Refereed Proceedings

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning:

Fundamentals and Applications
Engineering Conferences International

Year 2003

Fouling Mitigation Using Helixchanger

Heat Exchangers
Bashir I. Master

Krishnan S. Chunangad

Venkateswaran Pushpanathan

ABB

Lummus Heat Transfer, bashir.i.master@us.abb.com

Lummus Heat Transfer, krishnan.s.chunangad@us.abb.com
ABB Lummus Heat Transfer
This paper is posted at ECI Digital Archives.
ABB

http://dc.engconfintl.org/heatexchanger/43

Master et al.: Helixchanger Heat Exchangers

FOULING MITIGATION USING HELIXCHANGER HEAT EXCHANGERS

Bashir I. Master1, Krishnan S. Chunangad2 and Venkateswaran Pushpanathan3

1

ABB Lummus Heat Transfer, 1515 Broad Street, Bloomfield, NJ 07003, USA; bashir.i.master@us.abb.com
ABB Lummus Heat Transfer, 1515 Broad Street, Bloomfield, NJ 07003, USA; krishnan.s.chunangad@us.abb.com
3
ABB Lummus Heat Transfer, 1515 Broad Street, Bloomfield, NJ 07003, USA; venkateswaran.pushpanathan@us.abb.com
2

One of the major indeterminates in the design as well as

operation of heat exchangers is the rate of fouling a select
heat exchanger geometry would exhibit over the operation
cycles.
Gradual deterioration of heat exchanger performance
due to the accumulation of fouling film on the heat transfer
surface is often accounted for in the form of a fouling
resistance, or commonly known as the fouling factor, while
determining the heat transfer surface required for a specific
heat duty.
More often, the fouling mechanism responsible for the
deterioration of heat exchanger performance is flow-velocity
dependent. Maldistribution of flow, wakes and eddies
caused by poor heat exchanger geometry can have
detrimental effect on heat exchanger performance and
reliability.
Helixchanger heat exchangers have demonstrated
significant improvements in the fouling behavior of heat
exchangers in operation. In a Helixchanger heat exchanger,
the quadrant shaped shellside baffle plates are arranged at an
angle to the tube axis creating a helical flow pattern on the
shellside. Uniform velocities and near plug flow conditions
achieved in a Helixchanger heat exchanger, provide low
fouling characteristics, offering longer heat exchanger runlengths between scheduled cleaning of tube bundles.
This article demonstrates the Helixchanger heat
exchanger option in reducing the velocity-dependent fouling
in heat exchangers.

and installation costs but also the operation, maintenance

and downtime costs adding up to a staggering 2.5 to 3.0
times the initial purchase price of heat exchangers.
More than 35-40% of heat exchangers employed in
global heat transfer processes are of the shell and tube type
of heat exchangers. This is primarily due to the robust
construction geometry as well as ease of maintenance and
upgrades possible with the shell and tube heat exchangers.
In a shell and tube heat exchanger, the conventional
segment baffle geometry is largely responsible for higher
fouling rates. Uneven velocity profiles, back-flows and
eddies generated on the shellside of a segmentally-baffled
heat exchanger result in higher fouling and shorter run
lengths between periodic cleaning and maintenance of tube
bundles.
In a Helixchanger heat exchanger, the conventional
segmental baffle plates are replaced by quadrant shaped
baffles positioned at an angle to the tube axis creating a
uniform velocity helical flow through the tube bundle. Near
plug flow conditions are achieved in a Helixchanger heat
exchanger with little back-flow and eddies. Exchanger run
lengths are increased by two to three times those achieved
using the conventionally baffled shell and tube heat
exchangers. Heat exchanger performance is maintained at a
higher level for longer periods of time with consequent
savings in total life cycle costs (TLCC) of owning and
operating Helixchanger heat exchanger banks.
Feedback on operating units are presented to illustrate
the improved performance and economics achieved by
employing the Helixchanger heat exchangers.

INTRODUCTION

FOULING CHARACTERISTICS

Heat exchanger fouling causes a major economic drain

on industries today. In most industrialized countries these
losses amount to 0.25 to 0.30 percent of the gross national
product (GNP) (ESDU Item 00016, 2000). Costs associated
with exchanger fouling are reflected in over-sizing of the
heat exchangers leading to not only the incremental capital

The principal mechanisms of fouling are reported to be

as follows:
Particulate matter in flows
Crystallization
Chemical Reaction

ABSTRACT

Published by ECI Digital Archives, 2003

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 43 [2003]

Corrosion processes
Biological mass accumulation
This paper covers the impact of shellside fouling on the
thermal performance and economics of shell and tube heat
exchangers employed in the refinery and petrochemical
plant processes.
Refinery Applications
Generally, the fouling deposits occur as high molecular
weight polymers are formed in the crude preheat systems.
Products of corrosion and inorganic salts mix with the
polymers and increase the volume of the fouling deposits.
Most of the heat input in a refinery takes place in the
crude unit where the crude oil is preheated in heat exchanger
trains prior to further heating to elevated temperatures in a
fired heater (furnace). See Fig. 1. The total refinery output
relies on the uniform operation of the crude unit with
consistent outlet temperatures at desired flow rates. Preheat
exchanger performance is, therefore, vital in reducing the
fuel consumption in the downstream furnace and supplying
uniform crude flow rates to the furnace over a desired run
cycle.
The second most important process unit in a refinery is
the hydrotreater. The process stream in a hydrotreater reacts
with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst at elevated
temperatures and pressures to remove sulfur and nitrogen.
The major fouling in this unit occurs in the feed/effluent
heat exchangers. In these exchangers, the cold naphtha feed
is preheated using the hot product effluent. See Fig. 2.
Fouling in the feed/effluent heat exchangers can decrease
the outlet preheat temperature of naphtha causing more fuel
consumption in the furnace and/or reduction in the naphtha
flow rate.
The last refinery process where heat exchangers are
employed as feed/effluent heat exchangers is the reformer
unit. See Fig. 3 for a schematic of this unit. Reforming is a
catalytic process designed to increase the anti-knock quality
of the naphtha streams. The dehydrogenation in this unit
converts the naphthenes to aromatics. Fouling in the preheat
exchangers play a vital role in reducing the heat transfer
coefficient, often by 25-30% in three months and to as low

Fig. 1 Schematic of a Crude Unit (Leach et al., 1981)

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Fig. 2 Schematic of a Hydrotreater Unit (Leach et al., 1981)

50% in six months after start-up. Added fuel costs in the
downstream furnace as well as maintenance and cleaning
costs of heat exchangers could significantly affect the plant
operating costs. Anti-fouling agents are often added to the
process streams to reduce the fouling tendencies and
improve the plant economics.
The total fouling related expenses in the major refining
units in USA alone are estimated to be approximately
US$1.4 billion a year. The total fouling related costs for
major industrialized nations are estimated to exceed US$4.4
billion annually (ESDU Item 00016, 2000).
Considering that the refinery fouling related costs
represent a minor portion of the fouling related costs in all
industries, the fouling mitigation technologies deserve
greater attention.
FOULING MITIGATION TECHNOLOGY
The Tubular Heat Exchanger Manufacturers
Association (TEMA) standards suggest fouling factors for
several fluids based upon the asymptotic fouling model as
described by Kern and Seaton (1959). In this model the
competing fouling mechanisms lead to an asymptotic
fouling resistance beyond which no further increase in
fouling occurs. The asymptotic values are, therefore,

Fig. 3 Schematic of a Reformer Unit (Leach et al., 1981)

Effectiveness, E

Master et al.: Helixchanger Heat Exchangers

0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0

A
B
C
D

APe=Infinite
BHelical Baffle
CSegmental Baffle
DPe=0

Number of Transfer Units, NTU

Fig. 4 HELIXCHANGER Heat Exchanger

Fig. 6 Heat exchanger effectiveness for different geometries

recommended as the design fouling factors in the TEMA

standards. This approach does not particularly address the
fouling phenomenon such as that at the hot end of a crude
preheat train, since fouling there does not exhibit the
asymptotic behavior.
Ebert and Panchal (1997) have presented a fouling
model that is expressed as the average (linear) fouling rate
under given conditions as a result of two competing terms,
namely, a deposition term and a mitigation term.

which the fouling rates will be negligible. Ebert and

Panchal (1997) present this as the threshold condition.
The model in Eq. (1) suggests that the heat exchanger
geometry, which affects the surface and film temperatures,
velocities and shear stresses, can be effectively applied to
maintain the conditions below the threshold conditions in
a given heat exchanger.
In a Helixchanger heat exchanger, the quadrant shaped
baffle plates are arranged at an angle to the tube axis in a
sequential pattern, creating a helical flow path through the
tube bundle. See Fig. 4. Baffle plates act as guide vanes
rather than forming a flow channel as in conventionally
baffled heat exchangers. Uniformly higher flow velocities
achieved in a Helixchanger heat exchanger offer enhanced
convective heat transfer coefficients. See Fig. 5.
Helical baffles address the thermodynamics of shellside
flow by reducing the flow dispersion primarily responsible
for reducing heat exchanger effectiveness. Least dispersion
(high Peclet numbers) achieved with the helical baffle
arrangements approach that of a plug flow condition
resulting in high thermal effectiveness of the heat exchanger
(Kral et al., 1996). See Fig. 6.

Fouling Rate = (deposition term) - (anti-deposition term)

dR f
dt

= Re Pr exp(

E
) w
RT film

(1)

Shell-Side Heat Transfer Coefficient,

2
W/m .K

where , , and are parameters determined by

regression, w in the shear stress at the tube wall and Tfilm is
the crude film temperature ( average of the local bulk crude
and local wall temperatures).
The relationship in Eq. (1) points to the possibility of
identifying combinations of temperature and velocity below

8000
7000
S Segment

6000

Helix 17 deg.

5000

Helix 40 deg.

4000

Helix 44 deg.

3000

Helix 35 deg.
Helix 24 deg.

2000
1000
0
0

10

12

14

16

18

20

Pressure Drop, kPa

Fig. 5 Measured heat transfer coefficient versus pressure drop on shellside for various baffle systems (Kral et al., 1996)
(In Helix x deg., the helical baffles make an angle of x deg. with a plane normal to the tube-axis)

Published by ECI Digital Archives, 2003

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 43 [2003]
Tar/Crude: Pre-Helical

Tar/Crude: Post-Helical

Fig. 7(a) Case 1: Performance of Segmental Bundles

Fig. 7(b) Case 1: Performance of HELIX Bundles

Optimum design of a Helixchanger heat exchanger

offers the following characteristics (Chunangad et al.,1998):
Uniform flow velocities through the tube bundle
offering uniform film and metal temperatures
Elimination of backflow and eddies
Shellside flow approaches plug flow conditions
improving the temperature driving force
Higher flow velocities are achieved with the same
pressure drops, thereby improving shear stress at
the heat transfer surface.
Reduced shell size achieved with the Helixchanger
heat exchanger, offers higher tubeside velocities as
a secondary benefit in reducing the tubeside
fouling rates as well.
All of the above characteristics achieved in a
Helixchanger heat exchanger contribute significantly in
lowering the fouling rates and maintaining higher
performance over longer run cycles as compared to
conventional heat exchangers.

than 50% higher duty than the earlier segmental bundles.

This was a result of the significantly reduced fouling
accumulation on the heat transfer surface and the enhanced
heat transfer performance achieved in the HELIX design.
Evaluation of typical mid-2001 data on the HELIX bundles
showed the total fouling resistance to be around 0.022 hr ft2
o
F/Btu, which was less than 50% of the fouling resistance
observed in the segmental bundles. The higher average heat
transfer performance of the HELIX bundles resulted in
valuable savings in fuel cost in the downstream fired heater.
Inspection of these bundles in early 2002 showed little
fouling on the heat transfer surface. In summary, the
HELIX bundles achieved two to three times longer
operation run-lengths between cleaning than the earlier
segmental bundles while achieving enhanced heat transfer
performance. The feedback on the application has led to the
specification of HELIX bundles in many crude preheat
trains at different facilities of this processor.

HELIXCHANGER HEAT EXCHANGER FEEDBACK

Twenty-two HELIX units are in service at this refinery

fourteen in crude preheat service and eight in crude
overhead condenser service.
Replacement HELIX bundles were offered targeting the
original heat duty in the fourteen crude preheat exchangers.
The earlier segmental bundles required cleaning once every

Case 1: Crude Preheat Train, Refinery in USA

This application consists of two parallel trains of two
exchangers in series. Desalted crude is preheated from about
450oF to 500oF in this exchanger with 680oF tar, before
being sent to the crude furnace for further heating. It is an
application highly susceptible to fouling. The existing
segmental baffle exchangers required cleaning once per
year. Fig 7 (a) shows the performance of these exchangers
in the last operation cycle. After cleaning in mid-1998, the
heat duty achieved in these exchangers varied from about 24
MMBtu/hr to 17 MMBtu/hr in mid-1999. The first set of
HELIX bundles were installed in mid-1999. Fig 7 (b)
shows the performance of these bundles after more than six
months in operation. Between Mar-2000 and Sep-2000, the
heat duty achieved in these bundles varied from 37
MMBtu/hr. to 33 MMBtu/hr. In mid-2001, the average heat
duty achieved in the HELIX bundles was 29MMBtu/hr. As
evident, the HELIX bundles achieved, on average, more

http://dc.engconfintl.org/heatexchanger/43

Case 2: Crude Unit, Refinery in Canada

Fig. 8(a) Case 2: Performance of Segmental Bundles

Master et al.: Helixchanger Heat Exchangers

years of successful continuous operation with these HELIX

bundles. Earlier segmental bundles required two to three
times cleaning in this time period. The HELIX bundles
have achieved significantly enhanced heat transfer
performance and have sustained this performance for a long
period of time. Three to four times longer run-length has
already been achieved with these bundles.
Case 3: Feed/Effluent Exchangers, Hydrotreater Unit,
Refinery in the Netherlands
Fig. 8(b) Case 2: Performance of HELIX Bundles
year. As of Mar-2003, the HELIX bundles have
demonstrated more than two years of continuous enhanced
heat transfer performance. Fig 8 (a) & (b) shows sample
data as variation of overall heat transfer coefficient with
time between the segmental and the HELIX bundles, in the
hottest four of the crude preheat exchangers. In this set of
exchangers, crude is preheated from 370oF to about 475oF
using 540oF heavy vacuum gas oil (HVGO). It is limited by
temperature cross. The helical data in Fig 8 (b) after Dec 1
is to be excluded as it corresponds to a sudden 25% drop in
crude flow rates combined with a 25oF drop in HVGO inlet
temperature. Although it may be observed from the graphs
that the HELIX bundles show marginal improvement in the
drop in overall heat transfer coefficient with time in the
initial stages, it has since achieved and sustained an
asymptotic level of performance much higher than the
performance level achieved in the earlier segmental bundles.
The HELIX bundles are reportedly expected to achieve
more than three years of continuous operation, thus
increasing the run-length by three times.
The crude overhead condenser application consists of
four parallel trains of two shells in series. 50% capacity
upgrade was offered for this service using helical baffles in
low-finned tube bundles within limited shellside pressure
drop. The plant has confirmed achieving the capacity
upgrade and has reported, as of Mar-2003, more than two

Fig. 9(a) Case 3: Coldest HELIX Bundle

Published by ECI Digital Archives, 2003

This application consists of four BEU (TEMA type)

shells in series. The reactor effluent condenses in the tube
while the feed vaporizes on the shellside. The existing
segmental bundles experienced severe shellside fouling
requiring cleaning twice per year. Replacement HELIX
bundles were supplied for this application. They were
installed in 1998. Fig 9 (a) and (b) show photographs of the
hottest and coldest HELIX bundles after one year in
operation. Insignificant fouling was observed in the COLD
bundle while uniform scale type of fouling was observed on
the heat transfer surface in the HOT bundle. The run-length
of this unit has been extended by three to four times with the
HELIX bundles, as reported by the processor. These
bundles have achieved 25% larger throughput within
limiting hydraulic constraints. It was also reported that the
significantly enhanced heat transfer performance of the
HELIX bundles have provided substantial additional savings
by not requiring downstream heater modifications.
Case 4: Feed/Effluent Exchanger, Unifining-Platforming
Unit, Refinery in Italy
This feed/effluent exchanger is a four shells-in-series
unit with feed vaporizing on the shellside and effluent
condensing in the tubes. The existing segmental-baffled
bundles experienced severe uneven fouling, requiring
cutting of the shell for access to the bundle. Fig 10 (a)
shows the heavily fouled segmental bundle inside the halfcut shell. A replacement HELIX bundle was installed in the

Fig. 9(b) Case 3: Hottest HELIX Bundle

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 43 [2003]

Fig. 10(a) Case 4: Segmental Bundle with Heavy Fouling

Fig. 10(b) Case 4: HELIX Bundle with Uniform Fouling

second hottest shell of this unit in year 2000. Fig 10 (b)

shows the photograph of the U-bend end of this HELIX
bundle, with uniformly distributed fouling over the heat
transfer surface.
Significant cost savings have been
achieved by the application of the HELIX bundle in this
unit, by its reliable operation, its reduced fouling
characteristics and its consistent enhanced heat transfer
performance.

Re
Rf
t
T
, , ,
w

Reynolds number
fouling resistance, m2 K/kW
time, s
temperature, K
constants in Eq. (1)
Wall shear stress, Pa

REFERENCES
CONCLUSIONS
Heat exchanger fouling has been very costly for the
industry both in terms of capital costs of heat exchanger
banks as well as operation and maintenance costs associated
with it.
The HELIXCHANGER heat exchanger, when applied
in typically fouling services, has proven to be very effective
in reducing the fouling rates significantly. Three to four
times longer run-lengths are achieved between bundle
cleaning operations.
Proper attention is required in designing the heat
exchangers placed at the hot end of crude oil pre-heat
operations where temperatures and velocity thresholds are
highly dependent on heat exchanger geometry. The helical
baffle design offers great flexibility in selecting the
optimum helix angles to maintain the desired flow velocities
and temperature profiles to keep the conditions below the
fouling thresholds.
NOMENCLATURE
E
Pr
R

activation energy, J/mol K

Prandtl number
gas constant, J/mol K

http://dc.engconfintl.org/heatexchanger/43

Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU), 2000, Heat

Exchanger Fouling in the Preheat Train of a Crude Oil
Distillation Unit, ESDU Data Item No. 00016, ESDU
International Ltd., London, UK.
Leach, S. H., Haluska, J. L., and van Nostrand, Jr., W.
L., 1981, Economic Penalties Associated with the Fouling
of Refinery Heat Transfer Equipment, in Fouling of Heat
Transfer Equipment, eds. Knudsen, J. G., et al., Hemisphere
Publishing Corp., USA, pp. 619-643.
Kern, D. Q., and Seaton, R. E., 1959, A Theoretical
Analysis of Thermal Fouling, Br. Chem. Eng., Vol. 4, No. 5,
pp. 258-269.
Ebert, W. A. and Panchal, C. B., 1997, Analysis of
Exxon crude-oil slip stream coking data, in Fouling
Mitigation of Industrial Heat-Exchange Equipment, eds.
Bott, T. R., et al., Begell House, New York, pp. 451-460.
Kral, D., Stehlik, P., van der Ploeg, H. J., and Master,
B. I., 1996, Helical Baffles in Shell-and-Tube Exchangers,
Part I: Experimental Verification, Heat Transfer
Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 93-101.
Chunangad, K. S., and Master, B. I., 1998,
Helixchanger: Performance Enhancement with Greater
Reliability, First Int. Symp. on Innovative Approaches For
Improving Heat Exchanger Reliability, Materials Tech. Inst.
of the Chemical Process Industries, Texas, pp. 12-21.