Case History
Heat exchangers decontaminated after being forced offline by a hurricane reducing mechanical outage time by 75% utilizing FQE® Solvent-H
Results Achieved
Completed in 3-hours reducing
mechanical outage time by 75%
Saved thousands of dollars in
cleaning heavy asphaltenic deposits
Heat exchangers successfully
decontaminated and returned to
design capacity
Chemicals Utilized
Award-winning asphaltene dispersant and anti-foulant
Left: Post cleaning (vapor phase) Tube Side Service: flash crude.
Right: Post cleaning (vapor phase) Shell Side Service: Vacuum Tower Bottom/Resid
August 2017 was witness to one of the largest hurricanes to make landfall in the United States in more than a decade.
One of the prevalent oil refineries in the Gulf Coast undertook a controlled shutdown amongst fears of flooding and to minimize operations to essential personnel only.
Once weather related fears were abated, the facility was required to bring equipment back online as quickly as possible. FQE Solvent-H was used on two heat exchangers; both running flash crude and vacuum resid. The pre-heat temperature prior to injection was 240°F – 300°F (116°C – 149°C). The heat exchanger tubes were vapor phased for 30-40 minutes, and the shell side was done in 35-45 minutes.
The project was deemed completed within two to three hours. Due to the success of the decontamination process, the tubes could be extracted easily. Post circulation hydro-blasting was also rendered unnecessary as the FQE Solvent-H circulation removed all heavy deposits.
Quote from the operations staff:
“This is the cleanest we have ever seen these exchangers.”
