High pressure air lancing had proven to be ineffective at removing hard deposits residing in between studded and bare convection tubes within a fired heater. The refinery chose Tube Tech’s advanced robotic system as it guaranteed the removal of deposits to improve heat transfer, reduce stack temperatures and fuel consumption, and improve overall throughput.
“€8m energy saving is not an uncommon client benefit after robotic cleaning of their Ethylene Fired Heater. Our Robots unlock this hidden and previously inaccessible saving by the removal of 90%+ fouling compared to 1% from conventional methods,” says Christian Chanel, Technical Sales.
“Every fired heater project has its unique challenges whether due to limited access, unknown fouling levels even design changes omitted from client drawings.
All credit to our R+D team and site operators who proactively overcame every obstacle”.
Due to the huge financial and Co2 benefits I strongly recommend a yearly “Fouling preventative” clean as 1mm of fouling reduces overall heater performance by 10%!
Tube Tech’s Project Manager, said: “This was the first time our robot had been used on studded tubes as normally we encounter finned or bare tubes. The client’s drawings were very old where dimensions were inaccurate but our team adapted well and achieved a higher than expected standard of clean.”