XTENDâ„¢ INSERTS BY XRG

Xtend Your Run Length.

A Better Technology for Heat Transfer

Our latest innovation, Xtend is a tube-insert to reduce fouling and increase heat transfer in fired heaters.

The Xtend technology generates more swirl with less pressure drop when compared to a conventional twisted tape. Less than 3% of the flow area is used to generate swirl.

The swirling flow:

  • Cools the film on the tube wall
  • Removes coke precursors from the film
  • Increases both temperature and process uniformity within the tube

REDUCE
FOULING

REDUCE TUBE METAL
TEMPERATURE

EXTEND
RUN LENGTH

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FIRED HEATERS FOULING COSTS MILLIONS

A typical 100,000 barrel per day refinery loses $3-7 million annually because of fouling in fired heaters. Fouling overheats tubes, increases firing rate, reduces yields, and causes lost onstream days. Shutting down a crude, vacuum, or coker heater is extremely costly both in labor and throughput.

A multi-phase CFD simulation of an empty tube (left) and a tube with Xtend inserts (right) shows how Xtend reduces tube metal temperature and eliminates flow stratification inside a heater tube.

Xtend inserts can be used to reduce tube metal temperatures, reduce or eliminate internal fouling, and increase run-length.

XTEND SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Hover over this image to check out our components.

SMART APPLICATION

To minimize pressure drop while maximizing run length, Xtend only needs to be installed in the limiting tubes. The removable design does not engage with an end-of-run coke layer. If more coke builds up, Xtend inserts will flex in response, allowing for insert removal.

Over 97% of the tube remains open in a typical application, resulting in a low probability for additional coke blockage during spalling.

REDUCE TUBE METAL TEMPERATURE AND FOULING

In coker unit heater simulations, the Xtend system reduces the tube wall temperature by as much as 33° F. Lower film tempera-ture and increased bulk flow uniformity result in up to 3x less coking in tubes equipped with Xtend.

Simulations show similar benefits for other services — including crude, vacuum, and pyrolysis heaters. By fixing a few problematic tubes, we can unlock the full potential of your heater.

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XRG Technologies
1855 E 15th Street
Tulsa, OK 74104
info@xrgtechnologies.com
+1 918-201-2656

          

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ERWIN PLATVOET
As CTO of XRG, Erwin is a true innovator, whose career spans more than three decades in heat transfer and combustion industries. Erwin is a graduate of Twente University in the Netherlands with a MS in Chemical Engineering. Erwin has served the industry around the globe in a variety of roles including Research and Development Engineer, Cracking Furnace Specialist, and Director of Engineering, and now CTO. Erwin holds eight patents in fired heat transfer and emissions control technology, has published numerous papers, and co-authored the John Zink Combustion handbook and Industrial Combustion Testing book. Erwin has been an active member of the API 560 and API 535 subcommittees and taken an active role in revising these standards.
BAILEY HENDRIX
Bailey graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Upon graduation, she joined the private sector as an Applications Engineer in Tulsa, OK at a local combustion company where she managed the sales activities for the process burner refining market. She quickly accelerated her career, becoming the Refining Account Manager responsible for all business development and sales of process burners in North and South America. Her strong leadership skills and interpersonal qualities led her to a position as the Western Hemisphere Sales Director for the process burner business, leading a group of sales engineers in the areas of new equipment, retrofits and burner management systems. Her financial and commercial acumen drives the success of XRG Technologies’ business development.
ALLEN BURRIS
Allen’s background includes 10 years of experience in designing and selling process burners. Allen is a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and is a licensed professional mechanical engineer in the State of Oklahoma. His knowledge and superior customer focus led him to a career change to process design, custom-engineered fired heater sales, and associated sub-systems for the petrochemical, refining and NGL industries. With more than two decades of experience in the combustion and fired heater industry, Allen has what it takes to overcome challenges associated with complex projects and possesses.
TIM WEBSTER
With over 25 years of experience in the combustion industry, Tim brings a wealth of industry experience and technical expertise to XRG. Tim graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University and received a Master of Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. Tim began his career engineering custom combustion systems for a wide range of applications including boilers, heaters, furnaces, kilns, and incinerators. Tim is a licensed professional mechanical engineer in the states of California, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, has authored numerous articles and papers, and has co-authored several combustion handbooks.
matt martin
As the Lead Scientist at XRG, Matt has over 30 years of experience in the combustion industry. He specializes in CFD of fired equipment, including UOP platforming heaters, burners in process heaters, thermal oxidizers and flares with over 300 simulations of installed, field-proven equipment. Matt received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Tulsa. He has written numerous publications, is listed as inventor or co-inventor on 27 patents and was awarded the title of Honeywell Fellow in 2011 for technical excellence and leadership.
gina briggs
Gina is a native Oklahoman and attended the University of Tulsa, graduating with a BSBA in Accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant. Gina began her career with the Tulsa office of Deloitte Haskins and Sells, providing audit and tax services. Since leaving Deloitte, she has held CFO positions with privately held companies in the manufacturing, construction and distribution industries. In 2013, she began a consulting practice providing contract CFO services to companies, one of which was XRG and joined XRG as CFO in 2019. Gina has always enjoyed working in the small business arena, helping business owners to profitably grow and manage their businesses.