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Thermal Equipment and Heat Recovery for the Chemical Industry

In the chemical processing industry, thermal optimization directly determines operating margins, carbon footprint, and plant availability. The integration of heat transfer systems requires solutions capable of operating under severe conditions: highly corrosive fluid streams, pronounced fouling tendencies (due to coking or polymerization), high pressures, and fluctuating thermal conditions.

AITESA designs, manufactures, and integrates custom thermal solutions for critical equipment and processes: ranging from heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) and air preheaters (APHs) to process furnaces, air-cooled condensers, shell-and-tube heat exchangers, and electric boilers for process electrification.

We harness the residual enthalpy of the flue gases, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the process, adapting the metallurgical design to the chemical aggressiveness of the fluid, and ensuring that the revamping does not interfere with continuous production.

Do you need to optimize the thermal integration of a chemical process? Have your project evaluated by our technical team.

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Challenges Facing Chemical Plants

In the chemical industry, the design of a heat exchanger or recovery system is not limited to calculating the heat transfer area. The actual feasibility of the project is determined by severe operational constraints:

• Fluid dynamics and metallurgical compatibility: Handling of toxic, flammable, or corrosive substances that require the selection of special alloys (austenitic stainless steels, duplex stainless steels, Inconel, titanium).

• Fouling phenomena: Deposits caused by thermal degradation, precipitation, or polymerization that drastically reduce the overall heat transfer coefficient and increase pressure drop.

• Acid Dew Point Limits: Risk of corrosion due to the condensation of acidic gases when cooling combustion streams to recover waste heat.

• Integration into scheduled starts and shutdowns: Execution of revamping projects with extremely tight plant shutdown windows.

AITESA is involved in every stage of the process, from conceptual and basic detailed engineering through to manufacturing, supply, assembly, and EPC implementation. We design our systems with the actual behavior of the process fluid in mind, minimizing allowable pressure drops and integrating the necessary instrumentation for predictive equipment monitoring.

Why Choose AITESA for Chemistry?

With more than 40 years of experience in the chemical, petrochemical, and process energy sectors, AITESA combines thermodynamic rigor with manufacturing and turnkey (EPC) capabilities that are unique in the market.

• Expertise in metallurgy and design codes: Proficiency in international standards (ASME Sec. VIII, TEMA, EN 13445, API 560/661) for handling hazardous or high-pressure fluids.

• Integration Engineering and Revamping: Ability to redesign tube bundles or recovery sections within the existing plant’s enclosures or confined spaces, maximizing recovery without altering the hydraulic layout.

• Comprehensive management with seamless interface coordination: We assume unified responsibility for the project (thermal design, mechanical design, in-house manufacturing, NDT testing, hoisting, assembly, and control integration), reducing the risk of cost and schedule overruns during the plant shutdown.

AITESA has participated in projects involving heat recovery, process furnaces, air-cooled condensers, and thermal equipment for chemical plants in various industrial settings.

Success stories

Design and supply of air-cooled condensers for a chemical plant in Morocco

| Case Study - Chemistry | No Comments
In 2021, AITESA provided support for a project at a chemical plant in Morocco with the aim to make the operation of the different production units of the plant more…

Revamping of a process furnace in a chemical plant in Brazil

| Case Study - Chemistry | No Comments
In 2016 AITESA executed the expansion project of furnaces H-1201 and H-1451 at a chemical plant in Bahia (Brazil). The main objective of the project was to replace the existing…

Design and supply of a process furnace for a chemical plant

| Case Study - Chemistry, Sucess stories - APH | No Comments
In 2021 AITESA provided support to a leading chemical company for an energy improvement project of the 600 mt/day ammonia production plant. Specifically, AITESA was in charge of the energy…

Do you need to improve thermal efficiency or modernize critical equipment at a chemical plant?
Please briefly describe your needs or the equipment involved. Our technical team will review the initial information and guide you toward the most appropriate solution.

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Aitesa has more than 40 years of experience designing and supplying heat recovery boilers.

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