Case Study: FEA of Heater Treater for Process Industry

Heater treaters are complex vessels operating under volatile thermal and pressure conditions. When a leading energy client approached MvP Engineering to validate a new high-capacity design, our team turned to advanced Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to ensure structural integrity and compliance with ASME Section VIII.

The Challenge

The client's initial design exhibited alarming stress concentrations near the burner tube junctions during thermal cycling. Traditional empirical calculations were insufficient to capture the localized fatigue factors.

The Solution & Outcome

Through iterative non-linear FEA, we redesigned the internal baffle supports and modified the weld profiles to distribute thermal stresses more evenly. The optimized design not only passed all code requirements but allowed the client to reduce total steel tonnage by 12%, significantly lowering manufacturing costs.