A SYSTEMATIC METHODOLOGY FOR RETROFIT ANALYSIS OF REFINERIES’ PREHEAT TRAINS ACCOUNTING FOR VARIABLE HEAT CAPACITIES AND HEAT EXCHANGERS’ FOULING

Abstract

Global demand for energy is growing, driven by increasing population and economic growth. Over the past three decades, world energy consumption has more than doubled. Oil refining is an energy consuming process, accounting for about half of all the energy consumed by the oil and gas industry. In order to decrease the energy consumption in the furnace and consequently decrease the overall energy consumption in the refinery, it is required to maximize the temperature of the crude oil before entering the furnace by increasing the efficiency of the preheat train. Revamping can enhance the energy efficiency to improve productivity, lower the operating costs, and reduce the environmental impacts. This study proposes a systematic methodology for analyzing the revamping of refinery’s preheat train accounting for variable heat capacities and heat exchangers fouling. It introduces two modifications on the case study modification that was published in the article “A new graphical method for Pinch Analysis applications: Heat exchanger network retrofit and energy integration”. The first modification, that the assumption of constant heat capacity is to be criticized and analyzed. The second modification is taking fouling into considerations. This will lead to a decrease in the cost of the furnace fuel by approximately 508,718.6 dollars/year.