Refinery Crude Heaters: Process Review

Process engineers often have a different view on fired heater operations than mechanical engineers usually involved in fire heater design and construction. This paper is a review of fired heater design and operations for refinery crude heaters that focuses on the process engineering elements of the heaters. Topics include;

• Process objectives
• Crude unit services
• General heater guidelines
• Heater types
• Operating parameters
• Conventional 2D heaters
• Alternates to conventional heaters
  • 3D
  • Dual fired
  • All convection