CL405

Process Equipment Selection

Design and Rating of Fired Heaters

Prof. Ranjan Kumar Malik

Professor (Adjunct) of Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Powai, Mumbai 400076
rkmalik@iitb.ac.in
 Design and Rating of Fired Heaters

Design
Design deals with arriving at a complete configuration of a
Fired Heater that will perform as per the problem
specifications.
Rating
The term Rating means Performance Evaluation. The
complete configuration of the Fired Heater will be
available a priori.
Recommended Reading
Walas, Stanley M., “Fired Heaters” in, Chemical Process Equipment,
Selection and Design, Butterworth-Heinmann, 1990

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 Design and Rating of Fired Heaters

➢ The design and rating of a fired heater is a

moderately complex operation.
➢ Even the relatively elaborate methods (for
example by Lobo and Evans) are able to predict
actual performance only within a maximum
deviation of 16%.
➢ Rating calculations are much easier than the
design calculations due to several design
variations that are available.
➢ Designs are generally proprietary and licensed.
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Equations and Other Relations for Fired Heater Design
(Reference: Stanley M. Walas)

QR = Enthalpy absorbed
in the radiant zone
F = Exchange Factor
AR = Radiation Area
α = Absorptivity

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Revisiting Radiant Zone Heat Transfer Equation
(By Cross Referencing)

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Equations and Other Relations for Fired Heater Design
(Reference: Stanley M. Walas)

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Equations and Other Relations for Fired Heater Design
(Reference: Stanley M. Walas)

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Equations and Other Relations for Fired Heater Design
(Reference: Stanley M. Walas)

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Equations and Other Relations for Fired Heater Design
(Reference: Stanley M. Walas)

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Procedure for Designing (by Rating) of a Fired Heater

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Procedure for the Rating of a Fired Heater

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Procedure for the Rating of a Fired Heater

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Procedure for the Rating of a Fired Heater

Highly Iterative

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Procedure for the Rating of a Fired Heater

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Procedure for the Rating of a Fired Heater

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 An Example Problem

Flow Sketch
of Process

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 An Example Problem

➢ Basic specifications on the process are the total heat

release (102.86 MBtu/hr), overall thermal efficiency
(75%), excess air (25%), the fraction of the heat
release that is absorbed in the radiant section (75%),
and the heat flux (10,000 Btu/(hr)(sq.ft.).
➢ In the present example, the estimated split of 75% and
a radiant rate of 10,000 lead to an initial specification of
87 tubes, but 90 were taken. The final results are quite
close to the estimates, being 77.1% to the radiant zone
and 9900 Btu/(hr)(sq.ft.) with 90 tubes. If the radiant
rate comes out much different from the desired value,
the number of tubes is changed accordingly.
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An Example Problem

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An Example Problem

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An Example Problem

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An Example Problem

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An Example Problem

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An Example Problem

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An Example Problem

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An Example Problem

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 An Example Problem

Tube and box

configuration of
the fired heater
of Example

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 Furnace Thermal Efficiency

➢ Furnace thermal efficiency is usually defined as the

percent ratio of the total heat absorbed by the
process fluid to the total heat input.
➢ The total heat input is the sum of the calorific value
of the fuel (gross or net) and the sensible heat of all
incoming streams including combustion air, fuel
and atomization steam (if used).
➢ Heat losses calculated from the difference between
the heat input and heat absorbed comprise both
stack heat losses and radiation heat losses through
furnace walls.
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 Furnace Thermal Efficiency

➢ Stack heat losses are sensible and latent heats

carried by the hot flue gases discharged
through the stack. They are a function of the
flue gas flow rate and temperature.
➢ Of these two factors, flue gas temperature is
the main factor in furnace heat losses, and the
thermal efficiency may be greatly improved if
the flue gases are cooled before being
discharged from the chimney.
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 Furnace Thermal Efficiency

➢ In order to cool the flue gases, a cold fluid must

be available that needs to be heated.
➢ Flue gas cooling is limited, however, by
corrosion problems caused by sulphuric acid
condensation due to the presence of sulphur
compounds in the fuels burned.
➢ If the fluid to be heated is at a temperature that
is too high to give a sufficiently low flue gas
temperature, i.e., a satisfactory thermal
efficiency, other options may be used.
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 Furnace Thermal Efficiency

➢ If the fluid to be heated is at a temperature

that is too high, the options could include:

1. Steam production, which does not reduce fuel

consumption, but is advantageous if the steam
can be exploited.
2. Recycling the flue gas and utilizing its heat for
preheating the combustion air.

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Furnace Thermal
Efficiency

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Furnace Thermal
Efficiency

Temperature
profiles for
combustion gases,
tube wall, process
fluid, and absorbed
heat per layer in the
convection section

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 Furnace Thermal Efficiency

➢ The results of the heat balances carried on fired

heaters are often represented by means of Sankey
diagrams where all the heat transfers in the heater
are summarized and represented by means of
arrows or lines whose thicknesses are proportional
to the amount of heat transfer.
➢ Sankey diagrams are widely used in technology
where material and energy balances can be easily
visualized making it easier to fully understand all
the process steps and their interrelationships.

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Sankey Diagram for the Energy Balance
of a Fuel Oil Fired Heater

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