DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF AIR

PREHEATER USING CFD AND ITS

EFFECTS ON THERMAL EFFICIENCY
OF INDUSTRIAL BOILER.

Supervisor: Professor Dr. R. A. Pasha

HASHIM AURAGZEB HAQUE

16 – MS – FT – AMD - 02
Sequence of Presentation:
 Problem Statement
 Aims and Objectives
 Executive Summary
 Detailed Literature Review
 Generation of Boiler Heat Transfer Enhancement
Technologies
 Heat Transfer Enhancement Techniques
 Methodology
 Benefits of Proposed Research
 Gantt Chart of Proposed Work
 List of References
Problem Statement:
 The scope of this work is to design, model and simulate an air pre
heating system which can be installed on a working boiler without:
 Requiring extensive importing of parts from China.
 Utilizing special manufacturing techniques that are unavailable
in Pakistan.

 The design will be evaluated on a multipronged performance

criteria and submitted for professional validation.

 It is estimated that the installation of an air preheater will result in

fuel saving of up to 10% for each boiler.
Aims and Objectives:
 Conduct a thorough review of current air preheater designs
being utilized in industry.

 Select appropriate design & modify for implementation.

 Conduct numerical analysis of air preheater using

ANSYS/FLUENT.

 Optimize and refine the design.

 Estimate the realizable savings by implementation of the air

preheater using thermal analysis.
Executive Summary:
 The design parameters for the gas fired water in tube boiler is 10 tons
of steam per hour at a maximum pressure of 12 bar.
 The boilers are effectively first generation pre 1960 in design and
possess no efficiency enhancement technologies. As such the fuel
efficiency of the boilers is very low.
 Nine performance improvement technologies were identified for
boiler efficiency enhancement. Air Preheater was selected as the
lowest hanging fruit in terms of efficiency gains.
 The scope of this work is to design, model and simulate an air pre
heating system which can be fabricated locally.
 The design will be evaluated on a multipronged performance criteria
and submitted to for professional validation.
Detailed Literature Review
Process Steam is an essential component of modern industrial plants so much
so that it is often treated as a fourth utility alongside Electricity, Fuel and
Compressed air. A significant percent of industrial processes require a steady
uninterrupted supply of steam for the purposes of heating or application of
forces/operation of machinery or as an integral part of the process itself as is the
case in many process industries; with modern plants often integrating the steam
supply with the other utility systems. This is to say nothing of the power sector
where from the smallest scale gas boiler to the largest multi gigawatt nuclear
reactor - steam is used as the working fluid to drive the turbines and generate
electricity.
Steam is generated in boilers which at the industrial scale combust some
chemical fuel in the presence of air to generate heat and boil the water. Due to
the large specific and latent heat of water the operational costs of the boilers is
primarily the cost of the fuel. Given the scale of the steam/energy requirements
huge savings can be realized if the boiler fuel economy can be improved. As such
there has been great scientific research into optimizing each and every aspect of
the boilers design and extracting every last joule of energy from the fuel and
utilizing it.
Generation of Technologies for Enhancement of Heat Transfer
Generation of Technologies for Enhancement
of Heat Transfer
CONTINUED
Heat Transfer Enhancement Techniques
Heat Transfer Enhancement Techniques
Heat Transfer Enhancement Techniques
Heat Transfer Enhancement Techniques
Heat Transfer Enhancement Techniques
Literature Review
 Engineers and designers all over the world are using all the tools at their
disposal to eke out every last joule of energy in the fuel and create the
most optimized and efficient boiler for the given application and
constraints.
 This has led to the development of a whole new class of boilers which
incorporate all the commercially developed boiler technologies and provide
the most steam bang for the fuel buck.
 These new boilers are known as “Super Boilers” and they represent the
upcoming trend in this field. A 2017 study estimates that the proliferation
of super boilers will decrease the energy requirements on average by 5%
over the next decade in South Korea.
 Boiler heat transfer enhancement technologies have reached the point over
the last 60 years that the thermal efficiencies of modern boilers are in
excess of 94% and rising.
 This is the current state of the boiler technology in the developed world.
Methodology
i. To achieve the aim of the research a first literature
review of existing air preheater designs will be carried
out.
ii. In the next phase a suitable air preheater design will
be selected.
iii. Then the air preheater design will be adapted to local
specification.
iv. Then the air preheater design will be simulated
numerically using ANSYS FLUENT
v. The results of the CFD will be used to iteratively
optimize the design.
vi. Then finally results would be reported for validation.
Benefits of Proposed Research
 It will reduce fuel consumption.
 The resulting cost saving will increase profitability at the
lower bids in future tenders. This will increase the amount
of tenders that they win and will increase the factory
utilization.
 This project will provide a boost to the local economy.
 It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help fight
climate change.
 This will benefit humanity as a whole by slowing down
global warming.
 It will help Pakistan fulfill its Sustainable development
goals.
Benefits Continued…

 It will help to further reduce Pakistan’s carbon footprint.

 The natural gas that is saved will be diverted to power
generation or the fertilizer sector, or any other part of the
economy and that will be a net benefit to the entire
country.
 It will help further foster Industry-Academia linkage at
UET taxila.
 It will increase the human resource capacity at UET
Taxila.
 It will a great learning experience for our graduate
students.
Proposed Work Plan for Research
References (SLIDE ONE OF TEN)

1. https://processdesign.mccormick.northwestern.edu/index.php/Utility_systems

2. http://www.academia.edu/4190139/Integration_of_Steam_Power_Pl
ant_with_Process_Utility_System

3. https://powergen.gepower.com/products/steam-turbines.html

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler

5. https://www.foodonline.com/doc/examining-the-costs-of-boiler-
operation-0001

6. Hutton, Walter S. Steam-boiler construction. Van Nostrand, 1903.

References (TWO OF TEN)
7. Mumford, A. R., and G. W. Bice. "An Investigation of the Variation in Heat Absorption in a
Pulverized-Coal-Fired Water-Cooled Steam-Boiler Furnace, IV-Comparison and Correlation of
the Results of Furnace Heat-Absorption Investigations." Trans. ASME 70 (1948): 601-619.

8. Hebbard, George Miller, and Walter Lucius Badger. "Steam–Film Heat Transfer Coefficients for
Vertical Tubes." Industrial & Engineering Chemistry 26, no. 4 (1934): 420-424.

9. Briggs, Dale E., and Edwin H. Young. "Convection heat transfer and pressure drop of air
flowing across triangular pitch banks of finned tubes." In Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp. Ser, vol. 59,
no. 41, pp. 1-10. 1963.

10. Masliyah, J. H., and K. Nandakumar. "Heat transfer in internally finned tubes." ASME J. Heat
Transfer 98, no. 2 (1976): 257-261.

11. Hall, W. B. "Heat transfer in channels having rough and smooth surfaces." Journal of
Mechanical Engineering Science 4, no. 3 (1962): 287-291.

12. Fiebig, M., P. Kallweit, and N. K. Mitra. "Wing type vortex generators for heat transfer
enhancement." Heat Transfer 1, no. 986 (1986): 909-2.
References (THREE OF TEN)
13. Krause, W. B., and A. R. Peters. "Heat Transfer From Horizontal Serrated Finned
Tubes in an Air-Fluidized Bed of Uniformly Sized Particles." Journal of Heat
Transfer 105, no. 2 (1983): 319-324.

14. Hosni, Mohammad Hosein. "Measurement and calculation of surface roughness

effects on turbulent flow and heat transfer." (1989).

15. Bergles, A. E., and M. C. Chyu. "Characteristics of nucleate pool boiling from
porous metallic coatings." Journal of Heat Transfer 104, no. 2 (1982): 279-285.

16. Ünal, H. C. "A simple method of dimensioning straight fins for nucleate pool
boiling." International journal of heat and mass transfer 29, no. 4 (1986): 640-644.

17. Schlager, Lynn Michael. "The effect of oil on heat transfer and pressure drop during
evaporation and condensation of refrigerant inside augmented tubes." (1988).

18. Kelkar, K. Mt, and S. V. Patankar. "Numerical prediction of flow and heat transfer
in a parallel plate channel with staggered fins." Journal of heat transfer 109, no. 1
(1987): 25-30.
References (FOUR of TEN)
19. Altemani, C. A. C., and E. M. Sparrow. "Turbulent heat transfer and fluid flow in an unsymmetrically
heated triangular duct." ASME, Transactions, Journal of Heat Transfer 102 (1980): 590-597.

20. Masliyah, J. H., and K. Nandakumar. "Steady laminar flow through twisted pipes: Heat transfer in
square tubes." Journal of Heat Transfer 103, no. 4 (1981): 791-796.

21. Ohadi, M. M., N. Sharaf, and D. A. Nelson. "Electrohydrodynamic Enhancement of Heat Transfer in a
Shell-and Tube Heat Exchanger." EXPERIMENTAL HEAT TRANSFER An International Journal 4, no. 1
(1991): 19-39.

22. Alchaar, S., P. Vasseur, and E. Bilgen. "Natural convection heat transfer in a rectangular enclosure
with a transverse magnetic field." Journal of Heat Transfer 117, no. 3 (1995): 668-673.

23. Cheng, Lin, Tao Luan, Wenjing Du, and M. Xu. "Heat transfer enhancement by flow-induced vibration
in heat exchangers." International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 52, no. 3 (2009): 1053-1057.

24. Mackley, M. R., and P. Stonestreet. "Heat transfer and associated energy dissipation for oscillatory
flow in baffled tubes." Chemical Engineering Science 50, no. 14 (1995): 2211-2224.
References (TEN of TEN)
55. Hasanuzzaman, Md, N. A. Rahim, Md Hosenuzzaman, R. Saidur, I. M. Mahbubul, and M. M. Rashid. "Energy savings in
the combustion based process heating in industrial sector." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 16, no. 7
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56. Xin-yuan, Huang. "The Optimum Design of Low Pressure Economizer System of
Boiler No. 1 in Longkou Power Plant [J]." Boiler Technology 3 (1998): 004.
57. Kuprianov, Vladimir I. "Applications of a cost-based method of excess air
optimization for the improvement of thermal efficiency and environmental
performance of steam boilers." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 9,
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58. Liss, William E., and David F. Cygan. Super Boiler: Packed Media/Transport
Membrane Boiler Development and Demonstration. No.
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59. Park, Nyun-Bae, Sang Yong Park, Jong-Jin Kim, Dong Gu Choi, Bo Yeong Yun,
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THE END
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