Born is the world's leading supplier of direct fired process heaters and associated process plant and equipment, offering comprehensive engineering, procurement, inspection, installation and commissioning services, together with full after sales support.

In the 91 years since Dr. Sidney Born Senior developed his pioneering thermal oil cracking process, which revolutionised the oil and petrochemical industries, Born has been at the forefront of modern heater and furnace technology.

A continuous policy of innovative design, product development and commitment to quality ensured that every Born installation precisely meets the client's individual specifications and site requirements, as well as the highest industry standards.

From small beginnings Born has developed into a force to be reckoned with in the international market.

In the early 1970's it became clear that it was necessary to be flexible in operation to succeed in the valuable international market.

Consequently Born began to develop associations with local companies in the countries where new plants were destined to be built to utilise the local available labour and currency, by training the available personnel and supervising the manufacture, and importing into these countries only the more sophisticated materials and components. This proved to be a very successful approach and has been responsible for a very considerable amount of business.

As the organisation grew - in addition to the technical innovation, flexible marketing and contracting the process engineering design was computerized. This had been successfully undertaken utilising research facility of the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma in conjunction with IBM.

This streamlined the preparation on bid tenders producing a fast turnaround in enquiries and guaranteeing efficient process designs.

Born has been, and is determined to continue to be, in the forefront of technological innovation, at the same time trying to achieve the utmost efficiency to produce a competitively priced product in the international market.  Born do not get into the process end of business or try to compete with contractors.

Born designed, supplied and erected the first furnaces to process U.K. North Sea crude at the Philips, Ekofisk onshore installations, eventually processing as a single plant 1 million barrels per day. This probably remains today one of the largest and most sophisticated single heater installations in the world.

Born personnel have supervised fabrication and erection of heaters in China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, South, Central and North Africa, almost all of the Middle East, Mediterranean and Arab countries, Siberia, Scandinavia, Mexico, South America, Alaska, Canada, Turkey, Poland, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan - in other words almost every country in the world but all controlled by a core management team. 

Since the beginning of Born fired heaters were, and still are, the corner stone of the business.  However, during this time Born has also liaised closely with process licensors such as Haldor Topsoe, Davy, Kellogg, Stone & Webster and UOP for the supply of reformers, platformers, enthylene furnaces, EDC crackers, etc.  Born's expertise is recognised by companies such as these and has resulted in successful collaboration on many projects.

With the advent of environmental concerns and the pressures being put on Governments to introduce more stringent legislation, Born has made a conscious effort to recognise this need and provide products and services accordingly.  Born introduced Born Environmental Services to design and supply incinerators, scrubbers, SCR units, etc.  Born Environmental utilises the experience gained by Born and applies it to the growing environmental market place.

The company is financially strong and currently has a worldwide core personnel of over 100 employees with technical expertise specific to the products being designed and supplied.  Born's aim is to expand into the new markets and utilize their experience well into the year 2010 and beyond. Born's clients have long recognised the quality of the product and this is now supported by full quality documentation as required by our clients and our inhouse quality procedures.

Primarily Born is involved in the onshore oil and petrochemical industry. However, for the supply of waste heat recovery units, they also operate in the offshore market.

The convection section of a fired heater is often called a waste heat recovery unit as it is utilised to extract heat from the flue gases that would otherwise be vented to the atmosphere.  Born has supplied waste heat recovery units utilizing turbine exhaust.  These units have a high degree of integrity in combination with compactness of design and reliability.