REPORT

ON

STUDY OF REFORMER FURNACE

AND IT’S OPTIMIZATION

By

Mr. YASHPAL TOMAR

SARDAR VALLABHBHAI

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

SURAT (GUJARAT)

Guided by:

Mr. LOLUR RAGHVENDRA PRASAD

Area manager (NHT/CCR/HMU)

Essar oil ltd.

Jamnagar (Gujarat)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
 To say that industrial training at Essar oil, Vadinar was a wonderful experience and
would be an understatement. It has been nothing short of an experience that was
intellectually fulfilling, mentally satisfying and professionally enriching. So it is
inevitable that I should differentially acknowledge all those individuals who have
made it so.

My project guide, Mr. Lolur Raghvendra Prasad, has been generous with his
advice and counsel whenever I have approached him in any dilemma. I am grateful to
his taking out time for me despite his tight schedule to prod me in right direction.

I must acknowledge the considerable contributions from Mr. Rajnesh Yadav Mr.
Shashikant Rajan who helped me academically as well as by motivating throughout
my training period.

In the end I would like to thank Miss Pelsida D’souza for providing me with this
golden opportunity to gain practical knowledge of what I have studied in college.

Thankyou
Company profile:
About ESSAR OIL ltd.
The Essar Oil Ltd grass roots refinery in Gujarat, India (started in 1996) was completed and
commissioned in 2006 (commissioned in third quarter). The refinery project was delayed
several times due to environmental concerns and financial problems, including initial cost
over runs and a shortfall in equity contributions.

Now the refinery is complete it is expected to produce between 10.5 and 12 million
tonnes of processed products a year (mmtpa). The refinery employs over 1,000 personnel
(the construction process required between 3,000 and 4,000).

The refinery is now the second largest in India after the Reliance Jamnagar refinery on an
adjacent site which can produce over 27mmtpa.

Future plans
The refinery will be able to produce 5.5mmtpa of diesel and 2.2mmtpa of gasoline. Essar
Oil is still following an aggressive plan to open over 2,500 retail outlets for their fuels and
oil products across India.

Essar mission
“ To create enduring value for customers and stakeholders in core manufacturing and
service business , through world-class operating standards state of the art technology
and the positive attitude of our people.

Introduction:
There are various units for the production of petroleum products

The various units are :

1. CDU – CRUDE DISTILLATION UNIT

2. VDU – VACUUM DISTILLATION UNIT

3. FCCU – FLID CRACKING UNIT

4. VBU – VISBREAKER UNIT

5. NHT – NAPHTHA HYDROTREATER UNIT

6. CCR – CONTINUOUS CATALYTIC REFORMER

7. DHDS – DIESEL HYDRO DESULFURISATION

 8. SRU – SULFUR RECOVERY UNIT

9. PIT – PROCESS INTERMEDIATE TANK

10. COT – CRUDE OIL TANK

This is department under
Refinery typical block diagram: which I had undergone my
training.

Configuration:
Crude mixes:

The following crude mixers where consider for the configuration studies to ensure
sufficient flexibility in the refinery operation:

1. 70% wt Arabian light / 30% wt Arabian heavy

2. 50% wt Arabian light / 50% wt Arabian

3. 100% wt Bombay high

4. 50 % wt Gulfaks / 50 % wt Oseberg

The refinery configuration is given below

1. CDU producing off-gas, overhead naphtha, heavy naphtha, light naphtha,
light and heavy kerosene, light and heavy gas oil for diesel product blending and
atmospheric residue.

2. VDU processing the atmospheric residue from CDU, producing vaccum

distillate for diesel product + blending, Light Vacuum Gas Oil ( LVGO ), Heavy Vacuum Gas
Oil (HVGO) , Heavy Heavy Vacuum Gas Oil and Vacuum Residue.

3. VBU, which thermally cracks thee vacuum residue. The VDU produces heavy
gasoline, gas oil and atmospheric residue. Atmospheric residue is sent to the vacuum
flasher producing visbreaker vacuum gas oil and vacuum flashed residue. Flashed vacuum
residue, depending on the feed stock, is used to produce power plant feed, plant fuel oil
and MV2 Fuel Oil.

4. HCU processing HVGO and a part of the LVGO from VDU and the gas oil from
VBU. The HCU produces LPG, light naphtha for direct gasoline blending, heavy naphtha,
high quality middle distillates for kerosene and diesel blending and a bottoms product.

5. FCC processing the bulk of the HHVGO and LVGO from VDU, HCU bottoms
product and part of the bottom product residue from VDU. The FCC unit produces LPG,
gasoline, light cycle oil for diesel product blending and fuel oil blending.

6. NHT, processing CDU overhead naphtha, VBU gasoline, HCU heavy naphtha
and part of the FCC gasoline. The NHT product is split into light naphtha and heavy
naphtha.

7. CCR, processing hydrotreated heavy naphtha from NHT. The CCR produces
high octane reformate for gasoline blending.

8. HMU, processing light naptha and / or saturated LPG producing high purity
hydrogen for HCU.

9. KMU to treat heavy naphtha, light and heavy kerosene from CDU for aviation
turbine fuel, kerosene and diesel product.

10. The following is the summary of the core process unit capacities :
UNIT MMTPA

CDU 10.50

VDU 5.05 POWER

GENERATION:
NHT 1.36
THERE ARE MAINLY
CRU 0.90 TWO SOURCES OF
POWER:
HCU 2.20

FCCU 1.69

VBU 1.64

HMU 0.03
 1. From Gujarat board : 25 MW , 220 KV

2. From its own power plant : 78 MW , 11 KV

CONTINUOUS CATALYTIC REFORMING:

OBJECTIVE OF THE CCR UNIT:
“Octanizing” is IFP’s registered reforming process using Continuous Catalyst regeneration.
The purpose of the Octanizing process is to produce high octane number reformate for production of
gasoline and hydrogen rich gas.
Octanizing feed is generally straight run naphtha mixed with cracked naphtha.

BASIS OF DESIGN:

The Reformer unit design capacity = 900 000 MTPA

On stream time per year = 8000 hr. /year

A turn down ratio = 50%

The design of the Regeneration loop = 57 kg/hr of coke burnt

In normal operation, expected coke formation = 32 kg/hr

(Catalyst flow rate is around 820 kg/hr)

FEED & PRODUCT SPECIFICATION:

Hydro treated Heavy Naphtha (from Splitter bottom):
The four major catalytic reforming reactions are :-

1: The dehydrogenation of naphthenes to convert them into aromatics as exemplified in the

conversion methylcyclohexane (a naphthene) to toluene (an aromatic), as shown below:

2: The isomerization of normal paraffins to isoparaffins as exemplified in the conversion of

normal octane to 2,5-Dimethylhexane (an isoparaffin), as shown below:

3: The dehydrogenation and aromatization of paraffins to aromatics (commonly called

dehydrocyclization) as exemplified in the conversion of normal heptane to toluene, as shown
below:

4: The hydrocracking of paraffins into smaller molecules as exemplified by the cracking of

normal heptane into isopentane and ethane, as shown below:
CCR FLOW DIAGRAM :

Process of continuous catalytic reforming:

1. Heavy naphtha coming from the NHT is only applicable to reforming light naphtha is not
because the molecules will not participate in the above reactions.

2. Heavy naphtha coming at 120 C is sent to PACKINOK EXCHANGER where hydrogen and
heavy naphtha mixed are passed through a number of plates exchanging heat through product of
reforming alternatively.

3. Temperature of hydrogen + HN rises to about 410 C passed to feed heater ( 30F001) where it is
heated to about 520 C and then to reactor.

4. Reactor (30R001) is moving bed catalytic reactor in which catalyst is falling from top under the
effect of gravity and come in contact with the preheated feed.

5. then the temperature falls to approx. 360 C. again it is passed to second heater and the
temperature is increased to about 520 C and then to reactor. Four heater and four reactor works
simultaneously in the same manner.
6. Now the catalyst’s activity reduces during the reactions hence catalyst is continuously sent to
regenerator. In the figure above it is shown.

7. after the reactor the hydrogen is produced in large amount, the product
hydrogen+reformate+C1+C2+C3+C4+HCl+LPG is passed to packinok exchanger where the heat
transfer was going on.

8. Then the product at 100 C is passed to finfan air cooler ( 30EA-001) cooled to about 60 C and
then send to cooling water cooler ( 30 E-002 A/B).

9. Then the cooled product is sent to separator where hydrogen and the reformate separated and
then the hydrogen from the top is send to centrifugal compressor (30 K-001). Pressure is increased from
2.5 Kg/cm2 to 5.5 Kg/cm2. One stream is sent to feed to maintain hydrogen HN ratio and another is sent
to a series of reciprocating compressors ( 30 K002A/B/S) pressure is increased to about 25 Kg/cm2.

10. Reformate is pressurized through centrifugal pump and mixed with pressurized hydrogen. Then
the liquid part is separated from hydrogen.

11. Hydrogen is sent to chloride adsorber ( 30R – 005 A/B ) from HCl is separated and the hydrogen
is sent to DHDS, NHT.

CCR FURNACE
UNIT CAPACITY – 0.9 MMTPA
CCR 30F001* 30F002 30F003 30F004 30F005

FURNACE Feed Feed Feed Feed Stabilizer

Reboiler

HEAT 13.12 12.96 9.66 8.42 5.96

DUTY Gcal/hr Gcal/hr Gcal/hr Gcal/hr Gcal/hr

Inlet 400 452 440 435 236

Temp.
Outlet 520 520 520 520 247

Temp.

Number of8 8 8 8 4

burner

Feed 183 183 183 183 --

Rate m3/hr m3/hr m3/hr m3/hr

Burner Single Double Double Single Single

type FG FG+FO FG+FO FG FG

• In 30F001, 30 resembles the unit number and F resembles the furnace and 001
resembles that it is first heater.

• Since the heat of ccr furnace is very HIGH that’s why optimization of furnace is
required so even a small increase in efficiency can save a lot of money.

Fired furnace:
An industrial furnace or direct fired heater, is an equipment used to provide heat
for a process or can serve as reactor which provides heats of reaction.

General diagram of fired heater:

Radiant section :
The radiant section is where the tubes receive almost all its heat by radiation from the flame.

Convection section:
The convection section is located above the radiant section where it is cooled to recover additional heat.

Burner :
The burner in the vertical, cylindrical furnace as above, is located in the floor and fires upward.
They introduce fuel and air in the correct proportions, mix the fuel gas and air, provide a source of
ignition, and stabilize the flame. Good combustion requires three steps:

1. Fuel and air in correct quantities

2. Thorough mixing of fuel and air

3. Sustained ignition of the mixture

Stack:
1. The flue gas stack is a cylindrical structure at the top of all the heat transfer chambers.

2. The stack damper contained within works like a butterfly valve and regulates draft (pressure
difference between air intake and air exit) in the furnace, which is what pulls the flue gas through the
convection section.

3. The stack damper also regulates the heat lost through the stack.

STACK

Types of furnace:
Based on draft:
Comparison between flue gas pressure inside the furnace and outside pressure.
Natural Draft
This is the most common type of draft with the air drawn into the furnace by means of the draft created
by the stack. The taller the stack, the greater the draft available.

Forced Draft
In this type of system, the air is supplied by means of a centrifugal fan commonly known as forced draft
(FD) fan. It provides for high air velocity, better air fuel mixing, and smaller burners. The stack is still
required to create a negative draft inside the furnace.

Induced Draft
When the height of the stack is inadequate to meet the draft requirements, an induced draft (ID) fan is
provided to draw the flue gases out of the heater. Negative pressure inside the furnace ensures air supply
to the burners from the atmosphere.

Balanced Draft
When both forced draft and induced draft fans are used with the heater, it is known as a balanced draft
system. Most air preheating installation is balance draft.

Based on mounting:
Wall mounted

Floor mounted

Roof mounted

Based on burner:
Single fired burner : Only one fuel either gas or liquid isused.

Double fired burner : Both fuels are used simultaneoulsly.

In ccr double fired is used.

 Dual fired

Based on construction:

First one
is used
in
continuo
us

Typical problems observed in fired heaters include:

1. High excess air operation

2. Fouled convection sections

3. High stack temperature

4. Over-firing

5. Bad flames/flame impingement

Examples of some of the problems are:

1. Operating heat duty—90 MM Btu/hr (Designed for 50 MMBtu/hr)

2. Excess air—40% (Designed for 15%)

3. Stack flue gas temperature—700°F (Designed for 530°F)

4. Radiant tube metal temperature—830°F (Designed for 450°F)

5. Burner flame lengths—20–25 ft. (Designed for 12 ft.)

Fired Heater Controls Process Side

Fluid being heated inside the tubes needs to be controlled for efficient heat transfer and to minimize
fouling and coking of the tubes.

Flow distribution at inlet is very important. All fluid passes should have an equal amount of fluid
passing through the tubes. In most of the liquid or fouling services, it is important to have an individual
pass flow controller to avoid unbalancing of the flow due to coking or localized overheating. Scheme is
shown below :
Fluid flowing in the tubes should have an adequate pressure drop in the fired heater to ensure good
distribution of the fluid in a multiple-pass heater.

If the pressure drop across the heater is low, then there is a chance for flow imbalance and the pass may
run dry.

Flow regime and coil velocities at the outlet in vaporizing services needs to be watched. If the tube
experiences slug flow or very high velocities, then there could be a problem and the tubes will start to
vibrate or they can have erosion failure.

Firing Controls:
Three major parameters that need to be controlled and monitored are:

1. Fuel gas/Fuel oil pressure

2. Excess air and

3. Draft in the furnace

Fuel Pressure
One of the simplest schemes for the control of fuel pressure is shown in above figure. The feed output
temperature controller provides the set point for the burner fuel pressure controller.

Sometimes the feed outlet temperature is directly connected to the fuel control valve.

If the heater is fired with more than one fuel, then one of the fuels is base loaded and set at a constant
firing rate while the second fuel under control takes load fluctuations.

Excess Air Control :

Excess air control essentially involves answering three basic questions:

1. How much excess air is provided?

2. How much excess air should be provided?

3. How efficient is the burning equipment?

Flue gas analysis provides the answer to the first question.

The oxygen concentration in the flue gas provides an indication of the excess air supplied to the
combustion process. Above graph shows the relationship between oxygen content and the excess air for
a typical fuel gas.

Optimum excess air is the minimum excess air because it minimizes the heat loss to the flue gases,
minimizes the cooling effect on the flame, and improves the heat transfer.

With less than the minimum excess air, the unburned fuel will start appearing in the flue gas due to
insufficient air.

Draft control scheme:

Balanced
draft

Control

Control schemes have been installed in the balanced draft systems to control the excess air and draft
more accurately. Some of these schemes involve control of the air/fuel ratio. Several problems have
been experienced in measuring the fuel and air flow rate accurately.
In the case of the fuel, the fuel gas quality (composition) keeps on changing in the refinery. For liquid
fuels, the fuel viscosity is so high and temperature dependent that a reliable flow measurement over a
period of time is very difficult to obtain.

Combustion air flow rate is also difficult to measure reliably, as straight run-lengths for the installation
of instruments are not available except when a venturimeter is installed in the suction stack of the FD
fan.

A control scheme is shown above

Operating conditions of reformer furnace:

Fuel gas inlet temperature in furnace – 312 k

Fuel gas inlet pressure – 1atm

Stack temperature – 510k

% O2 in flue gas – 4.42%

Fuel gas composition:

 Components % volume
Hydrogen 29.95%
Hydrogen sulfide Nill
Oxygen 0.40%
Nitrogen 9.61%
Methane 24.78%
Ethane 16.44%
Propane 3.54%
Iso-butane 0.87%
Propene 2.36%
n-Butane 0.55%
Iso butane 0.05%
n-pentane 0.08%
Iso pentane 0.16%
Hexane 0.18%

Calculation of efficiency :
Efficiency = Heat absorbed * 100

Heat supplied

= ( 1 - Heat taken by flue gases from stack ) * 100

Heat given by fuel gases

BASIS – 100 ft3/hr of fuel gas is passed through furnace.

Calculation of heat given by fuel gases:

Sample calculation:
For hydrogen = 29.95% = 29.95 ft3/hr

Heat of combustion of hydrogen = 325 Btu/ft3

Heat given by combustion of hydrogen = 29.95 * 325 = 9616.7 Btu/hr

Calculation:

Components Volume flow rate Heat of combustion @ Heat given / Btu

ft3/hr Btu/ft3
Hydrogen 29.95 325 9616.75
Hydrogen sulfide Nill - -
Methane 24.78 1013 25102.14
Ethane 16.44 1792 29460.48
Propane 3.54 2590 9168.6
Propene 2.36 2336 5512.96
Iso butane 0.87 3363 2925.81
n-butane 0.55 3370 1853.5
Iso butane 0.05 3068 153.4
n-pentane 0.08 4016 321.28
Iso pentane 0.16 4008 641.28
Hexane 0.18 4762 857.16
Oxygen 0.40 - -
Nitrogen 9.61 - -
Total 85613.36

Net heat of combustion is 85613.36 Btu/hr. which is equal to = 85613.36 * 1.055 KJ/hr

=90322.0948 KJ/hr

@ Datas taken from Perry’s handbook of chemical engineering

Calculation of heat losses taken away by flue gases

from stack :
Basis : 20% excess air is passed

Assumption :

1. complete combustion hence CO is not there in flue gas.

2. SOx and NOx are neglection in flue gases.

Flue products:
Components of Volumetric flow CO2 H2O N2
Fuel gas rate ft3/hr Ft3/hr Ft/hr Ft3/hr
Hydrogen 29.95 - 29.95 56.306
Methane 24.78 24.78 49.56 186.5934
Ethane 16.44 32.88 50.64 216.68
Propane 3.54 10.62 14.16 66.6228
Propene 2.36 7.08 9.44 39.9784
Iso butane 0.87 3.48 4.35 21.254
n-butane 0.55 2.2 2.75 13.4585
Iso butane 0.05 0.2 0.2 1.1295
n-pentane 0.08 0.4 0.24 2.4088
Iso pentane 0.16 0.8 0.96 4.8176
Hexane 0.18 1.08 1.26 6.4368
Total 83.52 164.43 615.6909

Air required for combustion = 615.6909/0.7809 = 788.435 ft3/hr

Total CO2 in flue gas after combustion = CO2 in air + CO2 coming from combustion

= 0.03 * 788.435 + 83.52

= 107.173 ft3/hr

Total O2 in flue gas = 0.21 * 157.687 = 33.1128 ft3/hr

Total N2 coming in flue gas = 615.6909 + 0.79 * 157.687 (coming from excess air ) = 750.25 ft3/hr

Calculation of heat car ried by flue gas when exit from stack:
Stack outlet temperature – 512 k

Stack outlet pressure – 1 atm

Sample calculation :

Total nitrogen in flue gas – 750.25 ft3/hr

Density of nitrogen at 512 k - .042036 lb/ft3

Molar flow rate from stack – 2.476 kmol/hr

Heat taken = n R 300∫512 (A+BT+CT2+DT-2) dT

= n R{ 210A + 85050 B + C 35217000+ 0.0013725 D)

Calculation :

Components Flow Density N A B C D Q

of flue gas rate Lb/ft3 Kmol 103 106 10-5 KJ/hr
ft3/hr
Nitrogen 750.25 0.042036 2.476 3.280 0.593 - 0.04 15342.74

Carbon 107.173 0.066 0.3536 5.457 1.045 - - 3163.4

dioxide 1.157

Water 164.43 0.0269 0.5406 3.470 1.450 - 0.121 3904.00

Oxygen 33.1128 0.0478 0.1088 3.639 0.506 - -0.227 702

Total 23112.192

EFFICIENCY = (1 – HEAT LOST IN FLUE GASES / HEAT GIVEN BY FUEL GASES)

= (1- 23112.192/90322.09) * 100

 = 74.41%

OPTIMIZATION OF FURNACE :
Comparison of %excess air with efficiency :

Stack temperature : 512 k

Fuel gas passed : 100 ft3/hr

% Excess air % Efficiency

10 76.430
15 75.535
20 74.410
25 73.724
30 72.837

1. According to this table it can be easily seen that keeping the feed rate of fuel gas on
decreasing the excess air there is an increase in efficiency.

%efficiencyvs. %excessair
77
76
75
74
73
72
71
0 10 20 30 40

2. This graph is showing that approximately linearly %efficiency is decreasing with

increase in excess air.

3. On the contrary if we are operating furnace at the same efficiency then even 1%
reduction in excess air will reduce the FUEL GAS consumption for providing the same amount
of heat.
 4. Now excess air can’t be reduced to a level which can lead to incomplete combustion of
fuel gas.

5. 10-15 % excess air can be assumed the optimized level at which heater can be operated
considering all the factors.

Analysis:

IN THE PICTURE GIVEN ABOVE THE FURNACE USED TO HEAT

THE NAPTHA COMING FROM REACTOR IS SHOWN

There are four feed furnaces operating simultaneously having common

convection section and stack and different radiant section.

1. Considering one heater’s radiant section:

Datas taken
Heat in = 15 Gcal/hr
from manual
 Heat absorbed in radiant section = 9.24 Gcal/hr

Efficiency of radiant section = ( 9.24/15.64) * 100 = 59.079 %

2. Since one radiant section is operating at such low efficiency, hence to recover the heat lost WHB
is there in convection section containing economizer and steam generator and naptha is also heated.

3. Efficiency 75% which is coming in the above calculation is based on the heat absorbed in
radiant section + waste heat boiler compete.

CONCLUSION:
FROM THE ABOVE CALCULATIONS AND THEORY IT IS CONCLUDED THAT IT WILL
BE SAFE AND ECONOMICAL TO OPERATE THE REFORMER FURNACE BETWEEN 13
TO 17 % EXCESS AIR.
AS LESS EXCESS AIR CAN RESULT IN INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION WHICH WILL
CAUSE WASTAGE OF FUEL, ALSO HAZARDOUS TO ENVIRONMENT AND MORE
EXCESS AIR WILL LEAD TO EXTRA HEAT LOSS, MORE AMOUNT OF FUEL HAD TO
BE BURNT TO GET THE SAME EFFICIENCY.