Monitoring of Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning Analysis

Heat exchanger fouling has long been recognized as a significant cause of energy inefficiency across many process industry sectors. In refining industry, crude feed types can change significantly depending on opportunity crude availability and prevailing economics. Crude oil fouling characteristics, both in general terms and more specifically with respect to parameters that help predict fouling, are neither well developed nor available for everyday engineering practice. This chapter focuses on fouling monitoring and heat exchanger cleaning applications based on the authors' experience in developing and deploying software-based solutions primarily in oil refining industry. With nearly half of all refinery fouling costs attributable to crude atmospheric tower preheat train exchangers, and inherent complexity of these preheat trains, the chapter also focuses on crude units in particular to present comprehensive consideration of what it takes to successfully monitor fouling and optimize plant operation in practical and achievable way.