Fired Heaters

NZRC V-A-1

Fired Heaters - Introduction

„ Heat Integration
„ Heat Distribution
„ Efficiency Issues
„ Sulfur Dewpoint
„ Draft
„ Combustion Control
„ Fuel Oil Burning
„ Tube Cleaning
„ Troubleshooting

NZRC V-A-2

1
 Fired Heater Specification

NZRC V-A-3

Vertical Cylindrical Heater - Side View

Stack

„ Most Common Heater

„ Least Cost Damper
TI Damper DGC (Draft Gage Conn.)
„ Smallest Plot Sample Connection
Tube Sheet
„ Easy to Construct Inlet from Process Convection Section
Bridgewall Temperature
„ Good for small duties Tube Pulling Door
Cross Over Tube
„ Maximum process Arch
Tube Guides
Actual Radiant

Tube Circle
duty is 170 MM Btu/h
Tube Length

Diameter
Refractory
I.D.
Shell Dia. Peep Door
Snuffing Steam
Radiant Section Cast Burner
Heating Tube Block
Outlet
Access Door Peep Doors
Burner
NZRC V-A-4

2
 Air Preheat System

„ Process Duty greater than 70

MM Btu/h (21 MW)
„ Two year Payout
„ Multiple Heaters on one system
„ Forced Draft Burners require
two combustion Fans

NZRC V-A-5

Regenerative Air Preheater

„ Lungstrom Rotating
Element
„ 1970’s design
„ 10-25% Air Leakage
„ Prone to fires
„ Replace with Cast Iron
Type

NZRC V-A-6

3
 Recuperative Air
Preheater
„ By-Cast or Deka Cast Iron
Elements
„ Most Reliable Design
„ Use 3 skin TI’s at cold end
„ Use steam-air heater
upstream
„ Do not use glass tubes

NZRC V-A-7

QuTech Air Preheater

„ Consists of 20+ inorganic chemicals
(Powder form)
„ Vacuum sealed into various vessels of
different sizes and material to form
thermal superconducting component
„ Effective Thermal Conductivity is 32,000
times that of Silver
„ Tubes will never reach acid dewpoint

NZRC V-A-8

4
 Air Preheat System

„ Glass Tubes below Cast Iron Elements

„ Used when steam-air heater is not used
„ High breakage Rate
„ Teflon Seal Fail (high temp or acid
attack)
„ Acid Condensation fouls the ID Fan
„ This design has been discontinued

NZRC V-A-9

Air Preheat System

„ Bad Air Preheat system

„ Single FD fan with natural
draft dropout doors
„ Bad air distribution to natural
draft burners
„ No steam air heater
„ Passing though acid dewpoint
in air preheater results in high
maintenance cost

NZRC V-A-10

5
Air Preheat System

„ Steam-Air Heater
„ Located in front of flue gas
air preheater to heat air to
140°F-170°F (60°C-76°C)
„ Eliminates glass tubes
„ Eliminates Acid
Condensation in Air
Preheater and ID Fan
„ Standard UOP Design

NZRC V-A-11

Heat Distribution in Heater

NZRC V-A-12

6
 Heater O2 Chart
Fired H eaters; S avings from D ropping O 2 by 1%
Cost is dependent on heater size and stack tem perature

$250 $90,000
250 MMBTU/h $80,000
$200
$70,000
200 MMBTU/h
$/ day saved *

$ / year saved
$60,000
$150
150 MMBTU/h $50,000
$40,000
$100
100 MMBTU/h
$30,000

$50 50 MMBTU/h $20,000

$10,000
$0 $0
392

446

500

554

608

662

716

770

824

878

932

986

1040
Stack Tem p, F
* Ba s ed on diffe ren ce be tw e e n 3 % e xce s s O 2 a n d 2 % e xce s s O 2 a nd $3 /MMBTU

NZRC V-A-13

Flue Gas Sulfur Dewpoint

„ Process Inlet - 25°F (14°C) Above

Dewpoint
– Prevents Acid Condensation
on Convection Tubes
„ Stack Inlet - 75°F (42°C) Above
Dewpoint
– Prevents Acid Condensation in
Stack

NZRC V-A-14

7
Sulfur Dewpoint - Fuel Gas

NZRC V-A-15

Sulfur Dewpoint - Fuel Oil

NZRC V-A-16

8
 Increase Fired Heater Efficiency

„ Prolonged operation at too low approach temperature to the

acid dew point caused failure of the induced draft (ID) fan.

NZRC V-A-17

Increase Fired Heater Efficiency

„ Corrosion Results in….

– Heater efficiency decreased from 88% with the air
preheater in-service to 70% without the air preheater
in-service.
– 6.2MMkcal/hr additional fuel required at lower
efficiency.
„ Recommended Action…
– Install new ID fan and new steam-air preheater.

Benefit ~$0.44MM
Cost ~$150,000
NZRC V-A-18

9
 Draft
„ Critical at Bridgewall
– Avoid Pressurizing Heater Casing
– Avoid Leakage of Flue Gases to
Atmosphere
„ Critical at Burners
– Insure Sufficient Air Flow
– Insure Fuel-Air Mixing Not Limited
– Normally Acceptable If Good Value
at Bridgewall
„ Stack Height and Diameter Sized to
Obtain Necessary Draft

NZRC V-A-19

Draft

Stack Temperature
125 Feet

is 600°F

Damper Open Damper Open

.60” H20 .25” H20
Conv. Conv.
.30” H20 .05” H20
Sec. Sec.
Radiant Radiant
Section Section
.45” H20 .10” H20

Damper Too Far Open Damper Too Far Closed

Too Much Draft Too Little draft. Positive
Result: Wastes Fuel Pressure Below Convective Section
Result: Damage to Steel Structure

NZRC V-A-20

10
 Draft Profile
100’

Fired Heater Draft

Profiles According to
Heater Height and Stack
Damper Opening
50’

40’

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0’
-.70 -.60 -.50 -.40 -.30 -.20 -.10 0 +.10 +.20

Furnace Pressure - inches WC

NZRC V-A-21

Data Collection - Control Room

„ BWT - (Radiant Flux Rate)
„ Stack Temperature - (Cold End
Approach, Efficiency)
„ Flue Gas O2 - (Firing Quality, 2%
minimum)
„ Burner Pressure - (High Pressure=High
Firing Rate)
„ Process Flow Rate - (Over Design=High
Duty)
„ Process Delta Temperature - (Process
Duty, Flux Rate)

NZRC V-A-22

11
 Typical Furnace Temperatures
Stack
Temperature
400°F- 204 °C
„ Flame Temperature
– Depends on Fuel Composition

„ Radiant Exit or Bridgewall

Bridgewall Temperature
Temperature
1450°F - 788 °C „ Depends on Tube Temperatures
Flame Temperature and Heat Flux
3300°F
1816°C

NZRC V-A-23

Bridgewall Temperature
Evaluation

„ How hard is the heater

operating?
– 1400-1500°F is normal
– 1600-1650°F is approaching
maximum limits

„ Fouling of tubes

NZRC V-A-24

12
 Excess Oxygen Monitoring

„ Portable Analyzers for measurement of

excess oxygen and CO
„ Portability allows analyzers to be used in
a number of heaters.
„ Typical cost is $5,000.
„ Monitor and adjust each 6 hours or when
feed or fuels change
„ www.testo.com

NZRC V-A-25

Combustion Monitoring

„ Flue Gas O2 › 2-4% on Gas Firing

„ Operating Excess Air = 12%-26%
„ New Unit Design = 15%

„ Flue Gas O2 › 4-6% on Oil Firing

„ Operating Excess Air = 26%-44%
„ New Unit Design = 25%

NZRC V-A-26

13
 Combustion Monitoring

„ Low O2 = Bad
Combustion
„ Afterburning
„ Flame Impingement
„ Tube Failures
„ Refractory Damage
„ Tube Support Failures

NZRC V-A-27

Good Combustion

„ Uniform Flame Pattern

„ No Haze

NZRC V-A-28

14
 Poor Combustion

„ Non-Uniform Flame Pattern

„ Haze-Unburned Fuel
„ Bottom Burner Needs Air
„ Potential Impinging on Tubes

NZRC V-A-29

Good Oil Combustion

„ Bright, well defined flame

„ No haze

NZRC V-A-30

15
 On-Line Inspection

„ Leaking Tube
„ Most Failures Caused by
Flame Impingement
„ Control O2 Level High
Enough to Keep Flames
off the Tubes

NZRC V-A-31

Tube Failures

„ Flame Impingement caused failure on

convection tube
„ Classic “Fish Mouth” failure

NZRC V-A-32

16
 Low Excess Air Technology

„ CO Analyzer – Bambeck control

systems can detect partial burn
in furnace
„ Safer operations
„ Improved Combustion Efficiency
„ Reduced Fuel Usage
„ Reduce NOx formation
„ Reduce CO2 emissions

NZRC V-A-33

Heater CO Analyzer Control

„ CO can only be produced when

one or more burners are starved
of oxygen
„ Measuring O2 to control a
furnace cannot identify the origin
of the oxygen
„ By analyzing for CO, excess air
can be minimized effectively
without starving the radiant box
„ O2 can be reduced to an operating
range of 0.2-2%

NZRC V-A-34

17
 Natural Draft Heater Control Strategy

NZRC V-A-35

Burner Air Controls

„ Concentric Register
„ Prone to Sticking
„ Difficult to Adjust
„ Leaks 50% Air when Closed

NZRC V-A-36

18
 Burner Air Controls

„ Damper Control
„ Tight Shutoff
„ Positive Position
„ Good Excess Air Control

NZRC V-A-37

Burner Air Controls

„ Leaking Oil

„ Burners Need Cleaning

„ Improper Oil Temperature

at Burner

„ Poor Damper Control with

Wing Nut

„ Cannot Set Same Air Rate

to Each Burner

NZRC V-A-38

19
 Troubleshooting
„ Operating Instructions at Heater

NZRC V-A-39

Oil Gun Location

„ Proper Position Is Critical to Proper Spray Pattern

and Air Mixing

Proper Location Too Far In Too Far Back

HTR-R00-97
NZRC V-A-40

20
 Fuel Oil Pressure

„ Design Should Be 70-90 psig

(5-6.3 kg/cm2g)
„ Too Low Pressure Can
Result in Poor Turndown
„ Poor Atomization
„ Plugging (Coke Formation)
in Oil Guns

NZRC V-A-41

Flameout

„ Low Oil Pressure

„ High Steam Pressure
„ Particulate
„ Fouling on Tubes

NZRC V-A-42

21
 Steam Pressure Differential

„ Poor Atomization If Too Low

or High
„ Typical 30 psi (2.1 kg/cm2)
Differential Above Oil
Pressure
„ Steam Must Be Dry
„ Wet Steam Causes Fireflys

NZRC V-A-43

Retractable Sootblowers

„ Retractable Sootblowers
„ Usually Operated Once Per
Shift When Firing Oil (Many
Companies Operate Once Per
Day)

NZRC V-A-44

22
 Retractable Sootblowers
„ Lance Rotates in a Helical Motion
„ Blowing Rate ~ 10,000 lb/h (4,600 kg/h)
„ Blowing Time 20-30 Seconds

NZRC V-A-45

Fuel Oil vs. Fuel Gas Firing

„ Graph show emissions based on

1 wt% sulfur fuel oil against
refinery fuel gas
„ Even though fuel oil is less
expensive than fuel gas there are
many disadvantages to fuel oil
– Emissions
– Fouling of heater tubes
– Slagging
– Shorter run lengths

NZRC V-A-46

23
 UOP Method Platforming Double
Fired U Tube Heater
2000

1900

Bridgewall Temperature, °F
1800 1/16”
Scale
1/32”
1700 Scale Clean
Tubes

1500

1600

1400

1300
10000 14000 18000 22000 26000
Radiant Heat Flux, Btu/h-ft2
HTR-R00-32
NZRC V-A-47

Troubleshooting

„ Use Walnut Shells to Blast

Loose Scale off Tubes on Line
„ Reduced Fuel Firing

NZRC V-A-48

24
 Troubleshooting
„ Oil Ash Acts As Insulation
„ Increased Fuel Firing
„ Sandblast Clean
„ On Line Cleaning

NZRC V-A-49

Oxidation Scale
„ 9 Cr Platforming Tubes
„ 10 - 40 mils Oxidation Scale
„ 200°F - 400°F Hotter Surface Temp

NZRC V-A-50

25
 Oxidation Scale
„ 9 Cr Platforming Tubes
„ Blasted to White Metal

NZRC V-A-51

Ceramic Coating of Tubes

„ Ceramic coating of heater tubes

and refractory has now reached
maturity
„ Most benefit gained when heaters
are limited by bridgewall or
apparent tube temperature
„ Typically process benefits (when
applicable) are an order of
magnitude greater than energy
savings

NZRC V-A-52

26
 Ceramic Coating of Tubes

„ Works in 2 stages:
1. Removing oxide scale (grit
blasting) – Heat transfer
surface are improved 3-5%
in radiant efficiency
2. Coating helps by providing
a barrier to reoxidation of
the external surface – i.e.
improved heat transfer is
maintained

NZRC V-A-53

Ceramic Coating – of Refractory

„ Works best on high flux heaters

e.g. hydrogen reformers and
ethylene heaters
„ Radiant efficiencies are typically
increased 2-3%, lowering the
bridewall temperature
„ Reduced firing rate
„ If ceramic coating of tubes
planned – a low cost option for
refractory

NZRC V-A-54

27
 Ceramic coatings – process aspects to consider

„ Increased radiant efficiency will

be offset by decreased convection
duty – usually steam production
unless improved radiant efficiency
is used to increase capacity
„ No apparent change in energy
performance of the heaters after
coating – Still positive effect on
increased utilization which lowers
overall EII of unit

NZRC V-A-55

Steps to Determine Suitable Candidates for

Ceramic Coatings
1. Look at Reformer heater first
2. For units that are heater limited
3. Assume the actual tube temperature is
60C over process heater outlet
temperature
4. Use IR gun to determine tube
temperature (scale)
5. Calculate delta T between tube temp
and scale surface (degree of fouling)
6. Calculation of actual benefits

NZRC V-A-56

28
 Heater Tube Fouling Calculator - Ceramic

NZRC V-A-57

Thermography – Recognizing Fouling in a

Heater

NZRC V-A-58

29
Thermography – Recognizing Fouling in a
Heater

NZRC V-A-59

Tracking Benefit of Ceramic Coating

NZRC V-A-60

30
 Ceramic Coating
„ 9 Cr Platforming Tubes
„ Cetek Ceramic Tube Coating

NZRC V-A-61

Ceramic Coating

„ Platforming Heater
„ Tubes After Sandblasting
and Cetek Ceramic Coating
„ More Process Duty at Same
Firing Rate

NZRC V-A-62

31
 Ceramic Coating
„ 9 Cr Platforming Tubes After One Year Operation
With Cetek Ceramic Coating
„ 3 Mil Original Thickness - No Degradation or Loss of
Coating

NZRC V-A-63

Cetek Ceramic Coatings on Refractory

„ Uncoated Refractory Patch= 1658°F (903°C)

„ Coated Refractory Patch= 1818°F (992°C)

NZRC V-A-64

32
 Cetek Ceramic Coatings on Refractory
www.ceteklimited.com
Figure 2
Ceramic Fiber Emissivity vs. Radiant Heat Flux
Ra 30000
dia
nt
Flu 25000 26%
x 1832 F Increase
Ra
te, 20000
Bt
u/ft 15000 26%
2- 1632 F Increase
hr
10000

5000
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
Emissivity

NZRC V-A-65

Ceramic Coating - Benchmarked

Activity Utilization Energy Availability
Base Case- High Do nothing Reduced Scale acts as True hot
radiant duty with throughput insulation on spots missed
scaled tubes hot spots tubes
1. Conventional Scale Increased Improves Clean Slate
grit blasting removal utilization
2. Coat Tubes Stops scale Increased Improves Retains
reforming utilization benefit from
1.
3. Refractory Increased Increased May improve Difficult to
coating radiant production quantify
efficiency BWT limit
4. Reduction in Maybe Maybe Maybe Maybe
NOx due to coating

NZRC V-A-66

33
 Heaters - Coatings
Unit Heater Tubes Refractory Benefit
Reformer /CCR Yes Maybe 3-5%
Improvement
Hydrogen/ No Yes Even Heat Flux
Ethylene
Crude Yes No
Vacuum Yes No Tubes scaled
should be grit
blasted
Cokers No No Insufficient
History
Visbreakers No No Insufficient
History

NZRC V-A-67

Coke in Heater Tubes

„ Use Infrared Pyrometer to detect coke in tubes
*>1,480°F

1,450 Spot 3
1,085.0
1,400
1,350
1,300
1,250
1,200
Spot 1
1,150
1,390.5
1,100
1,050
1,000
Coked-up coil of wall tubes...

*<950.3°F
NZRC V-A-68

34
 Steam - Air Decoking

„ Typically for Crude and Coker Heaters

„ X-ray to Determine Thickness
„ Does Not Work Well on Inorganic Scale -
Hydrotreaters
„ Spalling Is the Most Important Step
„ Control Burn- High Temperatures Can
Cause Severe Tube Damage
„ Use Infrared Pyrometer to Monitor TWT

NZRC V-A-69

Pig Cleaning Heater

„ Less Damage Than Steam-air

Decoking
„ Good for Inorganic Scale
Removal (Hydrotreaters)
„ Can Get Stuck in Soft Coke
„ Tubes Must Not Be Bulged
„ Bend Radius Restrictions

NZRC V-A-70

35
 Heater Tube Fouling

„ Fuel Oil Ash Insulates Tube

„ Increased Firing Rate
„ High Firebox Temperature
„ Mechanical Failures
„ Unscheduled Shutdowns
„ Photo is from Coker Heater

NZRC V-A-71

Heater Radiant Tube Cleaning

„ Soda Ash Wash

Wetting of Tubes
„ High Pressure Spray
is Required

NZRC V-A-72

36
 Heater Radiant Tube Cleaning

„ Clean Radiant
Tubes
„ More Production
„ Less Downtime

NZRC V-A-73

Cleaning Heater Convection Tubes

„ Soda Ash Washing

is Very Effective
„ Improves
Efficiency

NZRC V-A-74

37
 End Section

„ Next: Heat Exchangers

„ Questions ?

NZRC V-A-75

38