Design and operate a fouling monitoring device to study fouling at twisted tube

Abstract

A fouling system device was designed and operated to simulate the twisted tube heat exchanger, where the cooling fluid circulates on the tube side. An electrical heating element was mechanically bounded to the exterior side of the tube, and simulated heat application by shell side fluid or gas. A fouling monitoring device identified the fouling deposition rate as a function of fluid velocity (0.5, 1, 1.5 & 2 m/s) and heat input (200, 400, 600 & 800 W) by using raw water in twisted tube to simulate heat exchanger. Also, in this work, existing twisted tube heat exchanger was installed on naphtha hydrotreating unit. The replacement of all the existing tube bundles of feed-effluent exchanger in the naphtha hydotreater unit with twisted tube bundles increased the surface area which improved the unit reliability and safety. This new technology increased the production throughput and further saving of about $10,000 per day ($3.66 million per year). In addition, pressure drop was compared between twisted and plain tube. Water analysis was conducted at the inlet and outlet of the test tube to study the composition of water.