Enhancement of Heat Transfer Performance for an Industrial Condenser in the De-Ethanizer Unit of Basrah Gas Company

This study presents a numerical optimization of the industrial condenser 11-E-09, located in the Ethane Production Unit of Basrah Gas Company, which plays a key role in the de-ethanizer system for hydrocarbon separation. The main objective is to improve the thermal and hydraulic performance of the exchanger using Aspen Exchanger Design and Rating (Aspen EDR) software. The baseline model was first validated using actual plant data obtained from the Distributed Control System (DCS) to ensure accurate simulation conditions. Four enhancement techniques were investigated: (1) external enhancement by replacing plain tubes with low-fin tubes, (2) internal enhancement using Wolverine structured tubes with helical fins, (3) twisted-tape inserts to induce swirl flow and increase turbulence, and (4) combined hybrid configuration integrating both external and internal improvements. Each configuration was evaluated for total heat duty, overall heat transfer coefficient, log-mean temperature difference (LMTD), and pressure drop on both shell and tube sides.The hybrid configuration achieved the highest performance, increasing the total heat duty by approximately 7% compared with the base case, while keeping pressure drops within the TEMA mechanical design limits. The results confirm that combining low-fin tubes and twisted-tape inserts provides an efficient balance between enhanced heat transfer and acceptable hydraulic resistance. This improvement supports higher ethane recovery efficiency and contributes to the overall energy optimization of the Basrah Gas Company’s NGL facility.