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Fired Heater Design and Simulation
Fired Heater Design and Simulation
Abstract- In fired heaters, heat is released by combustion of fuels (rectangular c/s) or vertical (cylindrical c/s) in shape. Same
into an open space and transferred to process fluids inside tubes. way, a fired heater may be classified depending on location of
The tubes are ranged along the walls and roof of the combustion the burners and type of the draft.
chamber. The heat is transferred by direct radiation and
convection and also by reflection from refractory walls lining the
chamber. The design and rating of a fired heater is a moderately
complex operation. Here forced draft fired heater, which is fired II. Radiant Section Design
by fuel gas, has been treated. For that all required equations and A. Radiant Heat Transfer in Radiant Section:
generalizations are listed from different fired heater design Applying basic radiation concepts to process-type heater
methods as per requirement. A fired heater design calculations design, Lobo & Evans developed a generally applicable rating
are performed using Microsoft Excel Programming software and method that is followed with various modifications, by many
the same fired heater data are used in HTRI simulation software
heater designers. Direct radiation in the radiant section of a
for simulation and comparision purpose.
direct fired heater can be described by the equation shown
below.
Keywords- Radiant heat transfer, Convective heat transfer,
Shield section, Heat balance, HTRI simulation, Comparision. = ℱ( − )
Where,
= Radiant heat transfer, Btu/hr
I. Introduction = Stefan-Boltzmann constant,
0.173E-8 Btu/ft2-hr-R4
A fired heater is a direct-fired heat exchanger that uses the hot
= Relative effectiveness factor of the tube bank
gases of combustion to raise the temperature of a feed flowing
= Cold plane area of the tube bank, ft2
through coils of tubes aligned throughout the heater.
ℱ = Exchange factor
Depending on the use, these are also called furnaces or = Effective gas temperature in firebox, °R
process heaters. Some heaters simply deliver the feed at a = Average tube wall temperature, °R
predetermined temperature to the next stage of the reaction
process; others perform reactions on the feed while it travels B. Heat Balance In The Radiant Section:
through the tubes. There are four primary sources of heat input as well as four
Fired heaters are used throughout hydrocarbon and chemical sources of heat output to the radiant section. We can now set
processing industries such as refineries, gas plants, up the heat balance equation as follows:
petrochemicals, chemicals and synthetics, olefins, ammonia
and fertilizer plants. Most of the unit operations require one or + + + =
more fired heaters as start-up heater, fired reboiler, cracking + + +
furnace, process heater, process heater vaporizer, crude oil Where,
heater or reformer furnace. = heat liberated by fuel, Btu/hr (LHV)
Heater fuels include light ends (e.g. refinery gas) from the = sensible heat of combustion air, Btu/hr
crude units and reformers as well as waste gases blended with = sensible heat of steam used for oil atomization,
natural gas. Residual fuels such as tar, pitch, and Bunker C Btu/hr
(heavy oil) are also used. Combustion air flow is regulated by = sensible heat of recirculated flue gases, Btu/hr
positioning the stack damper. Fuel to the burners is regulated = heat absorbed by radiant tubes, Btu/hr
from exit feed temperature and firing rate is determined by the = Radiant heat to shield tubes, Btu/hr
level of production desired. = heat loss in firebox through furnace walls,
A typical fired heater will have following four sections: (1) bridgewall, casing, etc., Btu/hr
Radiant section, (2) Shield section, (3) Convection section, = heat of flue gases leaving the radiant section,
and (4) Breeching and stack. A fired heater may be a box Btu/hr
= ( ∝ + )ℱ( − )+ . . .
ℎ = 0.021( ) ( )
+
Where,
= Convective heat transfer to radiant tubes, Btu/hr Where the Reynolds number is,
= Convective heat transfer to shield tubes, Btu/hr
×
=
1 (
.
)
ℎ = = 0.35 + 0.65
1
+ an inline pattern,
(ℎ + ℎ )
Where,
.
ℎ = Outside heat transfer coefficient, Btu/hr-ft2-F ( )
ℎ = Outside radiation heat transfer coefficient, Btu/hr- = 0.20 + 0.65
ft2-F Where,
= Outside fouling resistance, hr-ft2-F/Btu = Fin height, in
= Fin spacing, in
ii. Outside film heat transfer coefficient, ℎ :
Non-equilateral & row correction, :
For fin tubes arranged in,
.
ℎ = ( ) Staggered pattern,
Where,
( . ) ( . )
= Colburn heat transfer factor = 0.7 + 0.7 − 0.8
= Mass velocity based on net free area, lb/hr-ft2 Inline pattern,
= Heat capacity, Btu/lb-F
= Gas thermal conductivity, Btu/hr-ft-F ( . ) ( . )
= Gas dynamic viscosity, lb/hr-ft = 1.1 − 0.75 − 1.5
Where,
iii. Colburn heat transfer factor, : = Number of tube rows
= Longitudinal tube pitch, in
. = Transverse tube pitch, in
+ 460 .
= ( )
+ 460 iv. Mass Velocity, :
Where,
= Reynolds number correction
= Geometry correction =
= Non-equilateral & row correction Where,
= Outside diameter of fin, in = Mass flow rate of gas, lb/hr
= Outside diameter of tube, in = Net free area, ft2
= Average gas temperature, F
= Average fin temperature, F And,
Net Free Area, :
Reynolds number correction, :
.
= −( )
= 0.25 Where,
Where, = Cross sectional area of box, ft2
= Reynolds number = × = Fin tube cross sectional area/ft, ft2/ft
= Effective tube length, ft
Geometry correction, : = Number tubes wide
=
For segmented fin tubes arranged in, = +2
a staggered pattern,
= Fin height, ft
. = Outside diameter of tube, ft
( )
= 0.55 + 0.45 = Transverse tube pitch, ft
an inline pattern, = fin thickness, ft
= number of fins, fins/ft
.
( )
= 0.35 + 0.50 v. Surface Area Calculations:
For the prime tube,
For solid fin tubes arranged in,
a staggered pattern, = (1 − )
Where,
= (1 − )+ (2 + + +2 ) = Gas Temperature, F
= Tube Wall Temperature, F
And for segmented fins,
VII. Conclusion
Using Microsoft Excel Programming software, a design
module has been prepared which can be used for different data
values and gives satisfactory results. In present case, the
design module gives required radiant heat transfer and
convective heat transfer in the fired heater. The specified fired
heater is also simulated in HTRI heat exchanger suite 6.0
using the same fired heater data which are used in MS Excel
design module. The table of comparision illustrates that the