Company Profile - History

History - Management Team - Company Structure

In 1939, two engineers, Jack W. Throckmorton and Harold Swanson formed a consulting partnership to advise the fledgling oil refining industry. They called their company, Petro-Chem Development Company and focused their consulting services in the area of combustion related heat transfer equipment. Within a short period, Petro-Chem Development Company grew to become a company specializing in the design and supply of Process Furnaces.

During the early stages of the oil industry, process furnaces (fired heaters) were referred to as "Oil Stills" and were simplistically designed to operate without consideration of cost, space, maintenance, replacement parts or efficiency. Through tedious engineering modeling, Petro-Chem engineers successfully brought to the oil refining industry state-of-the-art technology with the invention of the "Isoflow Furnace"- a compact, high efficiency vertical cylindrical furnace. Much higher radiant efficiencies were achieved by encircling floor fired burners with vertically originated tubes. To this day, many people still refer to all vertical cylindrical furnaces as "Petro-Chem".

In the 1940's & 50's, the Petro-Chem vertical cylindrical heater was unanimously approved by our industry for all types of process applications and dominated both the domestic and international markets. It is literally accurate to say that, " The sun never sets on a Petro-Chem Heater." 

The 1960's & 70's saw an increased emphasis on improving heater fuel efficiency. Petro-Chem was and is an industry leader in supplying both fin & stud tube convection sections/economizers and air preheat systems. Heater efficiencies during this period were improved from 50% to over 90% (LHV).

The 1980's & 90's saw an increased emphasis on emissions reduction. Petro-Chem lead the way in innovative solutions to minimize emissions while increasing fuel efficiency, tube life, and run lengths. The technical design studies and engineering packages prepared by Petro-Chem permitted many end users to install modifications to existing fired equipment which reduced emission which while providing a return on investment through increased production, efficiency, and reduced maintenance. 

In the 1990's and beyond, there is an emphasis in refining for flexibility of crude slates, maximizing liquid yields, minimizing emissions, and keeping capital equipment cost and operating costs to an absolute minimum. End users are looking for an international, full service company with a strong technical and financial base, plus extensive process and fired heater expertise.

Today, Petro-Chem’s product offerings are diversified and include furnaces and fired heaters used in petro-chemical plants; furnaces and fired heaters utilized by oil refineries; furnaces for chemical plants; and heaters utilized in a number of applications (Flue gas re-circulation, CO boilers, direct fired air heaters, pipeline heaters, waste heat boilers among others). 

In addition, the Company licenses its patented “Petro-Chem Film Cooling Technology” and provides a full range of Customer Services including 24-Hour Emergency Response, Feasibility Studies, Design and Engineering; Modeling; Retrofit Services; Estimating and Scheduling; Procurement; Project Management; Inspection Services; and Technical and Construction related Services.

Most recently, Petro-Chem has established a Joint Venture with Heurtey Petro-Chem to exploit and leverage the opportunities in the Middle East.  In addition Petro-Chem has entered into an MOU with a vertical partner to further develop and commercialize Petro-Chem’s newest Patent on Flameless Combustion.    Customers include major oil companies and oil services companies and chemical companies such as, but not limited to: BP Amoco, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Valero, Marathon, Motiva, Pemex, Caltex, Shell, Bechtel, Fluor, Worley Parsons, CB&I, etc.

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