A new dynamic model of crude oil fouling deposits and its application to the simulation of fouling‐cleaning cycles

Díaz-Bejarano, Emilio; Coletti, Francesco; Macchietto, Sandro

doi:10.1002/aic.15036

Cited by 32 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In the approaches above, crude oil fouling is treated as a lumped resistance, neglecting spatial, compositional and flow‐restriction effects. These features are essential to adequately capture both thermal and hydraulic impact of fouling on heat exchanger performance . The hydraulic effect is ignored in most fouling analysis work, but it is often the limiting one due to which heat exchangers are dismantled for cleaning …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Advances in the modeling of crude oil fouling deposits and their thermal and hydraulic impact are reviewed in Ref. . Along those lines, Coletti and Macchietto proposed the use of measured inlet temperatures and flow rates as inputs to a dynamic , distributed thermo‐hydraulic heat exchanger model with a distributed deposition rate (adapted threshold model), and used the measured outlet temperatures to estimate the fouling parameters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these hydraulic models have not been validated with respect to pressure drop predictions or used to assist in parameter estimation. Nonetheless, the importance of pressure drop measurements for individual heat exchangers has been highlighted in multiple theoretical studies as a way to help infer the impact of the deposit's thermal‐conductivity, to establish partial cleaning (PC) efficiency, as a key factor to assess flow (mal) distribution in networks and support throughput maintenance decisions, and as important factor to take in consideration in heat exchanger design and network synthesis …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recent work, Diaz‐Bejarano et al presented a new dynamic model for the description of crude oil fouling deposits that overcomes many of the above limitations. It has the ability to capture the detailed time‐conditions history at each point in the deposit layer by including multicomponent species, multiple reactions and deposition/removal fluxes at a moving oil/deposit boundary.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Thermo‐hydraulic analysis of refinery heat exchangers undergoing fouling

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A complete, systematic approach is presented for the analysis and characterization of fouling and cleaning in refinery heat exchangers. Bringing together advanced thermo‐hydraulic dynamic models, some new formulations, and a method for dynamic analysis of plant data, it allows: extracting significant information from the data; evaluating the fouling state of the units based on thermal measurements and pressure drops, if available; identifying the range of deposit conductivity leading to realistic pressure drops, if pressure measurements are unavailable; estimating key fouling and ageing parameters; estimating the effectiveness of cleaning and surface conditions after a clean; and predicting thermal and hydraulic performance with good accuracy for other periods/exchangers operating in similar conditions. An industrial case study demonstrates the performance prediction in seamless simulations that include partial and total cleanings for over 1000 days operation. The risks of using thermal effects alone and the significant advantages of including pressure drop measurements are highlighted. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 984–1001, 2017

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Thermo‐hydraulic analysis of refinery heat exchangers undergoing fouling

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These two aspects convey considerable additional useful information compared to those derived from traditional fouling resistance-based analyses (see reviews in refs. 24,26,27 ) which…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic and Inorganic Fouling in Heat Exchangers: Industrial Case Study Analysis of Fouling Rate

Díaz-Bejarano

Behranvand

Coletti

et al. 2018

Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fouling rates in refinery heat exchangers with mixed organic/inorganic deposits (frequent in practice) are estimated using a comprehensive model-based thermo-hydraulic methodology combining data-driven measurements analysis with advanced models. An industrial case study for a heat exchanger over 4-years demonstrates the method. Following an analysis of the fouling state, the dynamic analysis here estimates organic and inorganic fouling rates using constant or time-varying proportionality ratios. Base-line organics deposition rate is described by a typical correlation, inorganics deposition as a perturbation with constant or time-varying proportionality ratios.Deposition rate parameters are estimated from measured pressure drops and validated against temperatures. Results show that: the deposition rate ratio varied substantially over time, revealing acute inorganic deposition periods; accounting for inorganics explains well both thermal and hydraulic performances; the time-varying ratio provided a good fit of the data; this is a highly promising new method for predictive monitoring, detection and diagnosis of fouling. 10 ). With respect to the fouling rate, most past works focused on development and fitting of semiempirical models for chemical reaction fouling that relate dRf/dt to process conditions (e.g. 6,9,[11][12][13][14][15][16] ).Extensive reviews on the subject can be found in the literature 10,[17][18][19] . This mechanism, traditionally considered to be dominant in crude oil fouling, assumes the build-up of organic deposits over long periods of time (months, years). The thermal conductivity of such deposit has therefore been assumed to be within the range recommended for organic hydrocarbon deposits (e.g. 20,21 ), based on which, in a few modelling studies investigating the hydraulic impact of crude oil fouling (e.g. 14,22,23 ), the Rf was used to estimate the deposit thickness and its impact on the pressure drop. As discussed later in this section, ref. 24 highlighted how this approach may be not just inaccurate in predicting both fouling state and pressure drops, but also misleading (see also discussions in refs. 24-26 ).A more comprehensive method for fouling analysis based on plant data was presented by Diaz-Bejarano et al. 26 which includes two main stages: i) analysis of fouling state; ii) analysis of fouling rate. The analysis is based on applying advanced deterministic models of shell-and-tube heat exchangers undergoing fouling in combination with thermo-hydraulic measurements. The application presented is to crude oil refining, however the method is generally applicable to fouling in heat exchangers. presented an application of stage i), analysis of fouling state, to a comprehensive industrial case study involving a pre-flash, post-desalter (PDPF) heat exchanger, over a four year period, showing that extent, characteristics and transformations of fouling deposit over time could be well characterised. The combined use of temperature, flowrate and tube-side pressure drop measurements, together wi...

show abstract

Incorporating Deposit Ageing into Visualisation of Crude Oil Preheat Train Fouling

Ishiyama¹,

Pugh²,

Wilson

2020

Process Integr Optim Sustain

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fouling is an acute problem in crude oil preheat train heat exchangers as it affects the thermal and hydraulic performance of individual units as well as the network. Ageing of fouling deposits complicates these interactions and effective tools for visualising these effects are needed. The modified temperature field plot construction, devised by Graham Polley and coworkers in 2002, allows the impact of fouling on pressure drop and heat duty across individual units and the preheat train to be presented in a systematic way. The simple deposit ageing model of Ishiyama et al. (AIChEJ 56:531-545, 2010a) was incorporated into the analysis of a simple preheat train based on that presented by Panchal and Huang-Fu (Heat Transfer Eng 21:3-9, 2000) to calculate the impact of ageing on fouling dynamics and network performance. The modified temperature field plot is shown to be effective in communicating the impact of fouling and ageing, allowing a designer or operator to be able to interpret correctly what might otherwise be conflicting trends or unexpected behaviour. Keywords Ageing. Fouling. Network. Pressure drop Highlights • Ageing can switch the main impact of fouling from duty loss to pressure drop. • The modified temperature field plot is an effective way of presenting the thermal and hydraulic performance of the network. • The plot allows the designer or operator to understand fouling impacts and assess mitigation options.

show abstract

A new dynamic model of crude oil fouling deposits and its application to the simulation of fouling‐cleaning cycles

Cited by 32 publications

References 33 publications

Thermo‐hydraulic analysis of refinery heat exchangers undergoing fouling

Thermo‐hydraulic analysis of refinery heat exchangers undergoing fouling

Organic and Inorganic Fouling in Heat Exchangers: Industrial Case Study Analysis of Fouling Rate

Incorporating Deposit Ageing into Visualisation of Crude Oil Preheat Train Fouling

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About