(72c) Inefficient Operation Leads to Higher Capacity

Conventional wisdom always talks about efficient operation. We conduct training schools and classes to teach the operators.  However when it comes to practice, we find that typically operators are able to increase the capacity of their fired heaters by operating inefficiently. We have recently observed this situation in several heaters especially coker heaters where they could run their heaters at higher capacity and for longer time by increasing the excess air. We will review several cases of different fired heaters where you can increase capacity by lowering efficiency.