{"id":1134,"date":"2026-04-24T07:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T07:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rtooxidizer.com\/?post_type=product&p=1134"},"modified":"2026-04-24T07:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T07:05:58","slug":"fcc-waste-heat-boiler","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/rtooxidizer.com\/ta\/product\/fcc-waste-heat-boiler\/","title":{"rendered":"FCC Waste Heat Boiler"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

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20\u2013200 t\/h<\/div>\n
Steam Capacity Range<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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650\u2013760 \u00b0C<\/div>\n
Regenerator Flue Gas Temp.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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< 100 ppm<\/div>\n
CO after Burnout<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u2265 91%<\/div>\n
Heat Recovery Efficiency<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

What Is an FCC Waste Heat Boiler?<\/h2>\n

The Ever-power FCC waste heat boiler<\/strong> is a purpose-built heat recovery unit that captures thermal energy from the regenerator flue gas of a fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU). Inside a partial-burn FCCU, regenerator off-gas leaves at 650\u2013760 \u00b0C carrying significant carbon monoxide, plus catalyst fines, SOx and NOx. The waste heat boiler \u2014 often configured as a CO boiler with a supplementary burner \u2014 burns off the remaining CO to below 100 ppm and converts the released sensible and combustion heat into high-pressure superheated steam.<\/p>\n

This is one of the largest single energy-recovery opportunities inside a modern Australian refinery. A 3 Mt\/yr FCCU can produce 150 t\/h or more of 9.8 MPa \/ 510 \u00b0C steam, feeding refinery-wide headers, driving compressors and turbines, or exporting to a neighbouring petrochemical complex. When correctly integrated with a flue gas expander and third-stage separator, the whole power recovery train earns back capital in a handful of years.<\/p>\n

Ever-power supplies the CO boiler, economiser, superheater, soot-blower island and auxiliary firing skid as an integrated package. The design philosophy pairs FCC-specific process know-how with the same Class A pressure-part manufacturing discipline used across the company’s waste liquid incinerator and industrial boiler lines \u2014 built for 200,000-hour service life in an abrasive, acid-dew-prone environment.<\/p>\n

\"FCC<\/p>\n

Refinery Integration Points<\/h2>\n
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FCCU Regenerator<\/h3>\n

Partial-burn, full-burn and high-severity regenerators all covered. Design accommodates 650\u2013760 \u00b0C inlet with 1.5\u20134 vol% CO.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Third-Stage Separator<\/h3>\n

Tie-in downstream of flue gas expander third-stage cyclones. Erosion allowance on leading-edge tubes sized for residual fines load.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Flue Gas Expander<\/h3>\n

Pressure letdown coordinated with expander trip logic. Boiler pressure envelope matched to expander swallowing capacity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Main Air Blower<\/h3>\n

Auxiliary firing interlocks prevent CO afterburn during blower upset. Safety instrumented function (SIF) rated to SIL 2.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Refinery Steam Header<\/h3>\n

Steam at 9.8 MPa \/ 510 \u00b0C tied into HP header with pressure control, superheat attemperation and bypass letdown for upset recovery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Flue Gas Treatment Island<\/h3>\n

Wet gas scrubber, SCR or dry sorbent injection coordinated with boiler outlet. NOx and SOx held within state EPA limits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

How the FCC Waste Heat Boiler Works<\/h2>\n

Five engineered stages take regenerator flue gas from the FCCU to a compliant stack while extracting maximum enthalpy into refinery-grade steam.<\/p>\n

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\n
STEP 01<\/div>\n

Flue Gas Inlet & CO Fuel Addition<\/h3>\n

Regenerator flue gas enters at 650\u2013760 \u00b0C with residual CO, unburnt hydrocarbons and fines. A refinery-fuel-gas auxiliary burner sustains temperature during low-CO operation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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STEP 02<\/div>\n

CO Burnout Chamber<\/h3>\n

CO is completely oxidised to CO\u2082 at \u2265 980 \u00b0C with staged air addition. Turbulent residence time is engineered at 1.0 s minimum, holding exit CO below 100 ppm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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STEP 03<\/div>\n

Radiant Evaporator<\/h3>\n

Membrane water walls absorb radiant heat. Gas temperature drops from ~1,050 \u00b0C to 600 \u00b0C. Natural circulation carries steam to an external drum.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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STEP 04<\/div>\n

Superheater & Convective Bank<\/h3>\n

Two-stage pendant superheater lifts steam temperature to 485\u2013540 \u00b0C. Attemperator trim holds header temperature to refinery tolerance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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STEP 05<\/div>\n

Economiser & Stack<\/h3>\n

Feedwater is preheated against flue gas cooled to 180\u2013220 \u00b0C. Downstream SCR or wet scrubber takes over for final polishing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Key Features & Engineering Advantages<\/h2>\n
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\n

Engineered CO Burnout<\/h3>\n

Chamber sized to 1.0 s residence time at \u2265 980 \u00b0C. CO reliably held below 100 ppm at all FCCU load points \u2014 even 70% turn-down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Erosion-Resistant Tube Design<\/h3>\n

Leading-edge sacrificial shields, flow-conditioning vanes and low gas velocity on first bank tube \u2014 field-proven to 15+ year service life on catalyst fines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Natural Circulation Evaporator<\/h3>\n

No circulation pump, no single point of failure on the water side. Steam drum internals handle upset-grade feedwater without carry-over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Auxiliary Firing & Start-Up Burner<\/h3>\n

Refinery fuel gas burner rated for cold start through to full-burn mode operation \u2014 keeps the boiler online when the FCCU trips.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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SIL-2 Safety Instrumented System<\/h3>\n

CO-afterburn and high-tube-metal-temperature trips engineered to SIL-2 with full FMEA \u2014 the documentation your refinery safety team will actually want.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Turn-Key EPC Option<\/h3>\n

Available as a bolt-on upgrade or a full replacement of existing FCC waste heat boiler<\/em> \u2014 including civils, erection and commissioning on Australian refinery sites.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Technical Specifications<\/h2>\n

Capacity bands below align to typical Australian and regional refinery FCCU throughputs. Every unit is ultimately sized to the specific regenerator flue gas composition, temperature and pressure envelope of the host refinery.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Model<\/th>\nSteam Output (t\/h)<\/th>\nSteam Pressure (MPa)<\/th>\nSteam Temp. (\u00b0C)<\/th>\nFCCU Throughput (Mt\/yr, indicative)<\/th>\nEfficiency<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
EP-FCC-20<\/strong><\/td>\n20<\/td>\n3.82<\/td>\n450<\/td>\n0.4<\/td>\n\u2265 90%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
EP-FCC-50<\/strong><\/td>\n50<\/td>\n5.3<\/td>\n485<\/td>\n1.0<\/td>\n\u2265 91%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
EP-FCC-100<\/strong><\/td>\n100<\/td>\n9.8<\/td>\n510<\/td>\n2.0<\/td>\n\u2265 91%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
EP-FCC-150<\/strong><\/td>\n150<\/td>\n9.8<\/td>\n525<\/td>\n3.0<\/td>\n\u2265 92%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
EP-FCC-200<\/strong><\/td>\n200<\/td>\n13.7<\/td>\n540<\/td>\n4.0+<\/td>\n\u2265 92%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Performance & Compliance<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Parameter<\/th>\nEver-power Guarantee<\/th>\nReference Standard<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
CO at Boiler Outlet<\/td>\n< 100 ppm<\/td>\nUS EPA 40 CFR 60 Subpart J<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NOx (without SCR)<\/td>\n< 180 mg\/Nm\u00b3<\/td>\nNSW POEO<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SO\u2082 (with SOx additive)<\/td>\n< 150 mg\/Nm\u00b3<\/td>\nVIC EPA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Particulates<\/td>\n< 30 mg\/Nm\u00b3<\/td>\nQLD DES<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Design Life<\/td>\n200,000 h \/ 25 yr<\/td>\nEN 12952-3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pressure Code<\/td>\nASME Section I + U stamp<\/td>\nAS\/NZS 3788<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Applications Across Australian Refining & Petrochemical Industry<\/h2>\n
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Fuels Refineries<\/h3>\n

Standard FCCU heat recovery for gasoline-propylene-petrochemical refineries. HP steam exported to turbines and feed compressors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Residue FCC (RFCC)<\/h3>\n

High-coke-yield RFCC units requiring robust erosion design and dedicated SOx\/NOx abatement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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High-Severity FCC<\/h3>\n

Propylene-maximising FCCU with high regenerator temperature \u2014 boiler designed to 820 \u00b0C peak inlet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Revamp & Debottleneck<\/h3>\n

Drop-in replacement where an ageing CO boiler limits FCCU throughput or fails current emission standards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Combined with Expander Train<\/h3>\n

Integration with flue gas expander and third-stage separator for maximum power recovery scheme efficiency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Petrochemical Complexes<\/h3>\n

HP steam export to adjacent ethylene, aromatics and polyolefin plants through site-wide steam and power utility.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Why Choose Ever-power<\/h2>\n

An FCC waste heat boiler is not a place for catalogue engineering. A single erosion hotspot in a 9.8 MPa tube bank becomes a full FCCU shutdown. These six engineering commitments separate the Ever-power build from a generic replacement of imported CO boiler<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n
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40+<\/div>\n
FCC waste heat boilers and CO boilers delivered into refinery and petrochemical sites across Asia-Pacific \u2014 a decade of operating feedback.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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CFD<\/div>\n
full-furnace computational fluid dynamics on every project \u2014 flame shape, CO burnout, tube-wall heat flux and fines impingement resolved before fabrication.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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SIL-2<\/div>\n
safety instrumented functions rated SIL-2 with IEC 61508 documentation; acceptable to major Australian refinery safety cases.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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72-mo<\/div>\n
pressure-part design warranty across the normal refinery turnaround cycle \u2014 critical tubes engineered to outlast two T\/A intervals.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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EPC<\/div>\n
lump-sum EPC wrap available including civils, erection and commissioning \u2014 or equipment-only under refinery-owner’s EPC.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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TA<\/div>\n
turnaround support with inspection, NDT planning, spare parts staging and retubing services for the life of the asset.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Our refinery engineering credentials and FCC boiler reference list are on the Ever-power company page<\/a>, and the full waste liquid incinerator and boiler range is on the home page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Australian & Asia-Pacific Project Case Studies<\/h2>\n
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CASE STUDY 01 \u2022 QUEENSLAND<\/div>\n

Refinery Capacity Revamp \u2014 Brisbane Region<\/h3>\n

A major Australian fuels refinery was planning a 10% FCCU throughput uplift but the existing CO boiler was limiting the regenerator air balance. Emissions stack testing had also flagged a rising CO baseline, with the state regulator putting the site on notice.<\/p>\n

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Ever-power solution:<\/strong> EP-FCC-100 waste heat boiler package with new CO burnout chamber and downstream SCR tie-in. Engineered to bolt onto existing regenerator duct with minimal piping rework.<\/p>\n

Result:<\/strong> FCCU throughput increased 11%. CO stack concentration reduced from ~420 ppm to < 60 ppm. Additional 24 t\/h HP steam exported to refinery-wide header.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CASE STUDY 02 \u2022 VICTORIA<\/div>\n

Petrochemical Complex \u2014 Geelong Industrial Corridor<\/h3>\n

A petrochemical complex was operating a 1980s-vintage FCC waste heat boiler with a rising tube leak frequency and failing acceptance tests on CO emissions. The owner wanted a retubed unit first and a complete replacement if the retube failed technical review.<\/p>\n

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Ever-power solution:<\/strong> Full replacement of legacy CO boiler<\/em> with EP-FCC-150 package. CFD-sized CO chamber, Alloy 625 overlay on first-bank tubes, SIL-2 safety system, turnaround-delivered in 28 days.<\/p>\n

Result:<\/strong> Acceptance test CO 34 ppm, NOx 142 mg\/Nm\u00b3. Tube leak history reset to zero through first 18 months. Steam production lifted 12% versus predecessor unit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n
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What is the difference between a CO boiler and an FCC waste heat boiler?<\/h3>\n

A CO boiler is built primarily to complete CO oxidation downstream of a partial-burn FCCU regenerator, capturing residual heat as a secondary benefit. An FCC waste heat boiler is a broader term covering both CO-burnout duty and pure heat-recovery duty on a full-burn or high-severity FCCU. In practice, the Ever-power package handles both roles on the same pressure envelope.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How is the boiler protected from catalyst fines erosion?<\/h3>\n

Four lines of defence. First, velocity is capped below 15 m\/s in tube bundles. Second, sacrificial erosion shields are fitted on leading-edge tubes. Third, flow-conditioning vanes break up stratified dust-laden streams at inlet. Fourth, tubes in the hottest-dustiest region are specified in Alloy 625 or 800HT. Combined, this has delivered 15+ year tube life on FCCU duty in field-verified installations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What happens if the FCCU trips while the boiler is running?<\/h3>\n

The auxiliary firing burner transitions from trim duty to main duty within seconds, holding boiler drum level and steam header pressure. Control logic sits on the site DCS with a SIL-2 backup. This keeps the refinery-wide steam header stable through a brief FCCU excursion and avoids cascading unit trips.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Can the unit be installed during a standard refinery turnaround?<\/h3>\n

For a retube or partial replacement, yes \u2014 we routinely plan around a 35\u201345 day turnaround window. A full CO boiler replacement is typically staged over two adjacent turnarounds, with civil works and structural steel between them, then pressure-part swap in the second T\/A. Critical-path logic is shared at FEED stage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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What NOx abatement is possible without an SCR?<\/h3>\n

Staged CO burnout, low-NOx auxiliary burners, flue gas recirculation and optional SNCR deliver < 180 mg\/Nm\u00b3 NOx across most FCCU feed slates. SCR is added where the refinery’s state EPA licence calls for < 100 mg\/Nm\u00b3 or where nearby sensitive receptors drive a tighter permit. The boiler is designed with SCR hooks regardless, so retrofit is straightforward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Can the design accommodate future FCCU throughput uplift?<\/h3>\n

Yes. Design margin on furnace volume, tube bundles, drum sizing and feedwater system can be built in at FEED for a 10\u201315% future uplift without an oversized day-one footprint penalty. Most Australian clients build this margin in. We document the uplift envelope in the final design basis so future revamps are straightforward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How long does a full project take from FEED to steam-on?<\/h3>\n

FEED typically 3\u20134 months, detailed engineering 6\u20138 months, fabrication 10\u201314 months, site erection 5\u20137 months, commissioning 2\u20133 months. A realistic total programme is 26\u201336 months for a full new-build CO boiler on a brownfield refinery \u2014 faster on a direct retube or modular replacement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Need an FCC Waste Heat Boiler Feasibility Study?<\/h3>\n

Send your FCCU regenerator flue gas data, steam header specifications and site constraints to sales@rtooxidizer.com<\/a> or use the contact page<\/a>. A feasibility study, CFD-based design concept and budget price will be returned within 15 working days \u2014 free of charge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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