Pre-Shutdown Cleaning

Therma Chem neutralized the sulphur deposits of a large Refinery in Western Europe.

Objectives

The APS Furnace of a large Western European Refinery was approaching a planned turnaround. We inspected the unit and found fouling in the convection section.

It was also identified that there were a number of hotspots throughout the radiant section as well as hard deposits adjacent to the sootblowers in the middle bank of the convection section.

Solution

The Therma Chem injection programme commenced by spraying chemicals into the convection sector to break down the deposits. This process was introduced to neutralize the sulphur deposits and prevent them from becoming hygroscopic within the heater, preventing downtime corrosion occurring during the 40-day shutdown period.

This process eliminated the sulphate acid deposits, making it safer for the maintenance teams to enter the furnace.

Benefits

Reduced downtime during shutdown period.

Broke down deposits and prevented them becoming hygroscopic.

Efficient process allowed maintenance engineers to focus on other essential engineering projects.