Furnace Burner Management Practices within U.S. Ethylene Producers

Furnace Burner Management Practices within U.S. Ethylene Producers

A summary of the current working practices and approaches to hazardous event management of the cracking heaters of several US based ethylene producers will be presented.  The practices and approaches will be discussed in the context of a safety requirement specification document as it is defined by the standard ANSI/ISA 84.00.01 (IEC61511 mod.).  The ISA standard has been recognized by OSHA as RAGAGEP in the U.S. for safety interlock life cycle management.  The safety requirement specification format frames the engineering controls of the hazards relative to the applicable Codes, individual company standards and practices, and RAGAGEP.

Ethylene furnace burner safety management practices vary among U.S. ethylene producers.  Different hazardous events and event consequences are generated by the variations in ethylene cracking furnace process designs.  Most ethylene cracking furnaces have large numbers of burners with different orientations and special process heater considerations that require unique burner management safety systems.  Subtle design and maintenance considerations can have enormous impact on the heater safety, recovery from upsets, and overall performance.