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Heat TransferAsian Research, 31 (7), 2002

Method of Calculation of Heat Transfer Coefficient of the Heater

in a Circulating Fluidized Bed Furnace
J.F. Lu,1 J.S. Zhang,1 G.X. Yue,1 Q. Liu,1 L. Yu,2 X.D. Lin,2 W.J. Li,2
Y. Tang,3 T.Y. Luo,3 and R.S. Ge3
1
Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
2
Harbin Boiler Works, Harbin 150040, China
3
Dongfang Boiler Works, Zigong 643001, China

Knowledge of heat transfer coefficients is important in the design and operation of CFB boilers. It is the key to determining the area and the layout of the heat
transfer surfaces in a CFB furnace. Local bulk density has a close relationship to the
local heat transfer coefficient. Using a heat flux probe and bulk density sampling probe,
the local bed to wall heat transfer coefficient in the furnace of a 75 t/h CFB boiler was
measured. According to the experimental results and theoretical analysis of the facts
that influence the heat transfer, the heat transfer coefficient calculation method for the
CFB furnace was developed. The heat transfer surface configuration, heating condition, and the material density are considered in this method. The calculation method
has been used in the design of CFB boilers with a capacity from 130 t/h to 420 t/h.
2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(7): 540550, 2002; Published
online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.10056
Key words: heat transfer coefficient, circulating fluidized bed, design model

1. Introduction
As an advanced coal combustion technology, CFB technology has developed rapidly globally
due to its insensitivity to fuel quality and its low emission of SO2 and NOX. After the CFB
improvement in the eighth 5-year plan, the CFB boiler with a capacity of 75 t/h was commercialized
in China. To date, almost 400 units of CFB boilers with a capacity of 75 t/h or less are in commercial
operation in China. Thus, it is possible to investigate the heat transfer of the surfaces in the furnace
on an industrial-scale CFB boiler.
The heat transfer in the furnace of a CFB boiler and PC boiler is different in nature. In the
CFB furnace, the temperature is in the range of 800 to 900 C, and the radiation and particle convection
are both important to the heat transfer. In a traditional PC boiler furnace, the radiation is considered
the only mechanism of heat transfer. The heat transfer in the CFB boiler furnace is complex. The
accuracy of calculation of the heat transfer coefficient has a direct effect on the area and layout of the
2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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heat surfaces. In designing CFB boilers, it is important to calculate the heat transfer coefficient
accurately.
Because of the difficulties in field testing and commercial reasons, very few articles about
heat transfer in a CFB boiler furnace based on the data from an industrial-scale CFB boiler has been
published to date. Presently, neither the modeling work nor the test data from a laboratory-scale CFB
facility can be directly used for engineering design. More test data are needed for the industrial-scale
CFB boilers.
Nomenclature
constant

a0
a1
constant

b0
constant

b1
constant

c0
constant

c1
constant

constant

CC
Cgc
convection coefficient of flue gas
J/m3K
P
Cc
convection coefficient of particle convection
W/m2K
Cp
bulk density of the material
kg/m3
C
constant

total surface area at working medium side

m2
Hf
Hfin
area of the fin
m2
Ht
total surface area at flue gas side
m2
k
attenuation coefficient of flue gas radiation
1/m
2
K
heat transfer coefficient
W/m K
m
mass
kg
m
power index for fluidization velocity

n1
constant

n2
constant

q0
heat absorption capacity per area
W/m2
Q
heat absorption capacity
W
rH2O
water vapor content in flue gas

r
three-atom gas content in flue gas

s
radiation thickness of flue gas
m
s
pitch between the tubes
m
tb
bed temperature
K
K
tprobe surface temperature at the front surface of the heat flux probe
t
temperature
difference
between
thermocouples
K
_
Ta
average temperature of the combustion liner (chamber)
K
Tf
working medium temperature next to the heating surface
K
T
temperature
at
the
heating
surface
K
_w
average temperature of the heating surface
K
Tw
Tw
temperature difference between the tube interior and exterior
K
n
thickness coefficient of the fin

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Vf

b
nb
c
gc
pc
f
r

as
b
g
P
Ps
w
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flue gas velocity

m/s
local heat transfer coefficient
W/m2K
heat transfer coefficient at bed side
W/m2K
nominal heat transfer coefficient from bed to the wall
W/m2K
convection heat transfer coefficient
W/m2K
convection heat transfer coefficient of flue gas
W/m2K
convection heat transfer coefficient of particle convection
W/m2K
heat transfer coefficient at working medium side
W/m2K
2
radiation heat transfer coefficient
W/m K
fin thickness
m
combustion liner thickness
m
distance between thermocouples
m
system emittance

additional thermal resistance

m2K/W
bed emittance

flue gas emittance

solid material emittance

average emittance of heating surface

wall surface emittance

contamination coefficient of the heating surface

m2K/W
utilizational coefficient of fin

heat conductivity of steel cylinder

W/mK
combustion liner heat conductivity
W/mK
fin width
m
local material bulk density
kg/m3
W/m2K4
StefanBoltzmann constant 5.67 108
2. Field Measurement Technology

2.1 Boiler tested

The heat transfer measurement was conducted on a CFB boiler with a steam capacity of 75
t/h (50 MWth). The basic parameters of the boiler and the schematic of the boiler are given in Ref. 1.
The design parameters and operating parameters are listed in Table 1. The fuel analysis is given in
Table 2.
Table 1. Parameters of the CFB Boiler
Capacity
(kg s1)
Design valve
Operation valve

20.83
20.96

Steam
pressure
(MPa)
3.82
3.12

Steam temp.
(C)

Feed water
temp. (C)

Exhaust gas
temp. (C)

450
451

150
147

148
142

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Carbon
content in
flue gas (%)
4.2
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Table 2. CFB Boiler Coal Analysis

Design valve
Operation valve

C
34.87
34.36

H
2.40
2.53

O
5.36
5.16

N
0.64
0.62

S
1.74
0.10

Ash
48.5
50.45

Moisture
6.50
6.78

Volatile
29.93
44.44

Along the side water wall of the furnace, there were different test points. The geometry of the furnace is
3000 6000 20,000 mm, which is composed of 51 100 (pitch) water tubes. The bed temperature was
920 C during the test.

2.2 Structure and principle of the heat flux meter

Figure 1 shows a schematic illustration of the heat flux meter developed by Tsinghua
University. It was designed to measure the local heat flux on the water wall. The heat flux data can
be converted into local heat transfer coefficient, as the bed temperature and surface temperature of
the probe are known. The heat conduction element is a round steel bar in which three thermocouples
are located on the axis of the bar. There are another three thermocouples at the corresponding position
on the cylinder surface in order to monitor the radial heat flow, which causes measurement error. The
bar is covered with an insulation layer except for the head surface. The end of the bar is cooled by
water. During the test the probe was inserted into the water wall with the front surface at the same
position of the inner surface of the fin of the water wall. As heat is conducted into the bar, the
temperature difference measured by thermocouples is the indirect measure of the heat flux in the steel
bar.
A detailed analysis of the principle of this heat flux meter is given in Ref. 2.
The heat conductivity of steel is the function of temperature, determined by calibration in the
laboratory. In order to detect the error accumulation of the probe, two probes were made, and the
constant heat source method was used to calibrate the probe. The calibration proved that the heat flux
difference of the two probes is within 15% [3].

Fig. 1. Schematic of heat flux meter.

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Fig. 2. Solid sampling probe.

2.3 Structure and principle of the solid sampling probe

Figure 2 shows the structure of the solid sampling probe developed at Tsinghua University.
It was developed to measure the local bulk density that should be known when measuring the local
heat transfer coefficient. The probe is a drawerlike box with a sliding cover and bottom. When the
opened box is inserted into the furnace, we can close the box by sliding the cover and bottom
simultaneously, which can catch all particles which are moving through the space of the box. The
weight of the caught particles over the size of the box space is the bulk density in the space we
measured (neglecting the weight of flue gas in space).
3. Experimental Results and Discussion
Because of the limited sampling points on the water wall, the effective test data are also scant.
Figure 3 shows a comparison of the present test results and the data from the literature [46]. The
local heat transfer coefficient decreases as the bulk density decreases, a tendency which matches
previous research [79]. The present data are higher than those from the literature; this might be
caused by higher bed temperature (920 C) or different water wall parameters.

Fig. 3. The experimental results compared with those from the literature.
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4. Modeling Calculation

4.1 Factors influencing heat transfer coefficient of the furnace in CFB boiler
4.1.1 Influence of the heating surface configuration
The heat absorption capacity of a heating surface in the furnace of a CFB boiler can be
calculated according to
Q = KHtT

(1)

with
K=

1
1
1 Ht
1
+
+ as +

nb f Hf

(2)

Heat transfer thermal resistance includes the thermal resistance of the bed side, the working
medium side, the heating surface in itself, and the additional thermal resistance. The additional thermal
resistance can be expressed as
as = s +

a
a

(3)

with
_
a = a0 + a1Ta

(4)

_
where 0 and 1 can be determined by existing data, and Ta is the average temperature of the
combustion liner coating, defined by the equation
_
Ta = (Tb + Tw) / 2

(5)

To calculate the heat absorption capacity, the heat conduction coefficient of the metal on the
heating surface is needed. The heat conduction coefficient of the metal is related to the material
physical properties and the temperature, and this correlation is defined by
_
= b0 + b1Tw

(6)

where b0 and b1 are determined by the characteristics of the metal used for the heating surface. The
average temperature of the surface is defined as
_
Tw = (Tw + Tf) / 2
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(7)

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The temperature difference T can be expressed as

T = Tb Tf

(8)

The pitch and the diameter of the membrane tubes influence the heat flow [10, 11]. In the
heating surface configuration, the area ratio between the internal and external heating surface and the
area ratio between the fins are given respectively as

Ht
2 s (2 )1
=1+
1
Hf

d 21

Hfin
=
Ht

sd

s + 1d
2

(9)

(10)

The nominal heat transfer coefficient nb on the bed side is influenced by the pitch between
two tubes, the thickness of the fin, and the contaminated condition on the tube surface; their correlation
is expressed as
Hfin
bn
(n 1) + 1
nb =
Ht
1 + sb

(11)

with
=

th( h)
h

(12)

where the value of is related to the case of the heating surface, the geometry of the membrane wall
fin, and the material.
4.1.2 Analysis on heat transfer at bed side in CFB boiler
The heat transfer from two-phase amalgamation of flue gas and material involves convection
and radiation, and the total heat transfer coefficient is the sum of respective coefficients for each mode:
b = r + c

(13)

Near the wall in the furnace, there is a downflow of material with high density. In the
downflow, agglomeration occurs between particles. Agglomeration is a random behavior, and it is
difficult to describe it in an appropriate formation. On the whole, the material density near the wall
is relatively high. In the region where the heat transfer is effective, the downflow of the material can
be considered as a discrete stable flow.
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The heat transfer from the bed material to the wall includes two steps. The fist is the heat and
material exchange from the ascending flue gas in the center of the furnace and the material entrained
by it to the material near the wall. The second is the convection and radiation between the solidgas
two-phase flow and the surface of the wall. There is a boundary layer of 5 to 10 mm in the downflow
near the wall surface. Nearly all of the radiation heat transfer occurs in this layer, and the radiation
heat transfer area is approximately the whole external area Ht of the heating surface, while the
convection occurs on the whole area Ht of the flue gas side. Thus, the heat transfer area of the heating
surface in a CFB boiler is the whole area Ht of the curved surface, this being a main difference
compared to the PC boiler. Through the theoretical analysis outlined above, the heat transfer
coefficient b of the heating surface at the bed side in the furnace of the CFB boiler is deduced.
The total emittance of the system, bed and wall temperature influence the radiation heat
transfer coefficient, and the influence can be expressed as follows:
r = (Tb + Tw)(T2b + T2w)

(14)

The tube temperature Tw is a function of tube material, temperature and velocity of the working
medium, thickness of the tube wall, and temperature of the bed side, where conditions of the working
medium depend on the tube material. In a CFB boiler furnace, the temperature range is 850 to 950
C:
Tw =Tf + Tw

(15)

N
Tw = (c0 + c1Tf)

(16)

with

here c0 and c1 are constants.

The system emittance of the water wall and the bed is given by
=

1
1
1
+
1
b w

(17)

The emittance b of the solid gas mixture in the furnace is combined by that of the particle
and flue gas and can be obtained through these two items:
b = P + g Pg

(18)

with [12]

p =

+
2

(1 )B (1 )B
(1 )B
p
s

p
s

P
s

p
s

P
s

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p
s

(19)

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ps is the average emittance of bed material surface and is related to the solid loading:
ps = 1 exp(CCPn1)

(20)

The emittance g of the flue gas is calculated as

g = 1 eks

(21)

0.55 + 2rH2O

Tb
0.1 1
k=
r
2000

(22)

with

The convection heat transfer coefficient includes the flue gas convection and the particle
convection:
c = gc + pc

(23)

gc = Cgc Vf

(24)

(25)

with

Vf
Pc = CPc Pc 0
5

where Pc 0 is the theoretical convection heat transfer coefficient at the condition of initial fluidization.
Its value is related to the size and temperature of the particle, and the layout of the heating surface.
The convection coefficient of the particle is given by
CPc = 1 expCCCPn2

(26)

where CC and n2 are constants.

In the above calculation, Cp is defined as the bulk density of local material near the wall and
the calculation result is the local heat transfer coefficient. Information about the material density
distribution in the furnace can be obtained in some pertinent reference. Typical material density in
the furnace can be used to calculate the average heat transfer coefficient of the heating surface when
the local material density Cp near the wall is difficult to calculate (see Ref. 13).
4.2 Calculation results and comparison
Heat transfer coefficient calculation on different heating surfaces of six CFB boilers was done
according to the above calculation method. A comparison of the calculation results and the operational
data is listed in Table 3.
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Table 3. Comparison of Calculation Results and Operational Data

Capacity t/h
Heating surface

75
75
75
Water- Water- Watercooled cooled cooled
wall
wall
wall
51
60
60
5
5
5

75
Superheater

220
220
220
Water- Water- Watercooled cooled cooled
wall
wall
wall
51
60
60
5
5
5

220
Superheater

Pipe diameter (mm)

42
38
Thickness of the tube wall
4.5
4.5
(mm)
Pitch between tubes (mm)
100
100
80

76.2
78
78
50
Thickness of the fin (mm)
5
5
5

5
5
5
5
Average bed temp. (C)
930
950
930
900
900
920
920
920
Average working medium
276
276
276
420
319
319
319
450
temp. (C)
Material of the heating surface 20 g
20 g
20 g 12Cr1MoV 20 g
20 g
20 g 12Cr1MoV
Fluidized velocity (actual) m/s
5.2
5.4
4.93
5.2
5.1
4.9
4.9
4.9
Error of heat transfer coeffi2.25% 2.49% 3.82%
0.97%
1.5% 2.21% 3.98% 2.06%
cient calculation

From the comparison, the difference between the calculation and operational data is no more
than 4%. The model is reliable for engineering design. At the present time, in the design of 130, 220,
and 410 t/h CFB boilers, the thermal calculation and the heat transfer coefficient of the heating surface
in the furnace are calculated based on the present method.
5. Conclusion
A heat flux probe and bulk density probe were developed for the measurement of local heat
transfer coefficients in the furnace of an industrial-scale CFB boiler. Field tests were done on a 75 t/h
CFB boiler.
The heat transfer coefficient in the furnace of the CFB boiler is influenced by the layout of
the heating surface, the temperature of the working medium and the bed. It is also related to the
fluidizing gas velocity, material density near the wall, and the size of the material.
An empirical model was developed and corrected by the test data, which can predict the local
heat transfer coefficient on the water wall in the furnace of the CFB boiler. According to the model
prediction, both the bed temperature and bulk density are the controlling factors. This model is reliable
for engineering purposes and has already been used in the design of 130, 220, and 410 t/h CFB boilers.
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(in German)
3. Xing X. The study of heat meter of circulating fluidized bed. Thesis, Tsinghua University,
1996.
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"F F F"
Originally published in J Tsinghua Univ 40, 2000, 9497.
Translated by J.F. Lu, Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084,
China.

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