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Cheresources.comCommunity CommunityBlog Ankur's_Chemical_Engg_Blog HeatFluxAndMaximumFilmTemperatureForFiredHeaters

1votes

HeatFluxAndMaximumFilmTemperatureForFiredHeaters

18December2012
Postedbyankur2061inTechnical

TodayIwasgoingthroughsomewriteuprelatedtofiredheatersfromoldmanualsofaworldclassoperationscompanyandfoundsomeverygood
informationrelatedto"HeatFlux"and"MaximumFilmTemperature"forfiredheatersusedinvariousservices.Althoughprocessdesignengineers
workingforgeneralengineeringconsultingfirmscouldneverthinkofdesigningafiredheaterontheirown,oneofthemostcommonactivityrelatedto
firedheaterswouldbethepreparationofaprocessdatasheetforafiredheaterbyaprocessengineer.Datasuchasaverageandpeakheatfluxand
maximumfilmtemperaturewouldberequiredtobefilledinthedatasheetforafiredheater.
Beforegoingintothefiguresforheatfluxandmaximumfilmtemperatureitisimportanttounderstandwhatthesetermsmeanincontexttoafiredheater.
Ingeneralheatfluxisthemaindeterminantforthetubeareaofafiredheater.IthastheunitskW/m2inSIunitsandBtu/hr*ft2inEnglishunits.Itistherateofheat
transmissionthroughthetubesintotheprocessfluid.Theareausedinthespecificationofheatfluxisusuallytheoutsidetubeareaintheradiantsection.Heatfluxcan
beclassifiedastheaverageheatfluxandthepeakheatfluxforafiredheater.
AverageHeatFlux
Theaveragefluxisobtainedbydividingthedutyoftheradiantsectionbythetotalexposedoutsidetubearea.Thisapproachisvalidfor"wellmixed"fireboxeswhere
thereislittlevariationoffluegastemperaturethroughoutthebox.(Steamreformerheatersinhydrogen,ammoniaandmethanolplantsareanimportantexception).
Ifthefluxistoohighintheradiantsectionofanexistingheater,theonlywaytodecreaseitisbyreducingthefiringrate.
PeakorMaximumHeatFlux
Supposeabankoftubes,withacentertocenterspacingoftwotubediameters,isplacedoneortwotubediametersawayfromarefractorywallandisuniformlyfired
fromtheoppositesideofthewallthenthesideofthetubefacingtheflamewillreceivedirectradiationandtheoppositesidewillreceiveradiationreflectedfromthe
wall.Thehottestpointonthetubewillbeonthesidefacingtheflamewherethesurfaceisatarightangletotheflux.Thisisthepeakormaximumheatfluxanditwill
beabout1.8timestheaveragevalue.
Whenthebankoftubesisplacedinthecenterofthefireboxandisfireduniformlyfromtwosides,theratioofpeaktoaveragefluxwillbe1.2.Thisillustratesthe
advantageoftwosidedordoublefiring.Thusforagivenpeakflux,theaveragefluxwillbe50%greaterthaninthecaseofsingleoronesidedfiring.
Formostfiredheaterapplicationsthepeakfluxvaluesareintherangeof47to69kW/m2(15,000to22,000Btu/hr*ft2)andaveragefluxvaluesareintherangeof25to
47kW/m2(8,000to15,000Btu/hr*ft2).Refertheattachedtableforaverageheatfluxvalues.
MaximumInsideFilmTemperature
Flux,eitherpeakoraverage,isausefulparametertofixwhenspecifyingafiredheaterfordesign.Excessivelyhighfluxwillcausetubeoverheatingandevenleadto
damageoftheheaterrefractorywalls.Butwhatisreallyofconcernfromtheprocessviewpointisthemaximuminsidefluidfilmtemperature.Thisisthemaximum
temperaturethatthefluidsees.
Themaximumtemperaturedifferenceacrosstheinsidefilmcanbecalculatedasthepeakflux(adjustedtothebasisoftheinsidetubearea)dividedbytheinside
(convective)heattransfercoefficient.Thisdifferencewhenaddedtothemaximumprocessbulktemperatureprovidesthemaximumfilmtemperature.Recommended
maximumfilmtemperaturesforsomeapplicationsareprovidedintheattachedtable.Insideheattransfercoefficientsrangefromaminimumof0.11kW/m2*K(20
Btu/ft2*h*degF)forgasesuptoapproximately5.7kW/m2*K(1000Btu/ft2*h*degF)forboilingwater(steamgeneration).
Fouling
Forheaterswithwithtubesknowntobesubjecttoinsidefouling,theprocessengineermayspecifyatemperatureallowanceforfouling.Thistemperaturedifference
isaddedtothemaximuminsidefilmtemperaturetogettheinsidetubemetaltemperature.Itwillaffectthemechanicaldesignofthetubes.Temperatureallowancesare
intherangeof10to38degC(50to100degF).Refertheattachedtable.

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HeatFluxAndMaximumFilmTemperatureForFiredHeatersCheresources.comCommunity

Sothatisaboutitforheatfluxandmaximumfilmtemperatureforfiredheaters.Thetableattachedforrecommendedvaluesistherecommendationofaparticular
company.ThesevaluesmaybedifferentbasedondesignandoperatingexperienceofanothercompanyandhenceIadvisetheengineerstoverifythefiguresfor
suitabilitytothefiredheaterdesignobjectivesofanyothercompanyforwhichtheyareprovidingthedata.
Hopingtohavesomecommentsonthisentryfromthereadersofmyblog.
Regards,
Ankur.

PhotoAnkur,
Ireallyappreciatethatyoutaketimeandwritethesebeneficialarticleforyoungengineerlikeus.

chem101
Dec29201205:22PM

thankuforurvaluableinfo.kindlyreplymebackwiththeprocessdesigncalculationforindirectwaterbathheaterifpossible.
sajju
Apr08201308:19AM

Photosir,howcanisizetheshelllengthanddiameterofwaterbathindirectlineheater
kem23
Oct11201309:26AM

PhotoThanksalotsirforsharingthisvaluableinfowithus.

sharpfire
CouldyoupleasepostHowtocalculateHeaterEfficiency/dutyandBurnerefficiencyaswell.
Oct14201311:53PM

Thanksinadvance

Robert74
Nov02201303:25AM

DearSir,
Manythanksforthegreatinformation.Ifyouhaveabasicprocedureforthemechanicalandprocessdesignof
thefiredheaterforthecrudedistillationpleaseuploadit.

Thanks
Robert

PhotoWheredoIfindthevaluesoffilmcoefficientsfortypicalprocessheaters?IwastryingtocalculatedthepeakfilmtempforaVisbreaker
furnaceasperAPI530.Itneedstheheattranfercoeffforbothliquid&vaporphaseatthebulktemp.However,Iamunabletogetthat.
pratyayan

Aug11201412:06AM
Ifyoucanpointmetoanysource,thatwillbewonderful

regards

Chakraborty

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pratyayan,on11Aug201410:46AM,said:

ankur2061

WheredoIfindthevaluesoffilmcoefficientsfortypicalprocessheaters?IwastryingtocalculatedthepeakfilmtempforaVisbreakerfurnaceas
perAPI530.Itneedstheheattranfercoeffforbothliquid&vaporphaseatthebulktemp.However,Iamunabletogetthat.

Ifyoucanpointmetoanysource,thatwillbewonderful

regards

Chakraborty

Aug11201401:29AM

Chakraborty,

Havealookatthelinkbelow:

http://www.ijetae.co...TAE_0313_09.pdf

Regards,
Ankur.

PhotoHiAnkur,thanksforshareyourknowledge.

Akalabeth
Youknow,whereicanfindinformationforcalculateheattransfercoefficientinfiredheater,specifically,convectionsection.
Dec18201411:12AM

Furnacetype:box,withtopverticalburners.
Application:Steamreforming(methanolplant)
Fuel:NaturalGas

Coilsinconvectionsection:Somesarefinned,othernot.

Miintention,notaredesign.

Thanksforall.

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