Latest Possible Performance Enhancers in Radiant Coils

The radiant coils are the key equipment in the cracking furnaces of an ethylene plant, with highest impact on plant economics. It has always been an area where technology improvement can have a massive impact on user’s profitability & reliability.

Significant improvements in run length extension, fuel gas savings, conversion, increased throughput etc. have been achieved thanks to the recent development of products delaying coke formation, such as alumina forming alloys, new shapes and heat transfer enhancers, if selected properly by kinetic simulation tools helping to explore and utilize the full potential of these new developments.

This paper describes how these options, selected individually or for some of them combined, provide potential very visible additional revenues. The paper will highlight how case studies and simulations relying on lab data and pilot plants feedback show where, aside the furnace itself, some additional gains can be obtained.

Case study 1 : ethane cracker shifting from classic to Al alloy :

Case study 2 : ethane cracker combining longitudinal fins together with Al alloy :

Case study 3 : Pressure drop limitation resolved.