Latest Innovative Technology for Inspecting Fired Heaters
Authors: Al Jasmi Ashwaq Abdulla , Hussain Sikkandar , Albahrani Mohamed , Al Shekaili Yousef 
Published: October 2022

In line with ADNOC digitalization strategy and our unwavering commitment towards 100% HSE and asset integrity, ADNOC Gas Processing have recently deployed Furnace Tube Inspection System FTIS technology via ultrasound intelligent pigging inspection for inspecting fired heaters as per API recommended practice 573. The purpose of this paper is to present the successful deployment and highlight the key benefits and value created from having such technology.

In oil and gas industry, fired heater (often referred to as furnace) is utilized to heat process fluid to a desired temperature through exposing fluid in heating coils to a direct fire at burner. Fired heater consists of two sections of tubes, called radiant section and convection section. At the radiant section the process fluid is directly heated by radiation formed from the flame and at the convection section is heated by the flue gases leaving the radiant section

Using the conventional UT methods for inspecting fired hearers is challenging and has some limitations. The usual inspection requirement of inspecting such asset, is manual entry and examine the condition of tubes using conventional UT/RT technique, by which complete inspection is not possible due to inaccessible and serpentine geometric nature of finned convection and radiation coil sections of Fired Heater. Thus, it leaves us with uncertainty in evaluating the Asset Integrity of the Heater. With this FTIS technology which is an ultrasonic based intelligent pig that operates remotely and autonomously scrolling through tubes to inspect the entire tubes of the convection and radiant sections tubes without the need of accessing the fired heater. This smart pig produces a massive digital and accurate measurements that can be later fully utilized to perform fitness for service and remanent life assessment in line with API. The key benefits and value created pertaining to this technology includes:

Ensure 100% HSE by minimizing exposure of humans to hazards. Optimize the inspection man-hours Improve heat transfer efficiency via cleaning process With this technology we can obtain accurate and reliable Inspection data within short time Permanent Digital Record for complete tube system for future reference Lastly and importantly, it will ensure asset integrity as the technology can cover 100% in-situ inspection of the entire furnace tubes

ADNOC gas processing has deployed FTIS technology via intelligent pigging inspection to inspect and assess the condition of radiant and convection section tubes of two regeneration gas heater (fired heater) at Habshan site which were commissioned in 2013.

Post-deployment and to validate the technology, the data obtained from the intelligent pig has been validated with conventional UT and results revealed similar readings confirming technology accuracy and reliability.

Looking ahead, having this massive digital accurate and reliable inspection date from FTIS will be utilized in ML platform for future prediction to further optimize inspection intervals of fired heaters.