HTHA Risk Resolved Through Global Collaboration

A European refinery needed to bypass a heat exchanger in its hydrofiner, which required replacement. This created a temporary increase in temperature in the hydrogen-rich stream flowing through other exchangers, beyond their original design limits. The elevated operating temperature raised the risk of accelerated damage from high-temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA). Becht was asked to analyze this condition, quantify the increased damage rate, and assess the impact on the lifetime of the exchanger shells.

Objective

Quantify the temporary increase in HTHA damage rate and determine the impact on exchanger life expectancy, enabling safe and reliable continued operation until replacement equipment became available.

Approach

Becht applied its proprietary HTHA quantitative model to estimate the rate of accumulating damage and remaining service life of the exchangers. Leveraging global expertise, Becht’s teams across Europe, the U.S., and Asia-Pacific collaborated in sequence to accelerate the analysis and deliver timely results.

Solution

Within just three days – well ahead of typical turnaround times – Becht provided the client with a quantified damage assessment and guidance on safe operating duration at the higher temperature. The analysis confirmed that the exchangers could continue to operate safely until the replacement heat exchanger arrived, avoiding unplanned downtime.

Value

By rapidly quantifying risk and providing actionable guidance, Becht enabled the client to:

• Continue operation without the need for an immediate shutdown of the hydrofiner unit
• Confidently plan the replacement of the heat exchangers
• Reduce analysis turnaround time from weeks to three days through coordinated global collaboration