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Tim Hill, David Firth, George

Simmonds, David Keen AND Charles


Thomas, Quest Reliability, USA,
discuss risk based management
of refinery fired heaters.

risk
Managing the

he reliable operation of fired heaters is


refinery leadership. Whereas in the 1950s and
SAFETY
critical to the financial performance of any
1960s refinery leadership was satisfied with a
petroleum refinery. The furnace tubes
programme that repaired equipment as quickly
operate under extreme conditions and as
as possible, todays leaders demand more
a result are often life limited by creep,
of its managers. With refinery incentives
corrosion or oxidation. Quest Reliabilitys
running at all time highs, demands for
risk based management programme
safety, environmental controls, product
ENVIRONMENTAL
identifies and captures the key
quality and more cost effective
issues that impact reliability
unit reliability and performance
and performance, both online
continue to grow. Managers will
and offline. The issues are
have to meet and exceed the
presented in a meaningful
challenges from these high
manner empowering the
expectations.
refinerys risk based
decision making
What is reliability?
process. Ultimately,
Reliability is defined
the refinery benefits
as the probability
from this instant
that the asset
knowledge
will perform
through
its intended
improved
function under
reliability and
specified
performance of
conditions
its fired heater assets, resulting in increased profitability.
for a certain period of time. Stated simply, the fired heater
Managing the lifecycle value of key assets in a
provides the heat input to the process for upgrading the
petroleum refinery has changed with the expectations of
barrel oil to higher value products with each key component

Efficiency

YIELD

Availabilty

Figure 4. Signal Reliability


Management-Heater
software documents the
assessment evaluation.

heater can do) exceeds or is equal to the


performance.
This is a maintainable situation, however,
if the reverse situation occurs (performance
Figure 2. Tube failure can occur when
demand exceeds inherent reliability of the
performance demand exceeds reliability.
individual components) asset failure is sure to
happen at some random future point in time.
Regardless of what is done to maintain the
(tubes, burners, refractory, steel shell,
asset, eventually demanding more from the
etc.) contributing to the success or
fired heater than it is capable of delivering will
failure of this intended function.
result in its failure. In addition to the failure
Figure 3. Infrared thermography identifies
Essentially, the individual reliability
occurring at some random time, these failures
potential reliability failures due to internal tube
of these components defines what
are
often catastrophic.
fouling.
a fired heater can do. For each of
For example, internal fouling of process
these components, the operating conditions differ, as well as
fired heater tubes leads to higher tube metal temperatures,
the ability to meet the specified conditions for a period of time.
eventually affecting the reliability (what the heater can do) of
The difficult task for the asset manager is to ensure that the
the heater. Failure to detect this reduction in reliability could
sum of these differences meets the overall reliability goals for
lead to the performance exceeding its inherent reliability. The
the fired heater.
first indication of this imbalance could be a catastrophic tube
failure (Figure 2).

Performance driven results

As difficult as achieving fired heater reliability may be, meeting


performance targets is even more challenging because of
the ever changing aspect of these targets. Performance is
a measure of the degree to which the fired heater is in an
operable condition at the start of the mission, when the mission
is called for at an unknown (random) time. Performance defines
what a fired heater needs to do. The difficult part of meeting
performance targets is that the mission is ever changing and
occurs at random frequencies.
The first task in managing risk is defining the desired level
of performance or the mission. Measures of performance are
shown in Figure 1.
These measures define what consumers want the fired
heater to do at any given time. For example, if the heater was
designed for a 30 000 bpd feed rate, the efficiency demand of
the charge heater must be able to process this charge capacity
or otherwise the mission has failed.
The fired heater managers main goal is to achieve a
balance between reliability and performance. The manager
can achieve the goal provided the reliability (what the fired

Reprinted from HydrocarbonEngineering

Risk based management


programme
Quest Reliabilitys Signal Reliability ManagementHeater risk based management programme provides a
process for the refinerys fired heater manager to achieve
the optimum balance between the fired heaters reliability
and its performance. The programme for process heaters
includes:
l An assessment of the operation and heater
performance with respect to safety, environmental,
yield, efficiency, availability and reliability limits.
l Thermographic inspection of the operation to assess
temperature variations, degree of coking, etc.
l Review of the historical records including analysis of
all inspection data.
l Level 1 (and in some cases Level 2 and 3) tube life
assessment to API 530, 573 and 579.
l Qualitative risk assessment of the fired heater process
and steam tubes and auxiliary components.

April2008

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Inspection summary

Figure 5. Illustrates FTIS ultrasonic test


results in a 3D high resolution colour graphic,
presented onsite.

In this assessment programme


Figure 6. FTIS
the performance data is fully
Intelligent Pig.
integrated with the reliability data
to provide the manager with
comprehensive risk assessment to
make critical run, repair or replace
decisions; and identify opportunities
to improve heater operation to meet
performance goals.

Heater performance monitoring


The first steps of the assessment define what is happening
inside the process heater while in operation. This involves
monitoring critical operating parameters which define the
reliability and performance of the heater, such as tube metal
temperature. Key monitoring tools utilised include infrared
thermography, flue gas conditions analyser, combustion
emissions, and isothermal and heat flux profiles (Figure 3).
Reliability limits for the key components are established and
the performance measurements are compared to these limits
to identify potential failures and operating risk.
The performance review includes assessment of
operating and maintenance practices that affect the long term
heater condition. These practices are compared with industry
best practices and recommendations are made to improve
practices, leading to higher level reliability and performance.
The results of the first two steps are provided in a written
report and documented in the Signal RM-Heater software
(Figure 4). A network of specialists who work within the
industry has supplied the technical content of Signal
RM-Heater software. Their areas of expertise include
reliability management, risk management, metallurgy,
materials science, structural integrity, inspection and
engineering.
Signal RM-Heater is a tool that brings all fired heater
information and analysis findings to the forefront; a single
repository of data that allows informed risk management
decisions to be made for the fired heater in a timely manner.

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After assessing the operating risk, the next step is to review the
inspection records. The records are reviewed for identification
of the major damage mechanisms affecting the long term
reliability of the fired heater. Past failures are critically reviewed
to identify root causes and assess potential risk for future
failures. The management of records and inspection practices
are evaluated for their effectiveness in detecting potential
failures.
In some cases a review of inspection records will identify
areas of missing data or high risk concerns that require further
investigation. In these cases offline advanced condition
assessment tools are employed to identify, map, and quantify
the rate of deterioration and the future impact of flaws present
in the material condition of the refinerys fired heater tubes.
Whether the primary concern has been bulging,
creep strain, isolated corrosion, or other material
defects in tube wall thickness, ovality, etc., an
optimum risk management programme must
start with inspection and detection of these
flaws during shutdown. The programme for
condition
assessment of fired heaters has been built
around the unique Quest TruTec inspection
tools: FTIS and LOTIS.
Reliable FTIS (intelligent pig technology)
is being used to provide quick/comprehensive
inspection to both convection and radiant
sections in fired heater coils. Both tubular data
formats along with 2D/3D high resolution colour graphics
of the test results are immediately produced onsite showing
tube wall thinning, bulging, swelling, and ovality (Figure 5).
The intelligent pig is comprised of multiple modules (Figure
6) and is propelled with water throughout the length of a
heater coil. The use of custom ultrasonic sensor technologies
combined with a powerful graphical data analysis package has
resulted in high resolution, digital, and quantitative inspection
data for the entire piping coil. Data is obtained in a matter of
minutes after being collected without removing return bends
or entering the furnace firebox. Todays designs are capable
of inspecting coils with nominal diameter dimensions of 4 - 8
in. Schedule 10 - 80. Designs for other sizes are currently in
development.
For heater coils with mule ear headers laser optic tube
inspection system (LOTIS) is applied to collect the inspection
data, as the FTIS intelligent pig cannot pass through these
header types. The header plug on each tube is removed
to allow insertion of the internal laser based tube testing
technique to obtain tube creep information as it relates to tube
damage as well as detection of internal corrosion.
The equipment utilised for this examination consisted of
the compact LOTIS Model-400M system in conjunction with
the appropriate laser mapping probe (Figure 7). This laser
based surface mapping system is based on the principle of
laser optical triangulation. The LOTIS probe projected a small
laser beam (typically 0.02 in. in diameter) onto the target
surface, providing precise radius measurements to 0.002 in. of
the inside surface of the tube at each sample point, which for
a typical 4 in. ID tube means creep strain is quantified to within
0.05%.

Reprinted from April2008

HydrocarbonEngineering

Figure 7. Laser optic tube inspection system (LOTIS Model 400M) is


used to inspect heater coils with mule ear headers.

Figure 8. LifeQuestHeater software.

Figure 9. Monte Carlo probablistic remaining life curve for heater coil.
Where applicable, the FTIS or LOTIS data collected
from almost 100% inspection coverage of the heater tubes
determines the condition of the asset at the time of inspection
with high certainty. This information can be used to make
immediate replacement decisions, as well as providing an
enormous data set for risk management analysis.

Specialised software
The performance and inspection data is evaluated using Quest
Reliabilitys LifeQuest-Heater specialised software. The
fitness-for-service assessment follows the practice guidelines
provided in Section 5 (Local Metal Loss) and Section 10
(Components Operating in the Creep Regime) of API 579. A
Level 2 analysis is completed on the process fired heater coil
broken down into 1 ft increments. The results of the analysis
are an immediate pass or fail deterministic remaining life (Figure
8) based on the normal operating conditions of the heater.

Reprinted from HydrocarbonEngineering

The life analysis is further refined by performing a Monte Carlo


probabilistic life calculation based on given statistical ranges for
key operating parameters (Figure 9).
The life analysis takes into account 100% of the FTIS
inspection data collected. The inspection data is downloaded
directly into the software allowing evaluation of the impact of
locally thin areas throughout the heater coil. This increased
analysis is something that previously could not be accomplished
because of the limitation on data collection. Now, with FTIS
inspection coverage available, the life analysis can be readily
completed for a more accurate remaining life prediction than
that obtained from Section 4 of API 579 (General Metal Loss).
Tube replacement recommendations are provided on1 ft
sections or return bends versus past recommendations on entire
coil replacements due to limitations on available data and data
uncertainties. Also, the probabilistic analysis allows evaluation
of all operating conditions and intervals when determining the
remaining life of each 1 ft section. Typically, the probabilistic
analysis is used to set the inspection interval required to minimise
the operating risk. This level of detail allows the refinery to manage
operating risk, better plan turnaround activities and reduce overall
maintenance cost.
Finally, in some cases a Level 3 fitness-for-service is
completed. This assessment is considered when the unique
operating conditions of the furnace lend uncertainty to the
tubes material condition, such as carburisation, that cannot
be detected through non-destructive testing (NDT) methods.
The remnant life of the fired heater tubes can be determined
by Omega method and Larson-Miller parameter calculations
provided in API 579. Stress rupture destructive testing is
performed with a tube sample from the process heater coil.
For example, the remnant life is described by the Omega
method equation F.131 in API RP579 as:

Where L is the remnant life in hours, is the Omega


parameter and is the current strain rate at the operating
conditions. The remaining life of the tube can be directly
determined by measuring the current strain rate and the
Omega parameter through stress rupture testing (Figure 10).
For future operation, a sensitivity analysis of the effect of
temperature and corrosion rate on remnant life is undertaken
(Figure 11).

Risk based inspection and


assessment
After reviewing the performance and condition of the fired
heater the risk assessment can be performed. The assessment
is primarily based on API 581 providing the refinery with a more
detailed knowledge of how a component is likely to fail and
what shortfalls currently exist that can lead to an unexpected
onstream failure event.
Risk is conventionally described as shown below, likelihood
of failure (LoF) and consequences of failure (CoF):
Risk = LoF x CoF
The risk assessment method in Signal RM-Heater is semi
quantitative. For each piece of equipment, the risk is determined

April2008

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by assigning scores to a series of questions concerning the


design, operation and history of each process coil. The LoF
and CoF are further subdivided to enable a paired type analysis
of the various factors, which comprise the risk of failure (RoF).
These scores are then used to establish numerical values for the
LoF and CoF. The risk of failure (RoF) factor has included:
l Likelihood of failure.
s Damage factor.
s Inspection factor.
s Process factor.
s Maintenance factor.
s Design and construction factor.
l Consequence of failure.
s Flammability ignition factor.
s Equipment damage factor.
s Internal personnel factor.
s External personnel factor.
s Business impact factor.
These factors are qualitatively graded allowing each fired
heater risk measurement and comparison within the refinery

Figure 10. Remnant life determination for gasoline reformer heater


tube based on Omega test result.

Figure 11. Effect of temperature and corrosion rate on remnant life of


the heater tubes.

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and industry benchmarks (Figure 12).


This analysis provides valuable information to enable the
refinery to determine where the management shortfalls lie
with each fired heater and what corrective actions need to
be taken. A reliability strategy is developed that addresses
the major concerns and potential risks identified in the
assessment. The strategy for each fired heater has included
policy and procedure changes, capital improvements,
inspection and test plans, performance monitoring and
maintenance plans and tube replacement plans.
As the action plan is executed the risk rank is updated and
plans are adjusted to manage the operating risk. The results of
the reliability strategy are documented in the Signal RM-Heater
software providing the refinery leadership with a continuous
measure of fired heater operating risk.

Conclusion
Achieving proper balance between reliability and performance
of the refinerys fired heaters can be difficult. Quest Reliabilitys
risk based management programme for fired heaters can help
the refinery management to achieve their long term goals.
Signal RM-Heater has not been just a risk based inspection
programme, it is a reliability management system that has
enabled the refinery to manage the performance and reliability
of all of its fired heaters. The programme has featured
advanced tools such as heater performance monitoring,
infrared thermography, FTIS, LOTIS, and LifeQuest that provide
real time measurement of performance and reliability. The
results of the assessment are delivered with Signal RM-Heater
software that has provided management with a dedicated
tool to manage the fired heater assets. The assessments have
significantly improved the management of fired heaters by
understanding risks, planning to reduce the risk while extending
run times and optimising tube replacements.

Figure 12. RoF, LoF and CoF values for refinery fired heaters.

Reprinted from April2008

HydrocarbonEngineering

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