Process Design
Duty definition, heat and material balance, operating envelope studies, licensor interface, turndown and upset screening — the engineering judgment that decides how the heater will perform before a line is drawn.
The Engineering Pillar · Proof of Depth
We don't just comply with the standards. We help write them.
70 engineers in Noida. Nine in-house disciplines. WinHeat® as the thermal engine. CFD and FEA run by our own engineers, not outsourced. And a seat at the API table — co-authoring API 561, the upcoming global SMR furnaces standard, and contributing to API 560 and API 936.
API 561
Co-authoring the new SMR standard
70
Engineers in Noida HQ
30+ yrs
WinHeat® in development
In-House
CFD + FEA practice
Headline Credibility · API Standing
Our engineers sit on the committees that write the rulebook.
API 561
Co-authoring
The new global standard for Steam Methane Reformer furnaces. Esteem is on the authoring committee.
API 560
Contributing to update
Fired heaters for general refinery service. Active contributor to the ongoing update cycle.
API 936
Committee member
Refractory installation quality control. Our refractory engineering team contributes directly.
See the full picture of approvals and standards — API, EIL, ASME, IBR, ISO — on our Standards & Approvals page.
Overview
Engineering authority before fabrication begins
This is the clearest expression of why Esteem is not a conventional fabricator. We combine process design, thermal engineering, CFD, FEA, and nine engineering disciplines into one coordinated engineering system for fired heaters and process furnaces.
We are equipped to handle projects from concept and licensor interface through detailed design, vendor review, modularization studies, and construction support. The goal is not to produce drawings — it is to deliver equipment that performs in service, year after year, through thirty-year lifecycles.
Nothing is outsourced. Process design, thermal rating, CFD, FEA, structural analysis, refractory — every discipline is staffed by our own engineers in Noida.
Noida engineering HQ
70 engineers across nine disciplines
In-House Disciplines
Nine disciplines, one engineered outcome
Every department sits under one roof in Noida. No handoffs to external consultants, no waiting on third-party analysis, no subcontracted FEA reports. The heater that leaves our shop was engineered by the same people who will answer the phone during commissioning.
Thermal Engineering
WinHeat®-based rating, heat-flux control, radiant-convection balance, combustion studies, and NOx optimization. Every fired unit we deliver is thermally rated in-house — tube by tube.
Mechanical Engineering
Pressure parts, tube supports, headers, nozzle loads, expansion analysis, and API 560-aligned mechanical checks across the full pressure envelope.
Structural Engineering
Static, wind, seismic, and dynamic load analysis for stacks, convection casings, platforms, and modular heater frames. STAAD Pro, MecaStack, and in-house tools converge on a single engineered structure.
Refractory Engineering
Lining selection, anchor design, stress analysis, and dry-out procedures — informed by our seat on the API 936 refractory committee.
Electrical & Instrumentation
Control philosophy, BMS logic, heater safety interlocks, panel and cable schedules, and integration with owner DCS — engineered together with the mechanical and structural packages.
Piping Engineering
Flexibility and stress analysis, support design, interface loads, and layout optimization for transfer lines and burner manifolds. PipeCal + Autodesk tooling under a single model.
3D Modeling & Draughting
Plant 3D, Revit, Advance Steel, Inventor, and Civil 3D feed one coordinated model from first layout through isometrics and construction drawings.
CFD & FEA
Flow uniformity, burner-flame interaction, draft profile, thermal expansion, and structural response solved in-house by our own engineers — not outsourced. See the full practice at /cfd-fea.
The Thermal Engine
WinHeat® — three decades of proprietary physics
Our thermal rating engine has been in continuous development since the early 1990s. It is the reason our heaters perform — and it is not for sale. WinHeat® is an internal moat, not a product.
Tube-by-tube physics. Two-phase flow modeling (Lockhart-Martinelli, Muller-Steinhagen-Heck, Friedel). Baker/Mandhane flow-regime mapping. NOx prediction combining Zeldovich thermal kinetics, De Soete prompt NOx, and fuel-bound nitrogen. API RP 530 creep-rupture life. ESCOA finned-tube correlations. Lobo-Evans radiant section. Hottel non-luminous gas radiation. Leckner separated emissivity.
Equations of state from CoolProp, the API Technical Data Book, Peng-Robinson, and SRK. Native integration with HYSYS, Aspen Plus, PRO/II, and UniSim.
Every refinery heater, every reformer, every cracking furnace we deliver is rated tube-by-tube through WinHeat® before a single plate is cut.
WinHeat®
Proprietary · Not For SaleProprietary in-house fired heater simulation engine. Tube-by-tube physics, two-phase flow (Lockhart-Martinelli, Muller-Steinhagen-Heck, Friedel), Baker/Mandhane flow regime mapping, NOx prediction (Zeldovich + De Soete + fuel-bound), API RP 530 creep-rupture, ESCOA finned-tube correlations, Lobo-Evans radiant, Hottel non-luminous gas radiation, Leckner separated emissivity. Integrates with HYSYS, Aspen Plus, PRO/II, UniSim. Continuous development since the early 1990s.
Why it matters: code ownership means our engineers can interrogate every flux calculation, every film temperature, every hydraulic pressure drop. No black box, no vendor dependency, no wait for a licensed seat to refresh.
Analytical Depth
CFD and FEA — done in-house, by our own engineers
CFD for heat-flux uniformity, flow patterns, combustion analysis, burner-flame interaction, vibration, and draft profiles. We rebuild the firebox digitally and run it before steel is cut.
FEA for structural integrity across 30-year lifecycles, wind and seismic response, dynamic loading, tube support stresses, and thermal expansion under upset and normal operation.
Neither discipline is subcontracted. Our engineers own the mesh, the boundary conditions, and the interpretation — so the CFD output feeds back into WinHeat® and the FEA feeds back into the mechanical and structural packages without an external handoff.
CFD Applications
- Radiant heat-flux uniformity in CDU / VDU heaters
- Burner-flame interaction and combustion profile
- Draft profile and stack dispersion
- Vibration and flow-induced resonance
FEA Applications
- Structural integrity over 30-year lifecycle
- Wind, seismic, and dynamic load response
- Tube support and nozzle stress analysis
- Thermal expansion across operating states
Scope of activities
Deliverables across the engineering package
A representative set of engineering deliverables we produce in-house across fired heater EPC and revamp scopes.
Basic and detailed engineering
Process design and heat/material balance
Thermal rating (WinHeat®)
Tube-by-tube flux and film temperature analysis
Structural design — static, wind, seismic, dynamic
Pressure parts design to ASME and API 560
Piping flexibility and stress analysis
Connection and tube support design
Refractory design and dry-out engineering
Transportation and lifting lug design
Design for modularization
3D modeling and construction drawings
CFD and FEA analysis
Procurement and vendor engineering
Software Stack
Proprietary engine plus industry-standard toolchain
WinHeat® sits at the thermal core of an engineering toolchain that combines the Autodesk plant and structural suite with dedicated analysis tools for stacks, piping, lifting, and CFD.
3D Modeling, Plant & Structural
Autodesk Plant 3D
Plant modeling and piping design.
Autodesk Revit
Building and plant coordination.
Autodesk MEP / P&ID
Services routing and P&ID development.
Autodesk Advance Steel
Structural steel detailing and fabrication drawings.
Revit Structure
Structural modeling integrated with architectural model.
Structural Detailer
Shop-ready structural detailing.
Autodesk Civil 3D
Site grading, layout, and civil interfaces.
Autodesk Inventor
Mechanical component design and assemblies.
AutoCAD
General 2D drafting baseline.
Analysis & CFD
STAAD Pro
Structural analysis for stacks, casings, and platforms.
MecaStack
Stack-specific static, dynamic, and vortex-shedding analysis.
MecaLug
Lifting lug and transportation engineering.
PipeCal
Piping flexibility and stress analysis.
OpenFoam
Open-source CFD for firebox, combustion, and flow studies.
Baram
CFD pre/post-processing for heater applications.
Standards & Approvals
Compliant where it counts. Contributing where it matters.
We hold the approvals procurement teams look for, and we sit on the committees that shape the standards our buyers will read next year.
Co-authoring API 561 (SMR) API 560 (Fired Heaters) — contributing API 936 (Refractory) — contributing ASME U Stamp + S Stamp IBR (Indian Boiler Regulations) EIL-enlisted — Fired Heaters + Modularization ISO 9001:2015 · 14001:2015 · 45001
Full standards & approvals page Data protection
Strict document control and backup
Client data, calculations, and models are managed under strict document control with versioning, access control, and regular backup. Confidentiality and integrity of project information are core obligations from bid stage through warranty support.
Bring us your hardest heater problem.
Share heat and material balances, plot constraints, or revamp objectives — we align the right disciplines and software from day one.