During the engineering design of ethylene plantefinsIene Plant,fourteen key heat exchangers are identified based on the characteristics of quench system, cracking gas compressor system and hydrocarbon separation system, and some suggestions are put forward for optimizing the design of heat exchangers based on the characteristics of specific process fluid. According to the operation during three operation cycles, the problems in design and operation are analyzed and some improvement measures are proposed. Moreover, focusing on the failure of both exchanger tube and water cooler of the ethylene plant in Zhenhai, this paper proposes several possible solutions which combine exchanger type selection, operation and static equipment management.