on each end wall were utilized and the fuel-to-air ratio was modified to create shorter flames. This resulted in an improvement, and allowed a higher firing duty than they were currently limited to, but did not completely eliminate the flame impingement and high TMTs.
  2. Next, we modeled a different burner, the Callidus CUBL-CF Compact Flame burner, which was specifically developed to produce shorter flames than conventional ultra-low NOx burners.. This model also eliminated the inner two burners, leaving four burners in operation per heater end wall. The size of the new burners compensated for the reduction of burners, retaining the original firing duty of 76MMBtu/h LHV. This showed significant improvement in flame quality and eliminated all flame impingement on the tubes. The flames were very short and compact. However, there was only minor improvement in peak TMT.
  3. The third option also used eight Callidus CUBL-CF burners, but the top row of burners was elevated by 5.5 feet. The result was significant improvement; Flames lengths were significantly shorter, radiant duty was increased by over 7%, and peak TMT was reduced by 88°F (from 1218°F to 1130°F).

CFD modeling of flame impingement

Old burner setup

Old individual air supply, inefficient air distribution

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XRG Technologies
1855 E 15th Street
Tulsa, OK 74104
info@xrgtechnologies.com
+1 918-201-2656

          

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ERWIN PLATVOET
As CTO of XRG, Erwin is a true innovator, whose career spans more than three decades in heat transfer and combustion industries. Erwin is a graduate of Twente University in the Netherlands with a MS in Chemical Engineering. Erwin has served the industry around the globe in a variety of roles including Research and Development Engineer, Cracking Furnace Specialist, and Director of Engineering, and now CTO. Erwin holds eight patents in fired heat transfer and emissions control technology, has published numerous papers, and co-authored the John Zink Combustion handbook and Industrial Combustion Testing book. Erwin has been an active member of the API 560 and API 535 subcommittees and taken an active role in revising these standards.
BAILEY HENDRIX
Bailey graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Upon graduation, she joined the private sector as an Applications Engineer in Tulsa, OK at a local combustion company where she managed the sales activities for the process burner refining market. She quickly accelerated her career, becoming the Refining Account Manager responsible for all business development and sales of process burners in North and South America. Her strong leadership skills and interpersonal qualities led her to a position as the Western Hemisphere Sales Director for the process burner business, leading a group of sales engineers in the areas of new equipment, retrofits and burner management systems. Her financial and commercial acumen drives the success of XRG Technologies’ business development.
ALLEN BURRIS
Allen’s background includes 10 years of experience in designing and selling process burners. Allen is a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and is a licensed professional mechanical engineer in the State of Oklahoma. His knowledge and superior customer focus led him to a career change to process design, custom-engineered fired heater sales, and associated sub-systems for the petrochemical, refining and NGL industries. With more than two decades of experience in the combustion and fired heater industry, Allen has what it takes to overcome challenges associated with complex projects and possesses.
TIM WEBSTER
With over 25 years of experience in the combustion industry, Tim brings a wealth of industry experience and technical expertise to XRG. Tim graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University and received a Master of Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. Tim began his career engineering custom combustion systems for a wide range of applications including boilers, heaters, furnaces, kilns, and incinerators. Tim is a licensed professional mechanical engineer in the states of California, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, has authored numerous articles and papers, and has co-authored several combustion handbooks.
matt martin
As the Lead Scientist at XRG, Matt has over 30 years of experience in the combustion industry. He specializes in CFD of fired equipment, including UOP platforming heaters, burners in process heaters, thermal oxidizers and flares with over 300 simulations of installed, field-proven equipment. Matt received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Tulsa. He has written numerous publications, is listed as inventor or co-inventor on 27 patents and was awarded the title of Honeywell Fellow in 2011 for technical excellence and leadership.
gina briggs
Gina is a native Oklahoman and attended the University of Tulsa, graduating with a BSBA in Accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant. Gina began her career with the Tulsa office of Deloitte Haskins and Sells, providing audit and tax services. Since leaving Deloitte, she has held CFO positions with privately held companies in the manufacturing, construction and distribution industries. In 2013, she began a consulting practice providing contract CFO services to companies, one of which was XRG and joined XRG as CFO in 2019. Gina has always enjoyed working in the small business arena, helping business owners to profitably grow and manage their businesses.