Furnaces            Furnaces Image Gallery

Fired furnaces represent one of the most important pieces of capital equipment in any refinery.  Almost all units have at least one furnace from the crude to the coker.  The effectiveness and profitability of any unit and indeed the overall refinery depend on the operational efficiency of these furnaces.  Thermocouples are an accurate method of temperature measurement but are very limited in the scope of information they provide.  It is not uncommon to find hot spots on tubes while a thermocouple in close proximity is in a problem free area.  A predictive / preventive maintenance program can locate minor problems in furnace operations allowing them to be addressed and corrected before major problems or potential failure can occur.  We offer the following services in this area:

• Rapid identification of furnace problems
• Accurate measurement of tube metal temperatures
• Identify coking and scale
• Decrease downtime and avoid critical tube metal temperatures in steam/air decoke procedures
• Identify burner problems and hot zones in furnace

Steam / Air Decoke Monitor and Control

The critical path during a unit turnaround in a hydrocarbon unit usually involves decoking the furnace.  During the normal process run, coke builds up on the internal walls of the furnace tubes requiring removal to return the heater to optimum performance.  Steam/air decoking and pigging are the most common methods used today.  Although pigging has gained popularity over the past few years steam/air decoking still remains the most common method for decoking. 

Infrared Scanning Services, Inc. has extensive experience in monitoring and control of steam/air decoking.  We can accurately identify the burn front and control the burn temperature by regulating the steam to air ratio allowing the furnace to burn out in the shortest possible time while staying below critical tube metal temperatures.  With unit downtime costs of $30,000 per hour or more, ISSI can save you thousands on every decoke.