Reliability analysis on a shell and tube heat exchanger

Abstract

A shell and tube heat exchanger reliability was done in this study using past history data from a carbon black manufacturing plant. The heat exchanger reliability study is vital in all related industries as inappropriate maintenance and operation of the heat exchanger will lead to major Process Safety Events (PSE) and loss of production. The overall heat exchanger coefficient/effectiveness (Uo) and Mean Time between Failures (MTBF) were analyzed and calculated. The Aspen and down time data was taken from a typical carbon black shell and tube heat exchanger manufacturing plant. As a result of the Uo calculated and analyzed, it was observed that the Uo declined over a period caused by severe fouling and heat exchanger limitation. This limitation also requires further burn out period which leads to loss of production. The MTBF calculated is 649.35 hours which is very low compared to the standard 6000 hours for the good operation of shell and tube heat exchanger. The guidelines on heat exchanger repair, preventive and predictive maintenance was identified and highlighted for better heat exchanger inspection and repair in the future. The fouling of heat exchanger and the production loss will be continuous if proper heat exchanger operation and repair using standard operating procedure is not followed.