Process Furnace/Utility Boiler Efficiency Assessments

Within the industrial process sector as well as in the power industry, there exists a very competitive mind-set towards “Continuous Improvement” regarding internal energy performance. This is certainly a very positive attitude to promote and sets apart the “survivors” from the rest of the pack. Process industries, especially refineries and petrochemical plants are extensive users of energy. Wherever possible, inter & intra-unit component heat integration is the optimal path towards “Best-in-Class” energy performance, or in the parlance of Solomon Metrics, 1st Quartile EII (Energy Intensity Index).

At Alpha3, one of the consulting services offered to these clients is in the area of process furnace optimization. Very often, heaters are overlooked within the plant by both Operations and Maintenance personnel and are considered as a “necessary evil." Left unloved and neglected, these critical pieces of equipment can deteriorate and lose essential thermal efficiency. This condition is cumulative over many years and leads to the attitude that “nothing will ever get done” on this equipment, so why should I be concerned about it? Too often this attitude is contagious within a company at multiple sites.

Alpha3 can provide a process furnace “assessment” of some or all of the heaters within your facility at a very reasonable cost. We examine both mechanical and physical condition of the heater, as well as historical operating performance versus target(s). Additionally we will make recommendations as to the necessary repairs/upgrades that can get the furnace back to intended performance levels. Very often, these recommendations are low-cost in nature and include:

1. Repair/Replacement of heater efficiency instrumentation (O2 analyzer, draft indicator, stack TI’s, etc.), which can produce a positive impact on operator’s attentiveness to heater performance
2. Repair of “air-in” leakage conditions, also known as “ingress or tramp air,” which is one of the greatest issues that unit operators have to deal with on any given furnace. Casing repairs, refractory sealing, tube penetration seals, etc. are some of the quite reasonable, and frequently,”on-line” measures that can be performed to obtain 2-3% improvements in thermal efficiency.
3. Revising “old, historical” operating parameters/targets that no one can remember exactly “Why” or "How” they were developed. 
4. Reviving or implementing heater training for operators and mechanics so they better understand the “Value” of improved Operating Performance of their Fired Equipment.
5. “Un-realized” benefits of simply having a PLAN for dealing with Process Heater changing conditions.

At Alpha3, we see ourselves as part of the Team Solution to improving the overall performance of a facilities fired equipment inventory from both efficiency as well as a SAFETY perspective. These two mutually INCLUSIVE concepts cannot fail to show significant benefits to the individual facility as well as the company’s Bottom Line!! 

Michael Sanders is a Director at Alpha3 Consulting, LLC, Cherry Hill, N.J. & Media, Pa. Mike has over 35 years experience in the refining & chemicals business with various companies including Gulf Oil, Chevron USA, and Sunoco Refining & Marketing. He has performed over 20 plant-wide energy assessments as well as ~125 process heater assessments for efficiency as well as process safety improvement.  Mike can be reached at mpsanders@alphathree.com or 610.836.1864 cell