Separation · Refining
Fired Heater
A furnace with burners and tubes that heats the crude before it enters the distillation column.
What it does
Vaporizes most of the crude so it can be split by boiling point in the column. Similar heaters feed the vacuum unit, the coker and other conversion units.
Basics
| Crude outlet | About 345 to 370 °C (650 to 700 °F) |
| Heat source | Fuel gas burners |
| Watch | Coking inside the tubes, leaks |
Common failures
- A tube leak or vapour release at the heater, which can start a fire
Troubleshooting
- Symptom
- Outlet temperature or flow per pass hard to hold
- Likely cause
- Coke building inside the tubes
- What to check
- Plan a decoke, by steam and air or mechanical methods