An introduction to fouling in fired
heaters: Part three burner fouling
Erwin Platvoet
XRG Technologies
Burner fouling
To keep a fired heater operating optimally it is important to
distribute heat as evenly as possible. A maldistribution of
heat will result in a poor absorbed heat flux profile and local
hot spots. Elevated tube metal temperatures can accelerate
fouling inside the tubes and reduce coil life. Burner fouling
is a frequent cause of heat maldistribution. The most fre-
quent location of burner fouling is in the gas tips. It is mostly
reaction type fouling, so it depends on fuel composition and
residence time, as well as the local gas tip temperature.
Impact of fuel composition
The main fouling precursors in the fuel are unsaturated
components like olefins (i.e., propylene, butene), poly-
olefins (for example butadiene) and aromatics (benzene,
styrene, toluene). Unsaturates form polyaromatics that
condense to form aerosols that coalesce into larger drop-
lets. The droplets hit the hot gas tip walls and form coke.
The dienes are the most reactive, but olefins are known to
cause problems too.
The severity of the fouling problem depends on the
Figure 1 Left, poor flame
quality
Figure 2 Below, coke
accumulation inside gas
tip
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concentration of unsaturated components in the fuel, i.e.
olefins, poly-olefins, and aromatics.
At first glance, the typical fuel shown in Table 1 does
not seem to present a problem; the total concentration of
olefins is 6.5 vol%, but this is equivalent to 16 wt%. To
put that in perspective, a 10 MMBtu/h burner will see 80
lb/h of C4 olefins. Compare this to the amount of coke that
causes problems inside gas tips: it is measured in ounces.
The worst component in the fuel in Table 1 is butadiene.
The amount of 0.018 vol% does not seem like much but
a 10 MMBtu/h burner sees 2000 lb per year of this highly
fouling component.
To prevent the formation of the aerosols it is important to
keep a fuel gas like this at elevated temperature (>120°F) to
prevent aerosol condensation.
Impact of burner type
Conventional process burners usually have a single gas gun
positioned inside the air stream. The gas gun is kept cool
by the incoming combustion air. Since all the fuel arrives
through a single gun, the fuel ports are relatively large. On
Table 1 Typical composition of refinery fuel gas
February 2023 1
Figure 3 Conventional burner, left, vs ULN burner principle ,right
the contrary, an Ultra-Low NOx (ULN) burner has many
gas tips located outside the burner tile in order to entrain
and mix as much flue gas into the flame as possible. These
tips are much hotter and the fuel ports are smaller than in
a conventional burner. Ignition ports on these tips are as
small as 1/16 in.
Impact of burner design
We have already seen that the difference between con-
ventional and ULN burner designs has an impact on burner
fouling propensity. There are other burner design factors to
consider for fouling concerns as well.
Tip metallurgy
The tip metallurgy has been shown to influence catalytic
coking. Typical 310 stainless steels (or CK-20) contain
19-22% nickel which promotes catalytic coke formation.
Changing the tip material to ceramic, for example, will all
but eliminate this type of coking inside the gas tip due
to the absence of nickel. The low thermal conductivity of
the ceramic material reduces the inside wall temperature
reducing coke formation.
Double drop
Some burner designs use an orifice plate inside the mani-
fold to keep the gas ports above a minimum size. The adia-
batic expansion causes a large temperature drop in the fuel
and subsequent condensation of heavy components.
Example: In extreme cases, freezing/hydrate formation has
occurred in a natural gas fuel containing water, where the
double drop caused the burner manifold temperature to drop
below 40°F.
Design of the gas tip
The design of the gas riser and tip itself has an impact on
the fouling behaviour. For example, an improperly designed
2 February 2023
gas riser/tip with high residence time or dead zones inside
the riser will provide more time and opportunity for aero-
sols to dehydrogenate and attach to internal surfaces.
Gas tips that have large, exposed surface areas will
absorb more radiant heat from the firebox and be much
hotter than small diameter tips.
Other factors
Burners that use heavy oil fuels suffer from substantial foul-
ing when the atomising steam flow is too low, or too cold.
Poor atomising results in oil droplets that are too large for
efficient volatilisation, which causes a build-up of tar and
ash inside the regen tile and on top of cones and swirlers.
Hoar frost/rime ice
Hoar frost and rime ice can be very problematic in cold
conditions. The name hoar frost originates from Old
English where hoar is defined as ‘showing signs of old
age’. It was thought to make trees resemble a white beard
though its feathery or hairy appearance. Rime ice occurs
when supercooled droplets freeze and attach onto an
exposed surface.
Other sources of fouling are dust and sand entrained by
the ambient air, refractory or burner noise suppression lin-
ing that has come loose from the walls and ceiling, and rust
from the upstream fuel piping.
Symptoms of burner fouling
Burner fouling can have severe consequences. In ULN
burners, the smallest ports are typically the ignition ports.
This means that the fuel ports that are the most important
for flame stabilisation are also the most prone to plugging.
Plugged gas ports can result in a variety of symptoms:
• Glowing gas tips. Once the flow of the fuel is reduced
to such an extent that it stops cooling the gas tip, the tip
assumes the firebox temperature and will start to glow. If
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left untreated, the gas tip will be completely destroyed.
• Reduction of burner tile temperature. The thermal iner-
tia of burner tiles is often used to anchor a flame to the top
or a ledge of the tile. A plugged gas port or tip can result
in a local dark colour of the burner tile, where it should be
bright yellow/white.
• Lifted flame. At locations where ports are plugged and
tiles become cold, flames lose their anchoring point and
‘float’ above the tile.
• Flame huffing. The lifted flame may attempt to re-attach
itself to the tile or the cone. The repeated resulting changes
in flame temperature and air side pressure drop can excite
other parts of the burner or even other flames. In extreme
cases, the flame may be extinguished.
• Yellow, lazy flames. When ports become plugged, the
fuel/air ratio is distorted, and parts of the flame will see
much richer conditions. The mixing energy from the gas
tips is reduced, which lowers the reaction between air and
fuel. The flames become more susceptible to the firebox
aerodynamics and roll into the coils, causing hot spots and
radiant tube problems.
• Firebox flooding. Plugged ports, bad flames, and fuel/
air maldistribution can result in accumulation of unburned
hydrocarbons inside the firebox. During normal operation
with a hot firebox, this typically causes emissions issue of
CO; but, during start-up or turndown operation where the
firebox is cold, flame instability can create serious safety
risk to start-up personnel.
• High emissions. An imbalance in stoichiometry between
burner tips or between burners can cause an increase in
unburned hydrocarbons and NOx emissions. Soot deposi-
tion in the convection section may foul the finned tubes. In
extreme cases, after-burning in the convection can over-
heat convection tube supports and fins.
Figure 4 Hoar frost on perforated plates
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• Reduced capacity. The plugging of fuel ports causes the
burners to operate at a higher fuel pressure, up to the point
where it is limited by the trip settings.
• Reduced fuel efficiency. Incomplete combustion and poor
heat flux profiles can result in reduced radiant efficiency,
high arch temperature and high stack temperature.
Mitigation/prevention strategies
Since burner fouling can result in safety risks and efficiency
losses, it is important to mitigate and prevent fouling as
much as possible.
Monitoring/inspection
Visually inspect burner tiles for colour changes. See if any
gas tips are glowing. Check the temperature of gas risers
outside the firebox (a fouled tip may be warmer than clean
tips). Monitor flame quality and check for detached or lifted
flames. Inspect flame size from burner to burner. They
should be the same. Check the brightness of the refractory
glow. It should be uniform from burner to burner.
Monitor the trend of the fuel pressure versus heater duty.
Rising fuel pressure may indicate gas tip fouling. Check the
flue gas CO at the arch (preferred) or stack. Compare the
radiant pass outlet temperatures; a large difference may
indicate a flame issue.
Fuel piping
Install fuel gas filters, strainers, and/or coalescers. Note that
a fuel gas coalescer removes aerosols and droplets from
the fuel gas stream. It is, therefore, extremely important to
maintain sufficient temperature between the coalescer and
the burner. Apply insulation or heat tracing. To prevent rust
particles from plugging the gas ports, consider using stain-
less steel fuel piping up to the burner.
Figure 5 Small diameter gas tips
February 2023 3
Burner design
Minimise the diameter of the gas tip portion that is exposed
LINKS
to the radiant heat. This will maximise the fuel gas velocity More articles from: XRG Technologies
and gas tip temperature in the most critical part of the tip.
Consider Schedule 80 wall thickness of the gas tip to More articles from the following categories:
maximise fuel gas velocity and minimise residence time. Emissions Reduction
Use a ‘double drop’ orifice upstream of the gas tip increase
Fired Heaters, Furnaces and Boilers
the size of the gas ports. However, verify that the drop in
fuel gas temperature does not cause excessive condensa-
tion of heavy components.

4 February 2023 www.digitalrefining.com