PRESENTED BY: RUBY SAHU

OVERVIEW
What is a Fired Heater Main Components How does Fired Heater Work Selection of Fired Heaters Design Parameters Typical Design Parameters for different Fired Heaters Special Design Consideration Roles and Responsibility of Fired Heater Engineer Fired Heater Design Thumbs rule

FIRED HEATER
A combustion equipment Produces energy by combustion
T2 > T1

fuels Provide the necessary heat to the process fluids (inside tubes) for different process:

FLUE GAS

Process fluid IN @ temperature T1 Process fluid OUT @ temperature T2

Distillation

Cracking Reforming Hydrotreating Isomerization

Heater body at Negative Draft

Fuel

Air

MAIN COMPONENTS
VERTICAL CYLINDRICAL FIRED HEATER

MAIN COMPONENTS
BOX TYPE FIRED HEATER

OPEN

DAMPER

BURNER

CLOSE

ID Fan

BURNER

OPEN

FD Fan

FD Fan

BURNER

50%

50%

CLOSE

ID Fan
HEAT TRANSFER

APH
FD Fan FD Fan
BURNER

50%

50%

Selection of Fired Heater

Criteria Space available Cylindrical Less All radiant < 5 > with convection Box Type More

Heat duty (MMBtu/hr)

> 120 Horizontal tubes in box heater

Very long tube

High temp. service

Tubes at box centre with burner on both the sides

DESIGN PARAMETERS
PROCESS DESIGN PARAMETERS

Process unit & heater type Number of passes Heat absorbed Fluid flow rates, temperature & pressure (inlet and outlet) Fluid Properties (viscosity, specific heat, thermal

conductivity) Fouling Factor Average Heat Flux Turndown and overdesign requirements

DESIGN PARAMETERS
OTHER SPECIAL DESIGN PARAMETERS

Thermal efficiency required Draft mechanism and Air pre heater requirement Forced draft fan & drivers Induced draft fan & drivers Soot blowers Fuel type

For burner selection Excess air determination

Stack emissions limits

Typical Heater Design Parameters

(1) CRUDE HEATER
Thermal Cracking Tendency Outlet Temperature, F Pressure drop, psi Mass velocity, Lb/(sec-ft2) Radiant heat flux, Btu/(hr-ft2)

:LOW :625 to 700 :150 to 250 :250 to 350 :10000 to 12000

Typical Heater Design Parameters

(2) VACUUM HEATER
Thermal Cracking Tendency

:LOW/ Slight Outlet Temperature, F :715 to 800 Pressure drop, psi :50 to 75 Mass velocity, Lb/(sec-ft2) :250 to 350 (Except outlet tube) Radiant heat flux, Btu/(hr-ft2) :9000 to 12000 Size outlet tubes for less than sonic velocity

Typical Heater Design Parameters

(3) VISBREAKER HEATER
Thermal Cracking Tendency

:MEDIUM/HIGH Outlet Temperature, F :840 to 890 Pressure drop, psi :210 to 350 Mass velocity, Lb/(sec-ft2) :300 to 400 Radiant heat flux, Btu/(hr-ft2) :8000 to 12000 Minimum process fluid velocity, ft/sec :6

Typical Heater Design Parameters

(4) DELAYED COKER HEATER
Thermal Cracking Tendency Outlet Temperature, F Pressure drop, psi Mass velocity, Lb/(sec-ft2) Radiant heat flux, Btu/(hr-ft2):
Single Fired Heaters Double Fired Heaters 8000 to 10000 12000 to 15000

:HIGH :920 to 940 :350 to 400 :350 to 450

Minimum process fluid velocity, ft/sec :6

Special Design Consideration

(1) Chemical Fouling (2) Average heat flux (3) Inside film temperature (4) Fluid velocity and Residence time

(1) Chemical Fouling (Coking)

Decomposition/ Cracking

of Process Fluid Depends upon:

Fluid Composition Residence Time

Impacts:
Pressure drop inside tube Poor Heat transfer Increase in tube metal

temperature/ tube failure

(2) Average heat flux

Crude heater Flux selection :

Non-Fouling/Coking services Mildly Fouling/Coking services Highly Fouling/Coking services

: : :

12000 Btu/(hr-ft2) 10000 Btu/(hr-ft2) <9000 Btu/(hr-ft2)

Effects of Lower Heat Flux :

More radiant surface area required More process fluid pressure drop More passes to fit pressure drop More expensive heater Lower inside film temperature

(3) Inside Film Temperature

Primary indicator for fouling potential for fouling/

coking services Can be measured from:

Tube metal temperature-TMT

(4) Fluid Velocity and Residence Time

Fluid velocity affects: Tube metal temperature Potential return bend erosion Residence time affects: Inside film temperature Coking Tube metal temperature

Roles and Responsibility of Fired Heater engineer

Sizing of the Fired Heater (Thermal calculation)

Tube Layout Tube Diameter Number of Tubes Tube Metallurgy Software used: FRNC Type
Type of Fuel Draft mechanism

Burner selection

Special type of Burners such as Low NOx burner Number of Burners

Minimum clearance required Heat Duty requirement

Refractory

Refractory material Refractory Thickness Design code: As per ASME C 680 code Thickness of Plate/ Structural member sizes Wind/ Seismic Calculation Software used: STAAD Pro

Structural calculation

FIRED HEATER DESIGN

NUMERICAL EXAMPLE FOR SIZING A FIRED HEATER WITH

CAPACITY OF 40MM Btu/hr (SERVICE :HOT OIL HEATER)

INPUT PARAMETERS
Design duty (Q)
Type Process Stream Mass flow rate (m) Inlet temperature (Tin) Outlet temperature (Tout) Design pressure (Pdesign) Inlet Pressure (Pin) Outlet Pressure (Pout) Allowable pressure drop (P) Efficiency (E) , minimum Specific Heat Capacity (Cp) @ inlet Specific Heat Capacity (Cp) @ outlet Average radiant Heat Flux Rate Combustion Excess Air

40 MM Btu/h
Vertical Cylindrical/ Horizontal Convection Box, Gas Fired

Hot Oil 1931062 lb/h 482 F 518 F 150 psig 60 psig 30 psig 30 psi 85% 0.567 Btu/ lb.F 0.584 Btu/ lb.F 10,000 Btu/ft2.h 20%

Step1: Total duty calculation

Q = m x Cp x T
m = Cp = T = 1931062 lb/ hr, the mass flow rate of the process fluid 0.576 Btu/lb-F, the average specific heat of the process fluid from the inlet to outlet 36F temperature increase of the process fluid from inlet to outlet

= = =

1931062x0.576x36 40042501.63 Btu/hr 40MM Btu/hr

Step2: Radiant and convection duty split calculation

Q= QR+QC
QR= the radiant heat transfer absorbed by radiant heater coils from fuel combustion QC = the convection heat transfer absorbed by convection heat transfer coils from fuel combustion

QC

QR

QC= Q x (%stack + %Excess air)

%Stack = Percent convection duty based on stack temperature and bridge wall temperature (BWT) Percent convection duty based on excess air
Stack Temperature

QC
BWT

%Excess air =

20% excess air

TMT = Tout+ Est.50F = 518 + 50 = 568F From the graph, BWT = 1440F

Stack temperature is a function of excess air and overall heater efficiency. = = = calculated efficiency + Radiation loss 85 + 1.5 86.5%

From the graph, Stack temperature = 470F

From the graph shown on the right for 470F and 1440 BWT, we obtain the convection duty split as 32.5%.

%Stack % Excess Air

QC

= 0.325 =0

= 40 X (0.325+0) = 13 MMBtu/hr = 27 MMBtu/hr

QR

Step3: Radiant heating surface area calculation

RAD Surf

= QR/Flux Avg = 27 000 000/10 000 = 2 700 ft2

Total Effective tube length = (RAD Surf) / (Tube DO x /12) Assumption : 6 inch (in) pipe is selected having a OD of 6.625 in

(Tube DO x )/12

= (6.625 x )/12 = 1.734 ft

= 2700/1.734 = 1557 ft

Radiant total effective length

 Radiant effective length

= (Radiant total effective length

Shield tube length)
Tubes per row spacing)/
Shield tube length = (TCD-G) x

TCD = (Qty of tubes x Radiant

Assumption : Let us assume that the Qty of tubes in the radiant coil is 48 and that tube spacing is 1 ft.

TCD = (48 x 1)/

= 15.28 ft

 Shield tube length

= (15.28-1) x 8 = 114.24 ft = 1557- 114 = 1443 ft

Radiant effective length

Radiant effective tube length

= (Radiant effective length)/(Radiant tube Qty) = 1443/48 = 30.6 ft

 To confirm this design the L/D ratio must be less

than 2.75, in accordance with API 560: = 30.6/15.28 = 2.0 (Approx) < 2.75 The design therefore complies with API 560.

Thumb rules for design of Fired Heater

Radiant Section
Volumetric heat release maximum limit:

For oil fired :

12000 Btu/hr/ft3

For gas fired : 16000 Btu/hr/ft3

For vertical cylindrical heaters L/D ratio: <2.75 For vertical tube box heaters H/W ratio: <2.75

Maximum length for vertical tubes: 18.3m

Maximum unsupported length for horizontal tubes is lesser of 35 X OD

or 6m
Minimum distance between refractory and tube centre is 1.5 X Nominal

diameter

Thumb rules for design of Fired Heater

Convection Section
Flue gas temperature should be below dew point temperature Flue gas mass velocity (Kg/s-m2)

Natural Draft: 1.5~3.0 Forced Draft: 3.0~4.5

REFERENCES
ANSI/API STANDARD 560

FOURTH EDITION, AUGUST 2007

ANSI/API STANDARD 530

SIXTH EDITION, SEPTEMBER 2008

Direct Fired Heaters- A Practical Guide to their

Design and Operation, by Roger Newnham

Thank You