AM-03-63 A CASE STUDY IN SLURRY FOULING

Description:

A case study reviewing heat exchanger fouling is presented for the Marathon Ashland Petroleum (MAP) Refinery located in Texas City, Texas. Specifically, fouling in a slurry pumparound heat exchanger is discussed, and the modifications the refinery personnel implemented to mitigate the fouling are reviewed. The slurry pumparound heat exchanger is located on the main fractionator within a fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU). The run length of the slurry pumparound exchanger was increased from six months to 18 months by making operating and mechanical changes to the slurry pumparound circuit. The mechanical changes were relatively inexpensive and were made without shutting down the FCCU.