Yusoff N.I.M., Ismail M., Noor N.M., Mosir M., Alias N.M., Ali F.I.M., Putra Z.A., 2021, Pinch Analysis Application for Fouled Crude Distillation and Condensate Fractionation Units of a Refinery, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 88, 163-168.
Preheat trains of each Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and Condensate Fractionation Unit (CFU) of a refinery in Malaysia were experiencing severe fouling. This led to lower heat recoveries of the pump arounds and higher fuel gas consumptions in the furnace and the reboiler of the units. Consequently, potential energy recovery options and possible fouling mitigation strategies needed to be explored. Adding few new heat exchangers to increase heat recovery in the below pinch region has been found to potentially reduce the fuel gas consumption by about 7 – 10 %, depending on crude scenarios. Further analysis of the preheat trains showed that heat exchangers at the higher temperature end of the network (above Pinch region) experiencing more severe fouling than the others. These heat exchangers were then recommended to be cleaned more frequently or to be modified to become less susceptible to fouling. This approach of adding new heat exchangers in the below pinch region and doing more frequent cleaning in the above pinch region could be seen as a practical application of the Plus/Minus principle of Pinch Analysis. More detailed process engineering calculations needed in the next phase of this project for actual implementations and detailed economic evaluation.
