Simultaneous Consideration of Flow and Thermal Effects of Fouling in Crude Oil Preheat Trains

Given models linking flow resistance and fouling resistance, it becomes possible to simulate the effects of fouling on the hydraulic performance of a refinery preheat train. Such a simulation has been used here to identify when plant throughput will be limited by pressure drop; how throughput can be improved through the cleaning of individual exchangers and groups of exchangers; and how much production can be maintained when individual exchangers are taken off-line. Determination of better operating strategy requires a simulation of both hydraulic and thermal performance. In this article we implement a pragmatic linked model and consider the results from a set of simulations.