Technical Briefing

Overview

The MONITOR® computer program is specifically designed to determine and analyze fouling trends in refinery heat exchanger networks. It is a vital weapon in the unremitting battle to reduce fouling costs and maximize refinery profitability.

Heat exchanger fouling has a direct impact on bottom line profitability. The immediate result is higher operating costs and lower through-put. Regular use of the MONITOR program provides reliable and consistent information on fouling trends, identifies the sources of fouling and points to the correct remedial action. The MONITOR program is the key to an aggressive refinery energy conservation strategy.

MONITOR Methods

The MONITOR program methodology is a unique combination of accurate fluid modeling, rigorous engineering calculations, database management and automated operation. The calculations are rigorous. Fluids may be single phase or multiphase and a range of exchanger configurations may be modeled. MONITOR technology can model a wide range of applications such as crude preheat trains, FCCU slurry exchangers and HDS unit feed/effluent exchangers. Data and results are stored in a database which enables it to track the performance of a network over time and to identify significant trends.

The generation of normalised results isolates the effect of fouling in a network from the day-to-day variations in feedstock and conditions. This reveals the loss of duty caused by fouling alone. Financial analysis includes the cost of making up the loss in network duty in the furnace and the cost of loss of throughput. The MONITOR program then determines the costs and benefits of cleaning selected exchangers and how often they should be cleaned.

Calculation Strategy

The calculation options within the MONITOR software allow you to:

  • Reconcile input data
  • Calculate fouling factors
  • Calculate normalized furnace inlet temperature for a range of cases
  • Generate cleaning economics
  • Develop optimum cleaning cycles
  • Perform splitter optimizations
  • Examine other fouling scenarios

Tried and Tested for Ten Years

The MONITOR software has been tried and tested in the field for over 10 years. During that time, it has been continually enhanced to meet the needs of today’s refineries. Refineries using the MONITOR program experience a more consistent quality of data analysis and more meaningful results presentation. The rewards are lower energy usage and higher profitability.

Features at a Glance
  • Graphical network connectivity
  • Import from HEXTRAN ® or PRO/II ®
  • Easy windows data input
  • Import plant data from spreadsheet
  • Automatic multi-network runs
  • Customised graphical output
  • Export to Spreadsheet and PowerPoint
  • Comprehensive on-line help
  • Dedicated support team
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  • Fluid characterisation:
Liquid hydrocarbon
Vapour hydrocarbon
Assay and water solubility
Pure component databank
Steam tables
  • Non linear fluid properties
  • Condensing and boiling
  • Choice of thermodynamic methods
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  • Comprehensive data checking
  • Data reconciliation
  • Database storage
  • Rigorous correlations
  • Pressure drop calculations
  • Base case normalisation
  • Economic analysis
  • Optimize splitter ratios

For more detailsdownload the Monitor brochure or call +44 (0) 845 226 9137 or e-mail