Calculating Thermal Efficiency of Gas

Fired Heaters

BY ENG : MOSTAFA MAHMOUD

?WHAT IS A FIRED HEATER
A Fired heater is equipment which transfers heat produced by
. combustion of the fuel to the process stream
- :CLASSIFICATION OF FIRED HEATERS
1- INDIRECT OR FIRETUBE HEATERS
Where the combustion gases are contained in a fire tube that is surrounded
by a liquid that fills the heater shell. This liquid may be either the process
stream or a heat transfer medium that surrounds the coil bundle containing
the process stream. An example is the salt bath heater
2- DIRECT FIRED HEATERS
Where the combustion gases occupy most of the heater volume and heat the
.process stream contained in coils of tubes aligned throughout the heater

Types of Direct Fired Heaters

Box or Cabin Type ·

A box type heater is considered to be any
heater in which the tubes are horizontal
Vertical type ·
Vertical heaters are either cylindrical or rectangular. They may have
radiant section only or convection and radiant sections. The radiant section
.tubes will usually be vertical

SIDE VIEW OF TOP SECTION

 Air Supply and Flue Gas Removal

Draft
The hot flue gases inside the firebox and stack are lighter than the cold ambient
air outside. This results in the creation of a slightly negative pressure inside the
furnace which is called draft. Combustion air is drawn into the burners and the
.hot gas flows out of the stack due to this pressure differential
To overcome the frictional losses and to maintain the negative pressure in the
firebox sufficient stack height is provided for exiting the flue gases to
:atmosphere. There are four types of draft exist
: Natural Draft  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 In this type of system, the air is supplied by means of a

centrifugal fan commonly known as forced draft
fan. It provides for high air velocity, better air fuel mixing, )FD(
.and smaller burners
: Induced Draft 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 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
?HOW TO IMPROVE FIRED HEATER EFFICIENCY
.Heater efficiency can be improved by reducing the heat losses from the heater

TYPES OF HEAT LOSSES

:Refractory heat losses-1
.Refractory lining contains the heat generated and minimizes heat loss
The thickness of the refractory lining is normally determined by the heater
vendor, based on the purchaser's specification. A value of Cold-face
.temperature accepted as optimum is 50°C to 60°C higher than ambient
The radiation heat loss from heater casing can be calculated as a percentage
.( 1% - 2% ) from fuel LHV

:Stack losses -2
Stack heat losses occur because a large quantity of flue gas is
produced – due to the use of excess air—and because
The flue gases exit the heater at high temperatures. Therefore,
reducing excess air used and lowering the stack temperature will
cut these losses and increase heater efficiency. Every 22 °C drop in
.the exit flue gas temperature increase thermal efficiency by 1%
: TERMS AND DEFINATIONS
-:THEORETICAL AND EXCESS AIR
 : Lower Heating Value (LHV)
The standard measure of the energy released during combustion of a fuel,
considering the product water is in the gaseous state. For natural gas fuel, the LHV
.is approximately 10% lower than the higher heating value (HHV)

: Higher Heating Value (HHV)

The standard measure of the energy released during combustion of a fuel,

considering the product water is in the liquid state. For natural gas fuel, the HHV is
.approximately 10% higher than the lower heating value (LHV)

:Dry-bulb temperature
The dry-bulb temperature is the temperature of air measured by a thermometer
.freely exposed to the air but shielded from radiation and moisture
:Wet-bulb temperature
Wet-bulb temperature is measured using a thermometer that has its bulb wrapped in
Cloth (cotton or similar), which is kept wet with water .water evaporates from the bulb
which cools the bulb below ambient temperature. Note that a continuously air flow is
import to evaporate water from the wet clothing and achieve the correct wet bulb
.temperature
: Psychometric chart
A psychometric chart is a graph of the physical properties of moist air at a constant
Pressure or an elevation relative to sea-level. The chart graphically expresses how
Various properties relate to each other. The physical properties found on most
psychometric charts are: Dry-bulb, Wet-bulb, Dew point, Relative Humidity,
water content (Kg water/ Kg dry air)
:Combustion
Combustion or burning

is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an

oxidant( usually air ) accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in
.the form of flames
:The simple word equation for the combustion of a hydrocarbon in air is

FUEL + AIR HEAT + WATER + CARBON DIOXIDE + NITROGEN

Generally, the chemical equation for stoichiometric burning of hydrocarbons

in oxygen is as follows
: Types Of Combustion Reactions

:Complete Combustion -1

In complete combustion, when a hydrocarbon burns in oxygen, the reaction will only
.yield carbon dioxide and water

:Incomplete or Partial Combustion -2

Incomplete combustion occurs when there isn't enough oxygen to allow the fuel (usually
a hydrocarbon) to react completely with the oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water.
When a hydrocarbon burns partially in air, it will yield numerous products such as carbon
.dioxide, water, carbon monoxide, pure carbon (soot or ash)
 :Complete Combustion reactions of our fuel gas components

LHV
)Kcal/Kg(

CH4 + 2O2 CO2 + 2 H2O 11944.4

C2H6 + 3.5 O2 CO2 + 3 H2O 2 11415.4

C3H8 + 5 O2 CO2 + 4 H2O 3 11072.2

C4H10 + 6.5 O2 CO2 + 5 H2O 4 10927.7

C5H12 + 8 O2 CO2 + 6 H2O 5 10833.3

C6H14 + 9.5 O2 CO2 + 7 H2O 6 10688.8

 Orsat Analysis
Is a method of analyzing the flue gas components on dry basis

: Typical Recommended Excess air levels

Fuel oil Fuel gas

Natural draft to 25 15 to 20 10

to 15 10 to 10 5
Forced draft

Forced draft (preheated air) to 10 5 5

As a rule of thumb every 10% extra air used in combustion translates into a loss of
.1 % in terms of efficiency
?WHAT IS THE CORRECT FLUE GAS OXYGEN
Reducing excess air to the minimum safe level is the most important step in
reducing energy consumption, but there is no single O2 level that is right for all
heaters. The optimum flue gas oxygen concentration depends on the load (duty),
burner design, type of fuel and burner performance. Reducing oxygen while
measuring ppm combustibles allows the correct operating point to be determined.
The combustibles detector allows the oxygen level to be reduced safely until the
combustibles starts to increase. This is the correct value for that heater. The term
“combustibles” here refers to the products of incomplete combustion in the flue gas,
primarily carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and trace hydrocarbons, not to the raw fuel.
A ppm combustibles measurement should be taken from the same location as the
oxygen
DETERMINATION OF OPTIMUM OXYGEN VALUE
 CALCULATIONS

The net thermal efficiency is equal to the total heat absorbed divided by the total heat
input. The heat absorbed is equal to the total heat input minus the total heat losses
from the system. From the above figure this can be simplified to the following
-:equation
Qs – Qr – )LHV + Hf + Ha(
= Efficiency X 100
)LHV +Hf +Ha( FLUE GAS
STACK LOSSES (Qs)
S1 Kmole CO2
S2 Kmole O2
Radiation Losses (Qr) S3 Kmole N2
S4 Kmole H2O

F1 Kmole CH4
F2 Kmole C2H6 FUEL GAS (Hf+LHV) AIR ( Ha )
F3 Kmole C3H8
F4 Kmole C4H10 P1 Kmole O2
F5 Kmole C5H12 P1 Kmole N2 3.76
F6 Kmole C6H14 P2 Kmole H2O
 A combined mass and heat balance should be made over the heater
:based on the following assumptions

Complete combustion of all fuel gas components i.e. all components burn to - 1
. produce CO2 and H2O

The reading of oxygen analyzer (% O2 in flue gas) is accurate and we can -2

. depend on it during our calculations

Due to a lack of complete flue gas analysis ( Orsat Analysis ) the calculations - 3
. will be done as a trial and error procedure
: Conclusion

Reducing excess air to the minimum safe level is the most

important and practical step in reducing energy consumption.
As a rule, every 10% reduction in excess air saves about 1% in
fuel gas consumption. This can be translated to about 27,000 $
annual saving based on year 2006 fuel gas consumption and
.calorific value data in our fired heaters
References

Technical articles from "hydrocarbon processing " and -1

" chemical engineering" magazines

Elementary Principles of Chemical processes" ,Second" - 2

.Edition, By Richard M.Felder

.General search on the internet - 3