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This cabin-type heater with wall-mounted burners was one of Struthers Wells first fired
heater installations in 1927.

History Timeline
1851 Struthers Wells established in Warren, PA as a foundry and manufacturer for the agricultural industry
1859 Oil was discovered at Drake Well in Titusville, PA and Struthers Wells became involved as a designer and fabricator of process equipment for the oil industry.
1908 Struthers Wells produced the first all-welded carbon steel
pressure vessel
1940-65 Struthers Wells achieved worldwide recognition as a designer
and fabricator of process and energy related equipment including the following firsts:
   • Developed the first forced circulation thermal fluid vaporizer
   • Manufactured the first furnace used for thermal cracking of
     ethylene dichloride (EDC)
   • Designed and built the first Once-Through-Steam-Generator
     (OTSG) for enhanced oil recovery
1994 The intellectual property of Struthers Wells was purchased by
Struthers Industries, Inc.
2005 The intellectual property of Struthers Wells and Struthers
Industries, Inc. was purchased
by Thermal Engineering
International
to form TEi-Struthers Wells as its business
group.

Industry Firsts
Struthers Wells began in 1851 as a manufacturer of pressure vessels, boilers, and steam-powered machinery. Since building its first refinery heater in 1927, Struthers Wells has continued to set the standard for high-temperature heating systems. No company can match the breadth and depth of experience in all aspects of fired heater technology. Here are just a few firsts by Struthers Wells.

• Developed the forced-circulation thermal fluid vaporizer that has now become the clear first choice in organic fluid vaporization technology.

• Manufactured the first furnace used for thermal cracking (pyrolysis) of ethylene dichloride (EDC) to produce vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) in 1960, replacing the older and more troublesome catalytic process. This initial success was followed by the supply of over 100 EDC cracking furnaces worldwide.

• Designed and built the first oil-field heater generating 80% quality steam at up to 2,500 psig using high TDS feedwater. This pioneering once-through boiler design quickly became the industry standard for secondary thermal enhanced oil recovery. Struthers Wells followed this success with over 1200 installations and 60 billion Btu/h ( 17,600 MWt) installed capacity worldwide.

• Developed a convective-only titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) preheater/boiler/superheater to achieve the lowest practical film temperatures with low overall pressure drop. The tightly controlled film temperatures permitted the use of metal tubes instead of unwieldy quartz tubes.

Today, TEi-Struthers Wells is committed to continuously improving on its proven technology, producing heaters that are more efficient and reliable than ever before.


Six EDC cracking furnaces convert ethylene dichloride (EDC) to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) by thermal cracking (pyrolysis). Each furnace is rated at 47 million Btu/h (13.8 MWt) absorbed heat duty.
 

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