07.06.

13 - 040

Theory

Equipment
Furnaces
To transfer heat to another substance, either fired or non-fired equipment can be used. Examples of non-fired equipment are heat exchangers. Examples of fired equipment are boilers and furnaces. In fired equipment, combustion energy (heat) is transferred to another substance. In the previous lesson, we described the steam boilers and in this lesson we examine furnaces. In the petrochemical industry, furnaces are used to heat various kinds of liquid products. We will look at the design as well as the operation of furnaces. The latter is particularly important with regard to economical management of energy and fuels. The final section offers a brief summary of equipment designed especially for the heat transfer.

Contents of the lesson

1 2 3 4 5 6
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Furnaces Vertical furnaces Horizontal furnaces Design Cleaning Combustion Heat transfer equipment, a brief summary

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Lesson
1 Furnaces
A furnace, like a boiler, is a device that first generates heat by local combustion and subsequently transfers the heat to (liquid) products, raising the temperature of these products. The products require the higher temperature for a number of purposes. The main purposes are: - in preparation for feeding to a distillation column, if necessary including full or partial evaporation; - cracking or supply to a separate cracking unit. The heating must be carried out in an economical and safe manner.

1.1

Operation of a furnace
Figure 1 shows a simple scheme of a complete furnace, including the stack.

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Figure 1 Schematic drawing of a complete furnace

- air preheater

The process flow to be heated is pumped into the radiant cell of the furnace via a piping system. Beforehand, the processflow is preheated in a convection bank, where the heat of the hot flue gases from the furnace is transferred to the cold feed. Subsequently, the slightly cooled flue gases flow partially through an air preheater which preheats the combustion air supplied by a blower. These two measures considerably improve the economy of the operation.
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- bypass

- dew point - dimensions and shape

The air preheater is fitted with a bypass which allows the air to bypass the air preheater when the flue gas temperature is low, for instance during starting and stopping of the unit. This is done to prevent the flue gases from being cooled below the temperature at which the water vapour it contains condenses and corrosion can occur. This temperature is known as the dew point. The dimensions and shape of a furnace are determined by the quantity of heat to be transferred, the temperature to be attained and the space available (distance from the burners to the tubes), to prevent high tube wall stress. Furnaces can be divided according to their design into vertical and horizontal furnaces. Question 1 Give a few important applications of furnaces.

Vertical furnaces
Figure 2 shows a schematic drawing of a vertical furnace. The burners are mounted vertically in the bottom, while the tubes in the radiant cell run parallel to the flame. The stack is shown as an extension of the furnace.

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Figure 2 Vertical furnace

Figure 3 shows a design of a different type of vertical furnace. Here, the stack is not mounted on top of the furnace, but at some distance from the furnace, so it can be used for several furnaces. What distinguishes this furnace design from that of horizontal furnaces is the self-supporting wall design. The fire-resistant cladding consists of concrete (light or medium weight insulate concrete). The construction of these furnaces is simpler, and less floor space is needed.

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Figure 3 Vertical furnace

Horizontal furnaces
Figure 4 shows a horizontal furnace design. The burners are mounted horizontally in the side wall, whereas the tubes are mounted both parallel to and perpendicular to the flame. The furnace consists of: - a sheet steel wall, attached to vertical T beams, which also carry the roof structure; - the inside of the furnace, which consists of a fire-resistant brick or concrete layer. This layer is supported, where necessary, and is separated from the steel outer wall by means of a porous insulating layer. One or more wall are provided with openings to enable burners, peepholes and explosion doors to be fitted.

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Figure 4 Horizontal furnace 4

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Design
Older furnaces usually consist of a frame of steel beams. The space between the beams is closed with thin plates, refractory cladded. The roof is suspended and of a very light construction. This is done so the roof functions as an explosion door in the case of a sudden overpressure in the combustion space, leaving the side walls and the tubes suspended from them as far as possible intact. In the newer types of furnaces, the walls consist of a 'down-end' construction which not only facilitates construction but also produces a structure which is both stronger and lighter. In this design, it is the floor of the combustion space that serves as an explosion door. It is therefore not permitted to be present under such a furnace floor during starting or stopping. In principle, there is no need for this, as the necessary work under such furnaces is limited to inserting the pilot burner. All other equipment, such as valves, are mounted on higher-level platforms. Support and suspension of furnace tubes In the older types of horizontal furnaces, the tubes are suspended horizontally from clips or supports to prevent sagging. The tubes project through the wall of the furnace and end in 'return bends'. These are fitted with removable plugs, enabling the interior of a furnace tube to be reached in the case of repairs etc. (see figure 5). Figure 6 shows a practical design of a return bend.

- explosion door - down-end design

- floor

- return bends

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Figure 5 Return bend, schematic representation

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Figure 6 Return bend

A return bend consists of a casing or a fitting provided with two grooved holes for fixing (rolling in) the furnace tube. On the opposite side, there are two conical holes to provide a seal by means of conical plugs. The sealing of such a plug is achieved without a gasket, so the plug must be ground perfectly conically. The conical plugs are held down in the hole by a hold down bolt and a clamp. The clamp is secured in a hole. The plug has a lip to enable the plug to be wedged loose for removal. Some plugs have been provided with an opening to place a thermowell for temperature monitoring and temperature regulation (see figure 7).

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Figure 7 Securing a thermowell with plug in a return bend

Some return bends have plugs fitted with guides for the purpose of aiding a smooth flow of the product through the tubes. Care must be taken to mount the guide in the right direction. The plugs must be treated with proper care as they are quite expensive. When they are mounted they must be well cleaned. In case of wear, the plugs can be reground, to make them suitable for use again. In the newer designs, headers are often used, which are fitted with removable covers for the purpose of inspection or repair (see figure 8). Question 2 Why is an explosion door provided?

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Figure 8 Collecting tube with cover 7

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Cleaning
However good the combustion of the fuels, some soot will invariably form and be deposited on the furnace tubes, except in the case gas is burnt. The soot prevents proper heat transfer and when there are large quantities of it, it may even impair draught. For this reason, the soot is removed regularly, which can be done by means of soot blowing and/or shotcleaning. Another disadvantage of soot is that at high temperatures, the carbon it contains can penetrate the metal of the furnace tubes, rendering them more brittle. Soot blowing Removing soot from the combustion space is done by means of steam. For this purpose, at regular intervals, long, rotating steam nozzles are inserted into the combustion space, which blow the soot off the tubes. In soot blowing, the steam jets collide with the furnace tubes, loosening the soot from the tubes. The soot is then entrained with the fluegases to the stack. A furnace is fitted with more than one soot blower. The proper sequence for the operation of the soot blowers is as follows: cocurrent with the flow of the flue gas from the hottest point to the coldest point. This sequence ensures that soot blower 2 carries along the soot re-deposited after blowing by soot blower 1 onto the next bundle, and so on. It is like sweeping the stairs, which is always done from the top down. Usually, soot is blown once every 24 hours. Occasionally, the design of the furnace and the type of fuel make it necessary to blow several times during a 24 hour period. Soot blowers are usually divided into two groups: retractable types and soot blowers with a fixed pipe. In the first type, the blow pipe is rotated by an electric motor and moved into and out of the furnace. The entire procedure can be fully automated. In the second type, the blow pipe never leaves the boiler, but can be rotated to reach different furnace tubes with the steam jet. The steam jet can only operate over part of the rotation, however. Shotcleaning installation For efficient removal of soot, sometimes small metal balls (shot) are used, which are dropped onto the tubes of the convection bank or air preheater by means of a screwconveyor or pneumatically. The falling shot generates a vibration of the tubes which removes the soot.. The shot is collected in a funnel-shaped trough at the bottom and are recirculated. The loosened soot particles are entrained with the flue gases. Question 3 Which two types of soot blowers are there?

- steam nozzles

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6
6.1
- fuel - starting - flushing fuel

Combustion
Fuel
Either gas (fuel gas system) or fuel oil, supplied by the refinery fuel system can be used as a fuel. For starting up, a special low-viscosity oil with a low ignition point, known as 'flushing fuel', can be used. This is done to ensure maximum safety and reliability of ignition during start-up. During operation, gas or oil can be burnt. Burning gas is more expensive, but cleaner and easier to control. Burning oil is cheaper in comparison, but less easy to control as regards the fuel/air ratio.

6.2
- flame shape

Flame shape
The shape of the flame is also an important factor. It will be clear that the largest temperature difference with the surroundings will occur at the edges of the flame cone. The shape of the cone differs according to the fuel used. If gas is burnt, the cone is elongated, whereas in the case of oil, the cone is much shorter and thicker (figures 9 and 10).

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Figure 9 Gas flame shape

Figure 10 Oil flame shape

- stress point

- tube burst

In firing with gas, the stress point for the furnace tubes is at the back, at the end of the tube. In firing with oil, this region is at a short distance from the burner. The result is that the biggest risk of tube burst occurs at the point of the greatest stress. This has led to the use of oil burners in combination with a ring-shaped gas burner (see figure 11). This way, the stress of the furnace tubes is such that the risk of tube burst is greatly reduced.

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Figure 11 Combined oil and gas burner

Question 4 What is flushing fuel and what is it used for?

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Heat transfer equipment, a brief summary

We will now recapitulate the different types of heat transfer equipment. Every plant in which heat is used to bring about changes to liquids or gases needs specially designed equipment for that purpose.

- heat exchanger

The most general type of equipment is the heat exchanger, in which two different flows, a 'hot' flow and a 'cold' flow, exchange heat. The hot flow is cooled and the cold flow is heated in the process (see figure 12).

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Figure 12 Symbol for heat exchanger

Equipment in which heat is 'created' by means of combustion can be divided into: - boilers; - furnaces. In addition, the heat generated is transferred to a liquid or gas. In the boiler the liquid is water, which, having been converted to steam, is then used as a heat carrier to e.g. heat the product (see figure 13).

- steam boiler

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Figure 13 Schematic presentation of steam boiler

- furnace

In the furnace, the heat of combustion is transferred to the product directly (see figure 14). The hot product can then undergo further processing in which the high temperature is needed, such as distillation and cracking.

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Figure 14 Schematic presentation of a furnace 10

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- reboiler

In a reboiler, a liquid product is evaporated by means of steam or a hot oil (see figure 15).

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Figure 15 Symbol of reboiler

- cooler - condenser - cooler condenser

A cooler is used to lower the temperature of a product by means of colder cooling water or colder air (see figure 16) . In a condenser, water vapour (steam) or a product vapour is condensed by the removal of heat. If the product condensate is cooled still further, we speak of a cooler condenser (see figure 17).

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Figure 16 Symbol of cooler

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Figure 17 Symbol of condenser

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Summary
A furnace is used to transfer heat to a fluid flow in tubes via combustion space. A complete unit also includes a convection bank and an air preheater to maximise efficiency. The flue gases must be prevented from cooling down too much, to prevent condensation of the water vapour. Furnaces can be divided into vertical and horizontal furnaces. The vertical furnaces can be subdivided into furnaces with their own stack and furnaces which use a shared stack. For reasons of safety, the roof or floor of a furnace is designed as an explosion door. The ends of the tubes are either joined in pairs by means of return bends or several of them are connected to a header with cover. The removal of soot is done by means of steam in the combustion space, and by means of shotcleaning in the flue gas ducts. The steam tubes in the combustion space are either fixed in position or retractable, but they are always able to rotate. Either oil or gas is used as a fuel, both with their advantages and disadvantages. To use the advantages of both, combined oil-gas burners are sometimes used. The following types of equipment are based on the heat transfer principle: heat exchangers, boilers, furnaces, reboilers, coolers and condensers.

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Test
Exercises
Do not send in your answers for correction 1. Which two types of vertical furnaces are there? 2. Which characteristic determines the difference between a horizontal and a vertical furnace? 3. Which two methods are used for the removal of soot? 4. Where is soot blowing with steam used, and where soot removal by means of shot cleaning? 5. What is tube burst and where does the biggest risk of tube burst occur?

Answers to the questions in the lesson

1. a. b. Preparation of liquid for feeding to a distillation column. Cracking liquid or preparation for liquid cracking.

2. To prevent severe damage in the case of a sudden increase in pressure in the furnace. 3. Retractable and fixed soot blowers. 4. Thin oil with a low ignition point, used ignite burners.

Answers to the exercises

1. a. b. With a stack on top of each furnace. Furnaces without their own stack but with several furnaces connected to a shared stack.

2. The position of the burners, horizontal and vertical, respectively. 3. a. b. Cleaning with powerful steam jets. Shot cleaning.

4. Steam is used in and close to the combustion space; shot cleaning in the convection bank and the air preheater. 5. The tubes burning through; this usually happens above the hottest spot of the flames.

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Problems and assignments

Answer and send in for correction 1. Which path do the gases take through a complete furnace? 2. What is the flue gas 'bypass' used for? 3. What is a 'return bend'? 4. Give the advantages and disadvantages of firing with oil in comparison with gas. 5. Which types of heat transfer equipment do you know?

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