PETROLEUM REFINING'EQUIPMENT

CALCULATION

OF

CHAMBERS
Ts.
and

OF
A.
L.

HEAT

TUBE

Bakhshiyan,
G. Shakhova

TRANSFER

RADIANT

IN

FURNACES
N.

F.

UDC 66.041.454:536.24

Volkov,

The development of new types of furnaces [1] r e q u i r e s new methods of calculation that will take into account the specific design features and operating r e g i m e s of these furnaces. Thus far, e n g i n e e r i n g m e t h o d s f o r
calculating heat t r a n s f e r in f u r n a c e s [2-4] have been based on an analysis of simplified s c h e m e s of radiating
s y s t e m s consisting of three or four i s o t h e r m a l zones. In these s c h e m e s , c h a m b e r furnaces are r e g a r d e d as
t h r e e - z o n e s y s t e m s consisting of an i s o t h e r m a l , optically homogeneous volume zone filled with combustion p r o d ucts and the flame, and two s u r f a c e zones, i.e., the radiation--absorbing surface of the s c r e e n (tubes) and the
furnace lining. In g r a t e - f i r e d furnaces and furnaces with radiant walls, still another surface zone is distingnished - the r a d i a n t w a l l o r radiant fuel bed,
Determination of the overall heat t r a n s f e r in a furnace reduces to the solution of the following equations
for the heat balance and heat t r a n s f e r :
Qt = Qr -}" Qconv =

~BVc(Ta --

r f );

%o~v = %~t % - r~ ),

(1)

(3)

where Qt is the quantity of heat t r a n s m i t t e d to the product in the furnace; Qr is the quantity of heat t r a n s m i t t e d
to the product by radiation in the furnace; Qconv is the quantity of heat t r a n s m i t t e d to the product by convection
in the furnace; ~o is the coefficient of heat retention; B is the fuel consumption; Vc is the a v e r a g e heat capacity of the combustion products; Ta is the t h e o r e t i c a l (adiabatic) combustion t e m p e r a t u r e ; Tf is the t e m p e r a ture of the g a s e s at the exit f r o m the furnace c h a m b e r ; Tef is the effective t e m p e r a t u r e of the firebox medium;
T H is the t e m p e r a t u r e of the s c r e e n - t u b e surface; C Ois the radiation coefficient of an ideal black body; H s is
the equivalent (absolute-black) s u r f a c e of radiant t r a n s f e r ; ~ c is the convective heat t r a n s f e r coefficient; Ht
is the total s u r f a c e of the s c r e e n tubes (based on outside diameter).
The equivalent i d e a l - b l a c k s u r f a c e H s that a p p e a r s in Eq. (2) is related in overall calculation methods to
the reduced degree of blackness of the furnace c h a m b e r af by the equation
Y, = af.H t ,

(4)

where Hr is the radiation--absorbing heating s u r f a c e .

The effective t e m p e r a t u r e of firebox radiation Tel can be related to the heat-balance t e m p e r a t u r e of the
g a s e s at the firebox outlet by the equation
__ [ T e f ~4

0~f - ~ T--~--] "

(5)

Here the value of 0e4f is d e t e r m i n e d f r o m experimental data on the overall heat t r a n s f e r in the firebox; it
r e p r e s e n t s an e m p i r i c a l c l o s u r e function through which a joint solution of Eqs. (1), (2), and (3) can be effected.
This function also c o r r e c t s the assumptions involved in determining the reduced d e g r e e of blackness of the f i r e box of and the convective component Qconv.
It is well known that overall methods of calculating heat t r a n s f e r in furnaces d o n o t provide any possibility
of determining the distribution of heat fluxes along the radiation absorbing surface, nor of accounting for the
Gubkin Moscow Institute of the P e t r o c h e m i c a l and Gas Industry (MINKhi GP). T r a n s l a t e d f r o m Khimiya
i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 6, pp. 26-30, June, 1977.
This material is protected by copyright registered in the name o f Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17th Street, New York, N. Y. 1001 I. No part
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403

influence of n o n i s o t h e r m i c i t y and optical inhomogeneity of the firebox medium (luminous flame, c 0 m b u s t i o n p r o d ucts), d i f f e r e n c e ill t e m p e r a t u r e of individual sections of the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e s , etc. A solution of
these p r o b l e m s is possible on the basis of different variants of zonal methods of calculation that have been developed and a r e now available [5-11].
Developments in c o m p u t e r technology have now made it possible to c a r r y out n u m e r i c a l analysis of the
p r o c e s s of radiant heat t r a n s f e r in complex s y s t e m s with tens of volume and s u r f a c e zones. In turn, such
analysis has clarified the influence of v a r i o u s f a c t o r s (mutual location of boundary s u r f a c e s , flame, and c o m bustion p r o d u c t s ; conditions of fuel combustion; firebox a e r o d y n a m i c s ; etc.) on heat t r a n s f e r in a furnace
c h a m b e r and, in p a r t i c u l a r , on the distribution of heat fluxes along the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e .
it should be noted that the c u r r e n t state of p r a c t i c a l methods of calculating overall heat t r a n s f e r (since
these a r e s e m i e m p i r i c a l methods) makes it impossible to avoid the use of Eqs. (1) and (2) as the b a s i s for calculation, since f r o m the balance e x p e r i m e n t s that a r e used as the p r i m a r y basis of comparing the r e s u l t s of
4 can be obtained. Zonal methods of calculation, while giving ad_
calculations, only one e m p i r i c a l coefficient, 0ef,
ditional i n f o r m a t i o n on the distribution of heat fluxes along the s u r f a c e of the s c r e e n , c u r r e n t l y do not improve
the a c c u r a c y or reliability in d e t e r m i n i n g the b a s i c index, the overall heat t r a n s f e r , in c o m p a r i s o n with p r a c t i c a l e n g i n e e r i n g methods.
The explanation for this situation is that, when using zonal methods of calculation, it is often n e c e s s a r y to
make a s s u m p t i o n s that a r e not adequately supported by experimental data (field of gas velocities, coefficients
of turbulent and convective t r a n s f e r , field of heat evolution, etc.). In o v e r a l l methods of calculation, the e m p i r i cal coefficients a r e established quite reliably on the basis of furnace balance tests.
In the i n t e r e s t of f u r t h e r development of calculation methods and revealing the physical meaning of the
o v e r a l l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of heat t r a n s f e r in f u r n a c e s , it is of i n t e r e s t to obtain relationships between the calculated c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the o v e r a l l method of and 6ef, and also the o p t i c a l - g e o m e t r i c a l and e n e r g y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the individual zones into which the firebox may be a r b i t r a r i l y divided in zonal methods of calculation.
F o r the firebox of a tube furnace with radiant (or deck) walls, the s u r f a c e zones can be divided up into
t h r e e types - z o n e s o f t h e s c r e e n s u r f a c e , zones of the radiating walls, and zones of the furnace lining.
Let us examine a mixed s t a t e m e n t of the p r o b l e m in which the t e m p e r a t u r e s and o p t i c a l - g e o m e t r i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r e given for the zones of the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e (i = 1, 2, 3, ..., n') and for the surface of
the radiant wall (fl = 1, 2, 3 .... , n ' ) .
F o r the r e m a i n i n g s u r f a c e zones (furnace liner zones y = 1, 2 . . . . . n'"), the magnitudes of the resultant
fluxes a r e given (in the special case of an adiabatic linear, we have E r e s y = 0). F u r t h e r , we will divide the
volume of the firebox V into m zones Vj (j = 1, 2, ..., m), the t e m p e r a t u r e s of which we consider to be known.
In this c a s e , the relationship between the overall and zonal c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the furnace c a n be written
in the f o r m
n'

af = (O~f --O~I) =i=1

Hr

'

(6)

where afi and 0ef r e p r e s e n t the d e g r e e of blackness of the firebox and the effective t e m p e r a t u r e of the radiating s y s t e m relative to the i-th zone of the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e ; OH = T H / T f is the a v e r a g e dimensionless t e m p e r a t u r e of the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e ; 0i = T i / T f is the dimensionless t e m p e r a t u r e of the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e of the i-th zone; Hri is the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e of the i-th zone.
The d e t e r m i n a t i o n of the values of afi and 0ef i on the b a s i s of resolving generalized angular coefficients
of radiation exchange between the zones under c o n s i d e r a t i o n has been given in [12].
The reduced blackness of the firebox af in integral methods of calculation is determined both for a fourzone firebox s y s t e m with radiant and deck walls, and also for a t h r e e - z o n e s y s t e m with a free flame.
F o r the f o u r - z o n e s y s t e m (n' = n" = n'" = m = 1), with given t e m p e r a t u r e s of the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r face (TH), radiant or deck wail (TR), and volume zone (Tv), and also with an adiabatic liner ( E r e s y = 0), the exp r e s s i o n for the reduced blackness of the firebox can be written in the following f o r m [13]:
af ~ As (ARaPsR q-~PsV ) = a.a -~-a v ,

404

(7)

where A H and AR a r e ~he absorption coefficients of the s c r e e n and the radiant wall; ~HR is the resolving an~ul a r coefficient between the surface of the s c r e e n and the radiant wall; ~HV is the resolving attenuating capability of the medium relative to the s c r e e n s u r f a c e ; a R is the fraction of the total (direct and reflected) radiation of the s c r e e n s u r f a c e that is a b s o r b e d by the radiant wall; a v is the fraction of the total radiation o f the
s c r e e n s u r f a c e that is a b s o r b e d by the medium filling the firebox space, with allowance f o r multiple reflection~
f r o m all s u r f a c e zones.
The function c h a r a c t e r i z i n g the effective t e m p e r a t u r e of radiation in the firebox in this case is determined by the e x p r e s s i o n [2]
04

where 0~ = (Tv/Tf)4;

(8)

aR

0~ : (TR/Tf) 4.

The e x p r e s s i o n for af can be given in t e r m s of g e n e r a l i z e d angular coefficients (~HF, ~0FH, ~FF), f r o m a

solution of the s y s t e m s of equations, following the data of [10] for the resolving generalized angular coefficients.
When A/3 = AR = 1.0, we obtain

aR

AH [~PFRCHF-~- ~'HR ([ - - lPFE)]

RHCHH) (I - - %~FF) -- RH~PIFCFII

(I --

(9)

'

AH [I~HF~FV ~- ~IlV ( | - - ~3FF)]

RH~JHH) (1 - - FF) - - RPIXPHF~PFI'I '

a v ----- (1 - -

(10)

where RH is the coefficient of refleetion of the s c r e e n s u r f a c e ; q~HR, ~HF, and ~ F F are generalized angular
coefficients.
F o r c h a m b e r furnaees (n' = n" = m = 1, ~HR = ~FR = 0), we have a f = a v .
A c o m p a r i s o n of values of of calculated for one of the furnaces on the basis of determining generalized
angular coefficients f r o m graphs given in [10-11] and a c c o r d i n g to Eq. (11) d e m o n s t r a t e s the possibility of using
this relationship in calculations of the overall heat t r a n s f e r by the determination of the generalized angular coefficients appearing.in Eqs. (9) and (10) f r o m the equation
~;Ha = q~R( 1--aft),

(11)

where ~0i-iR is the angular eoefficient between the s c r e e n and the radiant wall; aft is the degree of blackness of
the flame, d e t e r m i n e d according to the data of [4].
As special c a s e s of the determination of af a c c o r d i n g to Eqs. (9), (10), and (11), we obtain f o r m u l a s for
c h a m b e r and g r a t e - f i r e d furnaces in a c e o r d a n c e with the method of VTI-]~NII [4]. In this method, for c h a m b e r
f u r n a c e s , it is r e c o m m e n d e d that the angular coefficients should be determined in t e r m s of the degree of shielding for limiting c a s e s of placement of the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e s on the furnace walls (uniform distribution of the s c r e e n a e r o s s the entire firebox s u r f a c e , and on one wall). F o r g r a t e - f i r e d furnaces, it is a s s u m e d
that the r a d i a t i o n - a b s o r b i n g surfaee is uniformly distributed and that the radiant bed is not concave. F u r t h e r ,
it is a s s u m e d that AR = 1.0 and that 0V = OR = 0ef.
In using the f o r m u l a s for determining af in a c e o r d a n e e with [4], calculation of the generalized angular coefficients (~HF, ~0FH, etc.) is not required, and this simplifies the calculation considerably. In resolving the
question of the use of f o r m u l a s for determining the reduced d e g r e e Of blackness of the firebox in calculating the
fireboxes of tube f u r n a c e s , we have c o m p a r e d Eqs. (7).-(10) with e x p r e s s i o n s for determining afI-I according to
the standard method of V T I - E N I I [4] for c h a m b e r f u r n a c e s and for f u r n a c e s with radiant and deck walls of
v a r i o u s configurations and dimensions that are r e a l i z e d in practice. This analysis showed that the n u m e r i c a l
values of af may differ by as much as 20-22% when determined by these e x p r e s s i o n s (with a flame blackness
afl = 0.2-0.5). The s i m p l e r relationships used in the standard method give unduly high values of af for c h a m b e r
furnaees and unduly low values for furnaces with radiant walls.
These deviations a r e quite large; however, they a r e subject to c e r t a i n r e g u l a r trends, so that it is possible to use the s i m p l e r formula of the VTI-]~NII method with a c o r r e c t i o n f a c t o r fl:
af

afH 6.

(12)

Values of the c o r r e c t i o n f a c t o r a r e listed in Table 1.

405

TABLE 1. Values of C o r r e c t i o n F a c t o r fl
Furnace
type

A r r a n g e m e n t of s u r f a c e s

With f r e e
flame

With r a d i a n t
and deck
wall

Correction
f a c t o r fl

S y m m e t r i c a l a r r a n g e m e n t of s c r e e n s
with d e g r e e of shielding of f i r e b o x Xr:
Xr ~ 0.35
0.35< Xr ~ 0.55
0.55< X r ~ 0.8
Xr > 0.8
S c r e e n s placed on one wall, Xr ~ 0.35
H e a t - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e located on one
wall*:
with 0.7< o / b < i and d / b - 0.5
with a/b ~ 0.7 and d / b ~ 0.3
H e a t - a b s o r b i n g s u r f a c e located on side
wall and ceiling, and also c o m p l e t e
shielding:
with 0 N < a / b < 1 and d / b < 0.5
with a / b ~ 0.7 and d / b "= 0.3

0.8
0.85
0.9
1.0
1.0

1.1
1.15

1.05
1.12

*a is the height of the radiant or deck wall; b is the height of the f i r e box; d is the width of the firebox.
TABLE 2
FurNace type [ l ]

BB-2

ZR

GS

t~
0,8 4,354,4~ 3,56
0,2 0,9 4,08 4,18; 3,28
0,8 3 , 6 9 3 , 7 8 3,23

3.65 3,711 -3,37 3,44

3,31 3 , 3 8 2~-88

0,3 0,9 3,41 3,5012,94

0,8 3,303,36 2,99

3,04 3".09 2.80 4,45 4,8] 4,92

3,09 3,13 2,75 3,94 4,14 4,26

04 0~ 3._o2308 2~1

2,81 2,85 2,48 3,68 3,86 3,95

2,66 3,48 3,58J3,55

4~3

5,08 5,23

05[09l_I_J_ l_ l_ i239

3,193.313,39

The application of the factor/3 to the value of afH in the f o r m u l a s of VTI-I~NII m a k e s it possible, for
p r a c t i c a l l y r e a l i z e d g e o m e t r i c d i m e n s i o n s of f i r e b o x e s , to reduce the deviation in values of af obtained by the
f o r m u l a s in question to 5-6%.
The gas t e m p e r a t u r e at the f i r e b o x outlet T f can be d e t e r m i n e d by s u c c e s s i v e a p p r o x i m a t i o n s [2] in a c c o r d a n c e with the r e l a t i o n s h i p
1 rill t
Tf=iO0v4/" 0e-~-[~0 ~ (qt -- %onv) -}- ( 1~)4]

("13)

w h e r e qt = Q t / H t and qconv = Qconv/HtWhen using Eq. (13), the value of the r a t i o H t / H s can be a p p r o x i m a t e d by using the values l i s t e d in Table
2.

In d i m e n s i o n l e s s f o r m , the solution of Eqs. (1), (2), and (3) can be r e p r e s e n t e d a s follows:

Kf~-o O~-{-Of--l=O

406

(14)

= .f (%-

Htqconv
[Tf~4 ,

c0r \100]
where ]3o = q~]3Vc/c 0 9 10-8 Hr(Ta )3 is the Boltzmaun p a r a m e t e r ;
of the g a s e s at the firebox outlet.

(15)

Of = T f / T a is the d i m e n s i o n l e s s t e m p e r a t u r e

it should be noted that Eq. (14) was proposed for the f i r s t time (with certain differences) for the calculation of t u b e - f u r n a c e fireboxes by N. I. Belokon' [3] and was used in [14-16].
T r e a t m e n t of experimental data on heat t r a n s f e r in t u b e - f u r n a c e fireboxes shows that the following r e lationships can be used to determine 04efwith an a e c u r a c y that ia adequate for engineering calculations.
With a s c r e e n - s u r f a e e t e m p e r a t u r e no higher than 500-550~
Oe4f 04

we ean a s s u m e that

0 3 lfl

(16)

w h e r e lfl is the length of the flame; If is the height of the firebox along the route of the flue gases.
The following values are r e c o m m e n d e d for 0~:
a) F o r n a r r o w - c h a m b e r f u r n a c e s with a free flame (GS, VS, TsS types):
for gaseous fuel, 0~ = 1.45;
for liquid fuel, 0~ = 1.40.
b) Tube furnace with deck combustion of fuel (GN, ZD, TsD types):
for gaseous fuel, 0~ = 1.55;
for liquid fuel, 08 = 1.50.
F o r h i g h - t e m p e r a t u r e tube furnaces (t H > 800~

n a r r o w e r values of 04ef a r e obtained.

If no information is available on the flame length, we can a s s u m e approximately that l f l / l f = 0.7.

For f u r n a c e s with radiant walls, of the BB and ZR types,
B2

Oe~f= 1.75-- 0.2 B-7,'

(17)

where B 1 and B 2 are the Outputs of the b u r n e r s of the f i r s t and last rows along the route of the flue gases (assuming smooth change of b u r n e r output f r o m the f i r s t to the last row).
It should be noted that f u r t h e r evolvement and r e f i n e m e n t of the method of calculating heat t r a n s f e r in
t u b e - f u r n a c e fireboxes (in p a r t i c u l a r , a m o r e highly differentiated determination of the magnitude of 04ef as a
function of operating conditions and design factors) will involve future experimental investigation of both the
overall heat t r a n s f e r and the local c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of heat t r a n s f e r .
LITERATURE
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

CITED

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407

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Ii.

12.
.'13,

14.
15.
i6.

408

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