FURNACE OPERATIONS

Pakistan Refinery Limited

Operations Department

By: Azhar Shaikh
Shahid Raza

Industrial Furnaces
Types of Furnaces
Basic sections and parts of Furnace
General principles of combustion
Optimizing furnace operation
Design parameters of PRL Furnaces
PRL-Fuel System
Normal operational Checks
Startup and Shutdown
Operational Troubleshooting
Contents:
Furnace:
Furnace is a device in which the chemical energy
of fuel or electric energy is converted into heat
which is then used to raise the temperature of
material, called the burden or stock.
Performance objectives:
Maximize heat delivery of the process-side
feed while minimizing fuel consumption.
Maximize heat delivery with varying fuel
quality.
Minimize heater structural wear caused by
operation.
Minimize stack emissions (heat, CO, NOx ).
Maximize safety integrity levels.
Industrial Furnaces
Based on mode of Operation:
1. Batch type
2. Continuous
3. Direct heating
4. Indirect heating
Based on mode of heating source:
1. Electrical
2. Nuclear
3. Combustion furnaces.
Based on type of fuel:
1. Solid fuel fired furnace
2. Liquid fuel fired furnace
3. Gaseous fuel fired furnace
4. Multi fuel fired furnace
Types of Furnaces
Combustion furnaces:
1. Fired heaters
2. converters.

Fired heaters:
-A fired heater is a piece of equipment in which heat released from the
controlled combustion of fuel at the burners is transferred to material passing
through the tubes along the wall, roof, or floor (hearth) of the heater.
-Fired heaters are furnaces that produce heat as a result of the combustion of
fuel. The heat liberated is transferred to the material to be heated directly (in
internally-heated furnaces) or indirectly (in externally-heated furnaces).

Examples of internally-heated furnaces include submerged heaters and blast
furnaces where a solid mass is heated by a blast of hot gases.
Externally-heated furnaces include ovens, fire-tube boilers and tubular heaters.
Converter :
converter is a type of furnace in which heat is liberated by the oxidation of
impurities or other parts of the material to be heated.

Combustion Furnaces:
Based on type of draught control system
Natural Draft Furnace:
This is the most common type of draft with the air drawn into the furnace
by means of the draft created by the stack. The taller the stack, the greater
the draft available.
Forced Draft Furnace:
In this type of system, the air is supplied by means of a centrifugal fan
commonly known as forced draft (FD) fan. It provides for high air velocity,
better air fuel mixing, and smaller burners. The stack is still required to
create a negative draft inside the furnace.
Induced Draft Furnace:
When the height of the stack is inadequate to meet the draft
requirements, an induced draft (ID) fan is provided to draw the flue gases
out of the heater. Negative pressure inside the furnace ensures air supply
to the burners from the atmosphere.
Balanced Draft Furnace:
When both forced draft and induced draft fans are used with the heater, it
is known as a balanced draft system. Most air preheating installation is
balance draft and large combustion furnace comes under this category.
Types of Fired Heaters:
1. Box type heaters
It is best suited for large capacities and large heat
duties.
2. Cylindrical heaters
Cylindrical heater with vertical tubes are commonly
used in hot oil services and other processes where
the duties are usually small.

Cylindrical heaters are often preferred to box-type
heaters. This is mainly due to the more uniform
heating rate in cylindrical heaters and higher
thermal efficiency.

Cylindrical heaters require smaller foundations and
construction areas and their construction cost is
less. High chimneys are not essential in cylindrical
furnaces because they normally produce sufficient
draught.

Basic sections and parts of Furnace
Fire box/combustion
chamber: The open area
inside the heater where the
combustion of the fuel takes
place.
Flue gas ducting: The large
diameter piping b/w the
convection of the heater and
the stack.
Convection: Where the
transfer of heat through the
circulation of gases.
Parts of Furnace

Fire Box
Radiant Tubes
Convection Tubes
Damper and Stack
Refractory Lining
Burners.
Air Registers (lets air in
by burners)

Fire box is lined with
refractory brick (usually
white/tan in color,
lightweight, chalk-like,
ceramic material) lining
that can handle high
temperatures and reflects
heat back into the
furnace.

BURNERS
Refinery furnace burners can be classified as
Premix gas burner
Non-premix gas burner
Steam atomizing oil burner
Combination burners

PREMIX GAS BURNERS
Used to obtain good mixing and to
burn the gas with a short flame.

Gas under pressure is passed through
a small orifice or spud to form jet.

The jet pulls in primary air through
the aspirator opening, and the gas
and air are mixed in the mixing tube
before being distributed through the
holes in the burner tip or spider.

As the gas-air mixture of gas, primary
air and secondary air burns with a
short blue flame.
All the air mixes with the
fuel beyond the burner
tip.

Combustion begins at the
tip with primary air and is
aided by the burner block
which gets hot and
radiates heat back to the
burning fuel.

The muffle blocks also
gets hot and aids
combustion.
NON-PREMIX GAS BURNERS
STEAM ATOMIZING OIL BURNERS
Oil is atomized before
flowing through the tip.
As oil leaves the burner, mix
with air and start to burn.
Flame heat vaporizes the
remaining oil, and it also
burns.
Smoke indicates that
1.Too much oil is being fed
2.Air registers are closed too
far
3.Insufficient draft.
Wet steam may cause coke
to form on the tip.
Coke should be knocked off
with rod.
COMBINATION BURNERS
Can burn oil and gas at the same time.

When oil burner is not in use, gun should
be pulled back to keep if from burning up.

Oil burns much better with the gas burner
operating.

Oil gun safety interlock prevents removal of
oil gun with fuel flowing.

Igniter port should be capped when not in
use.

PILOT BURNERS
General principles of combustion
Combustion (fire) in a furnace
firebox occurs when fuel
combines rapidly with oxygen
present in the air.

The three requirements for fire
are fuel, oxygen from the air
and a source of ignition.

Complete combustion verses
Absolute combustion.

Main combustion Reaction
Stoichiometric Combustion:
Under ideal conditions, fuel combines with exactly the right amount of
oxygen to allow complete combustion. There is no
unburned fuel and no excess oxygen. This is called stoichiometric combustion.
In the simple case of methane burning in air,

CH4 + 2O2 CO2 + 2H2O

Real combustion applications are more complicated because some excess
air is always needed to ensure complete combustion of the fuel.
Otherwise, significant amounts of CO are produced, reducing efficiency
and increasing pollution levels.
When combustion is complete , one pound of carbon release 14100 BTU
heat.
When CO is formed one pound of carbon release 4000 BTU heat
Flammability Reign
Practically complete
combustion is impossible
because of imperfect mixing
of fuel and air.

Therefore, refinery furnaces
must admit more than
theoretical air in order to
burn all the fuel.

Refinery furnaces are
normally designed to admit
up to 40% excess air.

This average curve

for gas or oil fuels
can be used to
determine % excess
air from the amount
of O2 in the flue gas.
USEFUL AVERAGE CURVE
Reduction in
10% excess air
save 1% of fuel

35 F reduction in
flue gas
temperature
save 1% of fuel.
Combustion Control Scheme. (BMS)

Optimizing furnace operation



Draft is the difference in static pressure between any point in
the heater, ducting, or stack and the surrounding
atmosphere.

Draft (in fired heater systems) should be a slightly lower
pressure than atmospheric and is therefore a negative gauge
pressure.

Draft can be produced either naturally(required 20 25%
excess air = 4-5% O2 in flue gas because of lower air
velocity), by stack effect, or mechanically by fans.

When the height of the stack gives insufficient draft, an
induced draft fan is installed to pull flue gases out of the
heater.
When better air/fuel mixing is required, a forced draft fan is
installed to push combustion air into the heater. (required 10
% excess air = 2 % O2 in flue gas because of higher air
velocity)
DRAUGHT (UK) / DRAFT (US)
WHY DRAFT IS NEEDED?
Avoids overheating refractory,
anchors and structural, that would
occur with outward flow of hot gas.

Prevents hot gases from exiting
sight doors, burner registers and
header boxes, thus maintaining
safe conditions for personnel.

Causes air flow through natural
draft burners to satisfy combustion
requirements.

DRAFT MEASUREMENT
Draft is normally measured in inches of water
gauge (W.G.) (1inch H
2
O = 0.036 PSI).
Ideally, the damper and the burner air register
should be adjusted such that the draft at the
inlet to the convection section is about 2.5
mm (0.1) H2O.
The shield will protect you from a blast of hot
flue gas if there should be a positive pressure
inside the furnace.


EXCESSIVE DRAFT
Excessive draft is to be
avoided.

Excessive draft will increase
the unwanted air in-leakage
(tramp air) and reduce heater
efficiency.

The air in-leakage can also
cause flame distortion and/or
combustion of unburned fuel
in the proximity to the tubes.

TOO LITTLE DRAFT
Too little draft will cause inadequate air
flow through the burners to completely
combust the fuel. The heater will often
puff as a symptom of too little air.
It can cause tube and tube support
damage.
Low draft can also cause damage due to
overheating of the structures, vibration
of the setting, and burner flashback.
In extreme cases it can cause burner
flameout and possibly an explosion.


Burner Level (Natural
Draft Heaters)
-0.2 " H2O for Low Box
Heaters
Up to -1.0 " H2O for tall
cylindrical units
High Point of Firebox
(Arch)
-0.05 (1.2mm) -
0.15(3.8mm) " H2O for a
typical well-balanced
system. A higher draft
may be required for low
fireboxes or burner
elevations near the arch
due to burner draft needs.


Excess O2:
Gas Firing: 3-4%
Oil Firing: 5-6%


Insufficient excess air may cause the following problems:
1. incomplete combustion
2. excessive fire box temperature
3. flame impingement.
Incomplete combustion wastes fuel. Money is going up the
stack. Also, the unburned fuel may ignite explosively if
there is a sudden increase in the amount of air admitted
to the furnace.
Decreasing excess air by reducing the burner air register
and partially closing the stack damper results in higher
firebox temperature. The furnace tubes may get hot
enough to cause coking.

INSUFFICIENT AIR PROBLEMS
Reducing excess air also
lengthens flames, and they may
touch the tubes. This condition
is called flame impingement.
Flame impingement occurs
when the length and/or the
width of the flames increase
and touch the tubes.
Flames have a temperature of
about 1370 oC and will cause
internal coking if allowed to
impinge on the tubes.
For all heaters, there is min
pass flow below which tube
damage can occur due to
overheating.

FLAME IMPINGEMENT
Uneven coke laydown will
make one side of the tube
expand more than the
other, leading to bowing
and bulging of the tube.

Also, localized hot spots
develop on tubes where
partial loss of flow or flame
impingement has occurred.

Flow to the affected pass
should be increased and
adjacent firing reduced.

TUBE BOWING & BULGING
Flames have a temp of about 1370 oC. Assume that the oil in a clean CS furnace tube
has a temp of 480 oC. Under these conditions, with flames not touching the tube, the
tube might be about 525 oC.
Now, when the 1370 oC flame strikes the tube, the temp of the tube rises rapidly. The
layer of oil next to the inside of the tube gets very hot and turn into coke.
Coke is a good insulator. Let us suppose that, a 3 mm thick layer of coke has been
deposited in the tube.
Because of the insulating effect of the 3 mm layer of coke, the tube skin temp will
now be about 635 oC. At this temp the tube is only about one-fifth as strong as it
was at 525 oC.
The weakened tube may yield and eventually rupture.
Even if the tube does not rupture, the hot metal on the tube surface will continually
oxidize and get thinner.
When tube ruptured, a tremendous amount of fuel is added to the fire box and
flames spread outside the heater through peepholes and openings b/w structural
members.


TUBE RUPTURE
COMPARISION B/W CLEAN & COKED TUBE
Design parameters of PRL Furnaces
Matrices 101-B 103-B 104-B Consequences in case of
violation
Throughput, mtd 4185
3150
1534
1150
1381
1039
Erosion, tube leakage, deltap,
heat loss, tube failure etc.
Process Temp
in/out,
0
C
190
360
190
360
190
360
overloading, coke etc
T-press barg 28.3 28.3 28.3 tube may burst, asset loss,
production loss
Delta P, kg/cm2 7.29 3.97 7.0 Heat loss, erosion, effect column
press
Duty, MMBtu/hr 101.57 36 33 -
Efficiency, % 85 83 70 -
Excess Air, vol% 20/30 20/30 20/30 heat-loss, stack temp, Envior loss,
smoke, haziness
Draft, mmwc -1.22 -1.22 -1.22 back firing
Matrices 101-B 103-B 104-B Consequences in case of
violation
DTMT,
0
C 500 500 500 tube failure bowing, sagging,
rupture.
No of tubes conv/radi 52/44 52/44 24/48 -
Eff tube length, m 19.6 9.4 3.6/12.0 -
Flue gas temp leaving
radiation zone
972 967 796 -
Flue gas temp leaving
cone zone
287 329 594 fuel loss, envior loss
Burner norm Capacity,
MMBtu/hr
4.25/4.35 2.89/2.96 7.89/8.28 -
FG/FO consum per
burner, mtd
2/2.7 2/2.5 5/4 -
FG/FO press at B-tip,
kg/cm2g
0.9/3.0 1.5/3.0 1.8/3.5 Tip damage, flame lift off, high
flame length
A-steam press at B-tip,
kg/cm2g
4.5-6.0 4.5/6.0 4.5-6.0 Poor atomizing, improper
mixing, combustion etc.


HTU Furnaces

Matrices 202-B 201-B Consequences in case of
violation
Throughput, mtd 2660 3050 Erosion, tube leakage,
deltap, heat loss, tube
failure etc.
Process Temp in/out,
0
C 260
300
305
360
overloading, coke etc
T-press barg 51.4 40 tube may burst, asset loss,
production loss
Delta P, kg/cm2 1.5 0.98 Heat loss, erosion, effect
column press
Duty, MMBtu/hr 19.6 17.9 -
Efficiency, % - 61.6 -
Excess Air, vol% - 40 heat-loss, stack temp,
Envior loss, smoke,
haziness
Draft, mmwc - -15 back firing
Matrices 202-B 201-B Consequences in case of
violation
DTMT,
0
C 394 500 tube failure, bowing, sagging,
rupture
No of tubes conv/radi 72 48 -
Eff tube length, m 5.89 12.0 -
Flue gas temp leaving conv
zone
686/288 625 fuel loss, envior loss
Burner norm Capacity,
MMBtu/hr
- 4.84/5.8 -
FG/FO consum, mtd - 2.7/3.0 -
FG/FO press at B-tip, kg/cm2g - 1.4/3.0 Tip damage, flame lift off, high
flame length
A-steam press at B-tip,
kg/cm2g
- 4.5-7.0 Poor atomizing, improper mixing,
combustion etc.
Matrices 301-BN 302-BN 303-BN 311-BN Consequences in case of
violation
Throughput, mtd 660 660 660 702 Erosion, tube leakage,
deltap, heat loss, tube
failure etc.
Process Temp in/out,
0
C 483
543
471
543
498
543
210
249
overloading, coke etc
T-press kg/cm2g 29.46 28.39 27.16 20.4 tube may burst, asset loss,
production loss
Delta P, kg/cm2 0.77 0.56 0.63 1.5 Heat loss, erosion
Duty, MMBtu/hr 7.0 8.0 5.2 5.4 -
Efficiency, % 60 55 56 60 -
Excess Air, vol% 15 15 15 15 heat-loss, stack temp,
Envior loss, smoke,
haziness
Draft, mmwc -25 -25 -25 -25 back firing
PTU Furnaces
Matrices 301-BN 302-BN 303-BN 311-BN Consequences in case
of violation
DTMT,
0
C 582 604 602 340 tube failure bowing,
sagging, rupture
No of tubes conv/radi 42 56 40 35 -
Eff tube length, m 8.35 5.7 5.5 4 -
Flue gas temp leaving
cone zone
765 843 832 761 fuel loss, envior loss
Burner norm Capacity,
MMBtu/hr
3.65 4.64 2.86 3.05 -
FG consum, mtd 1.9 2.41 1.5 1.6 -
FG press at B-tip,
kg/cm2g
2.2 2.2 2.2 2.2 Tip damage, flame lift off,
high flame length
Courtesy:TSD
Fuel Oil System
Refinery furnaces burn oil, gas or both at the same
time.
Fuel gas for pilot burners is supplied from a
separate system if possible to ensure a high
integrity supply.
Viscosity affects efficient burner operation of the oil
at the burner.
Electrical heat tracing is used to heat and reduce
the viscosity at the burner.
To atomize the oil properly, it is often necessary to
heat it to temperatures ranging from 65 C to 230 C.
The entire fuel oil system is heat-traced and
insulated.
At each heater, all fuel passes through a remote
isolating valve, dual filters to remove any solid
materials which might block burners, and a local
isolating valve at each burner location.
Fuel gas is collected from various
process sources in a central fuel gas
mix drum.
In mix drum, liquid is knocked out
and discharged to a closed system.
If the liquid carried forward with the
gas, unignited fuel can accumulate
in the firebox or flue ducting. This
can cause an explosion when
sufficient air for combustion is
available.
It is important to remember that the
fuel used has a direct impact on the
furnace it can change the heat
rate, the corrosion rate, the
accumulation of particles, etc.
changing the fuel specification is a
modification that should be risk
assessed formally.

Fuel Gas System
A CDU furnace had been designed to burn low sulfur fuel oil. It was decided to burn
high sulfur fuel oil to increase the cost efficiency. But the tube supports , which were
cast alloys of composition 25Cr-20Ni or 25Cr-12Ni, suffered rapid deterioration in a
environment of high sulfur with vanadium and sodium.
Within nine months of introducing high sulfur fuel oil, roof supports were failing in
the furnace. All 80 roof hangers had to be replaced.
Normal operation Checks
Operators should inspect fires and radiant-section tubes several times
during each shift.
Keep heat distribution as even as possible,
Keep the same amount of fuel for each burner,
Open all air registers the same amount,
Keep air registers closed on unused burners,
Allow no more than 40 o C difference b/w temp at various locations in
the firebox.

Startup and Shutdown
PRE-STARTUP CHECKS
1. Check that process pressure tests and mechanical integrity
inspections are complete
2. Inspect internally and externally (no oil / material left in the
heater)
3. Check blanks / blinds are installed and all isolation valves are
closed
4. Check air registers for movement
5. Check stack damper and burner for ease of movement
6. Check burners and pilots for installation and condition
7. Check purge and snuffing steam and instrument tapings for
operability
8. Brick access opening and secure doors
9. Check that fuel gas pilot gas and fuel systems are tight no
open ends etc.

ESTABLISHING FLOW/PURGING HEATER
Establish flows
Safe minimum flows in heater tubes
Check flow instrumentation


Purge the heater
Ensure stack damper is fully open
Natural draft steam purge for a maximum of
15 minutes or until steam plume see from stack
Forced / induced / balanced draft air purge

GAS TEST
Instrument ?
Explosimeter
calibrated ?
trained to use it ?


Where ?
Inspection ports
Convection section
Flue gas ducting
Air space immediately above the burner

LIGHTING PILOTS
TYPES OF SHUTDOWN
Normal shutdown

Heat - off

Emergency shutdown
(ESD)

Individual emergency
procedure / trips





There are a number of different types
of full and partial shutdowns
associated with heaters. These are
normally known as normal shutdown,
heat-off, emergency shutdown (ESD)
and individual emergency procedures
(eg. individual main fuel trips).

It is vital for every operator to
understand thoroughly:
What actions can occur
automatically
When to initiate such actions
manually
The tasks necessary to resume
normal operation when the
emergency or shutdown has passed




NORMAL (CONTROLLED) SHUTDOWN

1. Shut off all oil burners, purge and keep guns cool
(fuel gas burners remain in service)
2. Reduce the feed rate
3. Reduce the heater outlet temperature
4. Stagger the shut off of individual gas burners (leave
the pilots in service)
5. Maintain fuel gas pressure to ensure stable flames
6. Adjust combustion air rate
7. When all the main burners are shut, close the main
fuel gas supply valve, and purge all lines to the
individual burners with nitrogen. Blinds must be installed
8. Shutdown the pilots, purge the system and blind off



HEAT - OFF
Heat-off means just that. It stops heat input into the
heater by isolating main fuel systems. However the pilots
remain alight.

Heat-off can be initiated automatically and / or manually
when an abnormal operating condition exists. Some
examples when heat-off would be initiated are:
High pressure in crude distillation tower
Low process flow through the tubes
Shutdown of recycle gas compressor (cat reformer)

Individual and main isolation valves on the fuel lines to
burners should be closed as soon as possible after a heat-
off as an extra safeguard to prevent fuel leaking into the
heater.

Pilots are kept alight again as a safety precaution so that
fuel does not accumulate and lead to an explosion.




ESD
The ESD would be used in the event of a hazardous
situation such as fire, major gas leak, heater tube failure,
etc.

The ESD would initiate heat-off, in addition, the pilots
would be shutdown, pumps would be stopped, vessels
would be isolated.



INDIVIDUAL EMERGENCY PROCEDURE/TRIP


Apart from ESD and heat-off, there are procedures / trips
to cater for failures of individual pieces of equipment, e.g.
extra low fuel gas pressure to the burners causes isolation of
the fuel gas system.

On forced draught heaters, extra low FD fan driver speed
will trip the fuel supplies to the heater.

These individual trips are designed to prevent the
accumulation of unburned fuel in the firebox.


Operational Troubleshooting
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