{"id":1090,"date":"2026-02-10T22:10:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T22:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hydrocarbon.sbs\/?p=1090"},"modified":"2026-03-24T23:03:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:03:18","slug":"heat-exchangers-data-building-and-management-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/petrostreet.com\/main\/heat-exchangers-data-building-and-management-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Heat Exchangers Data Building and Management Program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the World of high end oil & gas, petrochemical and refining industries, heat is not something which can be allowed to be lost away. That is the major form of energy in these industries behind which many process engineers spend a lot of their working time saving and utilizing in the best way possible. Designing and then maintaining their plants so that heat can be fully utilized. Now a days, there are regular energy conservation workshops, exercises and assignments and the major area to work for is in the direction of preserving heat energy. Considering that, heat exchanger is one equipment which then stands of an utmost importance as it is exchanging heat from one medium to the other. Wherever possible heat exchangers are utilized to use the available heat from any source for another useful utility. Therefore, in any petrochemical plant or downstream facility, there are more heat exchangers than the pressure vessels. One typical Ammonia plant has got 35 heat exchangers in operation with 25 pressure vessels running. Looking at this number, heat exchangers have to be properly monitored and maintained. Therefore, multidisciplinary departments including process, inspection and maintenance are busy looking into their performances all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fig. 1<\/strong>: Representation of a shell and tube heat exchanger<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a number of types of heat exchangers which are in operation at any facility. Not one type fits all requirements. And every type of heat exchanger has got its own functionality and maintainability. Common among all the heat exchangers are the shell and tube heat exchangers. This type is the most robust and giving. They further have their types in terms of construction. Tubular Exchangers Manufacturers Association recognizes a number of types for shell and tube heat exchangers based upon type of their ends and the shell. Information herewith covers building and management of data associated with shell and tube heat exchangers. This data relates to the kind of issues, their collection, management and resolution in the best way possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, there are two kind of issues with the heat exchangers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Process based<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Mechanical based<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    In order to be sure about the kind of issues heat exchanger is facing, there should be a monitoring plan in place. Such monitoring plan is majorly available with Process and Inspection teams. Both these teams normally belong to the technical services group and have operating and maintenance records documented and available for reference. Process team along with Operations have got the performance records in place which are also shared with Inspection and Maintenance so that the issues can be identified, classified and resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If the data is maintained properly from the commissioning time of heat exchanger and then through each of their performance check and maintenance period, heat exchangers can be easily classified at any site in three broad categories such as green, yellow and red. Red being that category which is in bad shape and requires some fix and green can be left out as such without any proper study to be made over that. In order to categorize heat exchangers in these categories, we need to have their performance data along with the inspection and mechanical activity being done over them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Performance data actually represents that how the heat exchanger is performing while in operation when compared to what was the design intent. How is the actual fouling versus the assumed during design stage. Any heat exchanger which is performing as per its original process design shall be given a score as per Table 1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Table 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Heat Exchanger Operating Performance Score<\/td><\/tr>
    Heat Exchange as per design<\/td>0-50<\/td><\/tr>
    Fouling as per design<\/td>0-50<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    These performance scores have to be assigned based upon regular evaluations done by process and operation engineers. However, as per requirements, more entries can be made in Table 1 in order to log the issue and reflect that when categorizing the heat exchanger. For reference purposes, only the heat exchange value and fouling have been listed above. As an example, other performance variables may include process chemistry and properties. Those process properties not as per original design data may also affect the heat exchanger performance. All in all, Table 1 should be completely managed by Process and Operations team and appropriate scoring should be provided. Total score should sum to 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Similarly, a score is recorded from the personnel who have been maintaining the heat exchanger all through its life as far as its mechanical performance is concerned. The parameters which should be considered in order to assign a score based on mechanical performance may include requirement of rigorous mechanical cleaning, incidents of leaking tubes and other mechanical damages associated with material selection. User may include some other parameters as well depending upon their specific issue with a said heat exchanger. Other parameters may include ease of maintenance like re-tubing, rolling, welding of plugs or leaking tube-to-tubesheet joints etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Table 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Heat Exchanger Mechanical Performance Score<\/td><\/tr>
    Requirement of rigorous mechanical cleaning<\/td>0-25<\/td><\/tr>
    Incidents of leaking tubes<\/td>0-25<\/td><\/tr>
    Material based damages<\/td>0-25<\/td><\/tr>
    Other issues<\/td>0-25<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    In case an issue is absent in an exchanger then a full score shall be given. For example, if there hasn\u2019t been any incident of leaking tube then a score of 25 or whatever is the dividend shall be assigned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Each exchanger should be assigned a color based upon these scores while using the Matrix 1. These colors will then be helping in taking some action on red and yellow category items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Matrix 1:<\/strong> Heat Exchanger Performance Mapping<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Below is an example of one heat exchanger E311 against which following information was available:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Commissioning date<\/strong>: Nov 1992<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fouling issues:<\/strong> Requires cleaning every 3 years, as per design<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Heat exchange:<\/strong> As per design<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Process chemistry<\/strong>: As per design<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Mechanical cleaning required: <\/strong>Yes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Incident of leaking tubes:<\/strong> 5 since commissioning<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Leak caused shutdown:<\/strong> Yes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Leaking location:<\/strong> Tube-to-tubesheet joint failure (Ti material involved)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Corrosion:<\/strong> No<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Following are the scores which were assigned based upon the information above:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Heat exchange:<\/strong> 50<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fouling:<\/strong> 25<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Mechanical cleaning:<\/strong> 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Incidents of leaking tubes: <\/strong>10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Material based damages:<\/strong> 25<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ease of maintenance:<\/strong> 10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Below is the classification of heat exchanger E311 on the matrix:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Matrix 2:<\/strong> E311 Performance Mapping<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    From the classification done above, it can be seen that the capital issues in this heat exchanger are requirement of mechanical cleaning and incident of leaking tubes. There would not be any control on the mechanical cleaning requirements of this heat exchanger but incident of leaking tubes might have to do something with the inherent mechanical defects as tube-to-tubesheet joints are getting failed. In such scenario, mechanical performance indicator will go down and that has then to be addressed by Maintenance themselves or the supporting Inspection team. A suggested way forward to fix this tube-to-tubesheet weld joint failure is application of some Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) on the welds and identify those having inherent flaws. Other areas of fixing this issue may suggested evaluating the joint design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Similarly all the heat exchangers at plant can be plotted over a matrix and presented to the management for any action required. This data helps in understanding the health of heat exchangers at site and let the relevant team focus on the right areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Matrix 3: <\/strong>Typical Site Exchangers Performance Mapping<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Properly maintained data and then assigning a color to the heat exchangers can also let us rethink whether the type of exchanger being used for the services in question is the correct one or we need to seek the opinion of process engineer. It can also enable us thinking about the correct material selection based upon its operational history. There have been cases where a lot of maintenance budget is spent on maintaining the heat exchanger where actual problem is with the initial design whether thermal or mechanical. But most of the times no action is taken and heat exchangers are run on as-is basis investing a lot in maintenance. Similarly, there have been cases where the problem actually was with the process chemistry not being maintained as per design for years resulting in low heat transfer and compass was towards fouling of tubes. Once all the essential variable are well defined and performance is assessed from both process and mechanical side, resulting representation can be very useful to actually see what should be the way forward. Same data can be made site specific and reflected in integrity presentations, workshops and round-ups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This analysis can help in focusing on the right issues and establishing control measures to fix them. A task force can be made to make such an assessment which may lead to appropriate technical studies after gathering the right data and accordingly design updates and other changes may be done through proper change management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is to be considered that basic HSE or Business criticality of any heat exchanger has nothing to do with this classification. That will still be the same as assigned during process study of the plant. This classification is purely performance based considering both the operational and mechanical perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Having such classification of heat exchangers can help user dig down the actual problem and work in the right direction instead of just operating those problematic heat exchangers with heavy cost invested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the World of high end oil & gas, petrochemical and refining industries, heat is not something which can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_ppp_document_settings_meta":"{\"product_ids\":[{\"label\":\"Heat Exchangers Data Building and Management Program - 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the World of high end oil & gas, petrochemical and refining industries, heat is not something which can be 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