Reduce fouling to save energy, increase throughput

Process-side fouling deposits can degrade the operation of refinery process units in several ways: restricting fluid flow, reducing heat transfer rates, shortening service life, and compromising product quality. While fouling can be found throughout the refinery, the most common problem areas include:

	Crude unit: cold and hot heat exchanger trains, furnaces and heaters, atmospheric and vacuum towers
	Hydrotreater or hydrodesulfurization (HDS) unit and hydrocracker: feed/effluent heat exchangers and reactor beds
	Fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU): slurry exchangers and steam generators
	Purification train: reboilers and towers
	Compressors
	Coker furnaces
	Visbreakers

Fouling deposits can consist of inorganic materials, such as iron sulfide corrosion by-products, and organic materials, such as agglomerated asphaltenes, thermally degraded polymer, and coke). Deposits often contain a complex mixture of organic and inorganic materials.

GE service and technical professionals can first determine the cause of fouling through deposit analysis and fluid characterization. Then, using our hot liquid process simulator (HLPS), they can design a customized, cost-effective antifoulant treatment program to resolve the problem.