1.

0 FIRED HEATER (H-101)

1.1 Introduction

High process temperatures are achieved by applying direct transfer of heat from the products of
combustion of fuels. In fired heater, heat is released by combustion of fuels into free or open space
and transferred to fluids inside tubes which are arranged along the walls of the fired heater. There
are three zones in a typical furnace which are radiant zone, convection zone and shield section.

1.1.1 Operation Condition

The primary operating condition of the fired heater are temperature and pressure. The pressure was
1 bar at inlet 15 bars at outlet. However, the temperature 32 oC to 320 oC as the furnace used in this
process is for heating purposes.

Figure 1.0: Operation condition for fired heater

1.1.2 Energy Balance

For energy balance of fired heater, the manual calculation is shown in Table 1.0: Manual
Calculation of Energy Balance for Fired Heater. The references state is (Water): L, 32 OC, 1 atm. The
simulation by Microsoft Excel of energy balance for fired heater is shown in Figure 2.0: Simulation
Calculation Energy Balance using Microsoft Excel for Fired Heater. The Comparison of Microsoft
Excel and Manual Calculation of Energy Balance in Table 2.0.
 Table 1.0 Manual Calculation of Energy Balance for Fired Heater

Substance Inlet Outlet

Nin(mol/hr) Nin(g/hr) Hin (kJ/mol) Nout (mol/hr) Nout (g/hr) Hout (kJ/mol)
s
Water, 57,877.63 1,042,682.6 0
H2O (l) 1
Water, 57,877.63 1,042,682.61 53.5334
H2O (v)

Figure 2.0: Simulation Calculation Energy Balance using Microsoft Excel for Fired Heater

Table 2.0: Comparison of Microsoft Excel and Manual Calculation of Energy Balance for Fired Heater

Equipment Microsoft Excel Manual Percentage error (%)

(kJ/hr) (kJ/hr)
Fired Heater (H-101) 3,098,392.00 3,098,388.995 0.000097

1.2 Fundamental Knowledge

1.2.1 Purpose

Fired heaters are one of the major consumers of energy in the chemical process industries
(CPI). Fired heaters are commonly used at petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants. Fired
heater are versatile equipment because it can transfer heat directly or indirectly to gas or fluid.
However, fired heater have many types especially for industrial production which they differ based
on the function, overall shape and mode of firing. Usually, the fired heater serves from simple
heating to providing sensible and raising the temperature of the charge. Basically, the charge in the
form of partially evaporated liquid will leave the fired heater. The fired heater will do two processes
which are heating and soaking. The temperature will be raised for heating process while as for
soaking, heat will be provided to maintain a constant temperature. The soaker will be involved in
radiant section or convection section. However, it can be seen in radiant section compared to
convection because it has a better heat input control (Ibrahim, 2010).

1.2.2 Design Intention

The design and rating of a fired heater is a moderately complex operation. A lot of things
need to be considered to design an industrial fired heater. Some of the characteristic are safe
operation condition, materials used to build the fired heater, number of tubes in both radiant and
convection system and control parameter. With this, optimum production can be achieved, and the
fired heater will have a long lifespan with lower maintenance cost. The safety operation condition
also will ensure the safety for the worker and can reduce the accidents risks. The fired heater also
needs to be designed to be reliable at the requirement temperature and pressure to produce
135,000 Metric Tonnes of Methanol annually. Moreover, the box-type fired heater is quite good
compared to cylindrical type fired heater based on their process capacities. Box-type fired heater
also has high capital cost of designing. However, it has lower operational cost compared to
cylindrical type fired heater. Fired heater is one of complicated equipment that has a function as
reactor and high-pressure steam generator. It also has tubes which are hung vertically in a firebox
and may have 16 to 128 tubes per fire box (Couper et al., 2012).

Next, the reactions in fired heater are endothermic and time dependent reactions. For this
reason, fired heater tube material must be suitable to accommodate the high process temperature.
The newest improvement of fired heater tube materials and fired heater design has made it possible
to accommodate 600-900 oC or even higher. It also has short residence time to reduce unwanted
condensation reaction and low hydrogen partial pressure would produce more desired products.
Besides, the changing of effective length of the coil can be affected by the flame pattern and the
resulting heat flux. The tube effective length can be reduced if the heat flux is not uniform. It also
can cause over cracking and shorting the life of the tube. The shape of the flame also is determined
by burner designers based on the heat input requirements. The flame pattern and heat flux will
affect the shape of the fire box and the deviation from rectangular has not proved to be successful.

1.2.3 Type of Equipment

There are two types of fired heater which are cylindrical, and box-type fired heater. In
cylindrical type fired heater, it has cylindrica shape of radiant section vertically. The burner is located
at the base of cylinder. The tubes in radiant section are in circular pattern around the walls of the
fire box or it can be in octagonal pattern. For older designs, they have longitudinal fins on the upper
parts of the tube. The shield usually arranged horizontally.

However, the fired heater used in this production is box type fired heater, it has square cross
section of radiant section whereby the height is affected by the size of construction site. The radiant
section also can exist as rectangular cross section with the height is 1.5 to 2.5 times longer than the
width (Couper et al., 2012). There are tubes in the radiant section that are arranged horizontally or
vertically along the walls of heater. It also has burners which is usually located at the floor of the
fired heater. Box type fired heater also equipped with headers for cleaning purpose and it makes
easier for increasing the length of radiant and convection tubes to get required production.

1.2.4 Working Principle

Fired heater operates with the principle of forced air heating with any kind of fuel uses. The
fired heater will heat the air and blower will help to burn the fuel. The flames created will heat up
the tubes in the radiant section which is the bottom part of the furnace. The combustion will take
place in this section and heat up the fluid inside it. The fluid passes through the tubes and it will be
heated to desired temperature. The combustion will produce flue gas and it will leave the firebox
and go to convection section where more heat is recovered before releasing the gas to atmosphere
through the stack. The heated fluid from radiant section is then circulated to the whole plant or
move to another equipment (Ibrahim, 2010).

1.3 Details Calculation

1.3.1 Fired Heater Sizing

In order to start the designing a furnace, the values listed in the table have been assumed based on
((Couper et al., 2012). Chemical Process Equipment (Third Edition), pages 210).

Table 3.0: parameter for fired heater sizing

Parameter Condition
Overall thermal efficiency 75 %
Excess air 25 %
The fraction of the heat release that is 75 %
absorbed in the radiant section
Average radiant heat flux rate 10,000 Btu/hr

KJ
1. Q=3,098,388.995
hr
*Value Q derived from energy balance

2. Heat Release:
Qtotal
Qn=
Efficiency
KJ
3,098,388.995
hr KJ MJ
Qn= =4,131,185.33 @ 4,131.19
0.75 hr hr
MJ 947.82 Btu Btu MBtu
4,131.19 × =3,915,624.51 @3.92
hr 1 MJ hr hr
3. Radiant heat absorption:
Radiant heat is the transfer of electromagnetic radiation which involves the exchange of
heat energy by photons and does not requires a medium (Pasman, 2015).

Q R=Efficiency × Q(¿ eq 1)
KJ KJ MJ
Q R=0.75 ×3,098,388.995 =2,323,791.75 @ 2,323.79
hr hr hr
MJ 947.82 Btu Btu MBtu
2,323.79 × =2,202,534.64 @2.20
hr 1 MJ hr hr
Q Btu
4. radiant =Average radiant heat flux rate=10,000
A hr
*Value is based on the Table 1.0.
5. Radiant Surface:
QR
Area=
Heat Flux Average
Btu
2,202,534.64
hr
Area= =220.25 ft 2
Btu
10,000
hr . ft 2
6. Tube Diameter:
*Assume that short radius returns bends have 12-inch center-to-center. Assumed that 6-
inch pipe is selected having an outer diameter of 12 inch.
1 ft
Tube diameter=Outer Diameter × π ×
12 inch
1 ft
Tube diameter=12 inch× π × =3.1416 ft
12inch
Tube length:
Area
Tube length :
Tube Diameter
220.25 ft 2
Tube length : =70.14 ft
3.1416 ft
Assume the actual length of tube is between (30 ft -60 ft). The exposed length of tube and
the inside length of the fired heater shell are 1.5 ft shorter than the actual length (Couper et
al., 2012). Therefore, 30 ft tubes have an exposed length of 28.5 ft.

7. Number of tubes in radiant section:

Tube length
N=
Exposed length
70.14 ft
N=
28.5 ft
N=2.5=3 tubes, says 12 radiant tubes.
Based on the quantity of radiant tubes, 2 tubes are use in each wall, 5 tubes are use at the
ceiling and 3 tubes as a shield tube. As the result, this fired heater for radiant section, have
width and height of 15.7 ft and 9.42 ft respectively.

8. Cold Plane Area:

ACP =(exposed tube length) ×( center¿ center spacing)×(no of tubes exclusive of the sheild tubes)
ACP =28.5 ft ×1 ×(12−3)
 ACP =256.5 ft
9. Inside surface of the shells:
A S=2[width ( height +exposed length ) + ( height ×exposed lenght ) ]
A S=2[15.7 ( 9.42+28.5 ) +9.42 ( 28.5 ) ]
A S=1727.63 ft 2

10. Refractory Surface:

AW = AS − ACP
AW =1727.63−256.5

AW =1471.13 ft 2

11. Absorption,α of the tube surface:

X =Center ¿ center spacing ¿

outstanding tubediameter
0.0833 ft
12 inch× =1 ft
1 inch
1 ft
X= =0.0833
12 ft
α =1−[0.0277+0.0927 ( X −1 ) ](X −1)
α =1−[0.0277+0.0927 ( 0.0833−1 ) ](0.0833−1)
α =0.9475 , single rows of tubes

12. Effective absorptivity:

α A R =Ashield +α A CP
α A R =3 ( 28.5 )( 1 ) +0.9475( 256.5)

α A R =328.53 ft 2
AW 1417.13 ft 2
= =4.31
α A R 328.53 ft 2

13. Mean beam length:

 Mean beam length is used to estimate the effective distance in three-dimensional furnace. It
is a concept which usually used by engineers and can be used to calculate the emissivity of
the gas (Yuen, 2008).
1
2
L= (furnace volume) 3
3
1
2
L= (28.5 ×15.7 × 9.42) 3
3
L=10.77 ft

14. The partial pressure P of CO2 + H2O, X = fraction of excess air

P=0.288−0.229 x +0.090 x2
P=0.288−0.229( 0.25)+ 0.090(0.25)2
P=0.23 atm
PL=0.23(10.77)
PL=2.48 atm . ft
15. Mean tube wall temperature: the stream entering the radiant section has absorbed 25 % of
the total heat.
9
Inlet temperature, T 1=32℃ × +32=89.6 ℉
5
9
Outlet Temperature, T 2=320 ℃ × +32=608℉
5
T t=100+ 0.5(T 1+T 2)
T t=100+ 0.5(89.6+608)
T t=448.8 ℉

16. Log Mean Temperature Difference, LMTD:

The gas temperature, T g=1100 ℉
Stack temperature, T S=1750 ℉
Outlet fluid temperature, T LO =850 ℉

( T g 1−TL 1 )−(T S−T LO )

LMTD=
T g 1−TL 1
ln ⁡
T S−T LO
( 1100−89.6 ) −(1750−850)
LMTD=
1100−89.6
ln ⁡
1750−850
 LMTD=954.1357 ℉

17. Mean Gas Film Temperature:

T f =0.5 ¿

T f =0.5 ¿

T f =946.87 ℉

18. Overall heat transfer coefficient, Uc in the convection zone:

2 4.5 0.25
Uc=(a+ bG+c G )( )
d
G = Flue gas flow rate, lb/(sec)(sqft open cross section)
lb
G f =Qn× 1020=3.92 ×1020=3998.4
hr
With 3 shield tubes equilateral spacing and 3 in distance to walls,
3998.4 ×9 lb
G= =0.013
3600 ×28.5 ×27.89 sec . ft 2
d = Tube outside diameter, (inch)
z = Tf / 1000, average outside film temperature.
946.87
z= =0.9469
1000
a=2.461−0.759 z +1.6252 z 2
a=2.461−0.759 ( 0.9469 ) +1.6252 ( 0.9469 )2=3.199
b=0.7655+21.373 z−9.6625 z 2
b=0.7655+21.373 ( 0.9469 )−9.6625 ( 0.9469 )2=12.34
c=9.7938−30.809 z+ 14.333 z 2
c=9.7938−30.809 ( 0.9469 ) +14.333 ( 0.9469 )2=−6.528
2 4.5 0.25
Uc=(3.199+12.34 ( 0.013 )+ (−6.528 )( 0.013 ) )×( )
12
Btu
Uc=2.628
hr . ft 2 .℉
19. Emissivity,∅ of the gas:

∅=a+b ( PL )+ c ( PL )2
PL = Product of the partial pressure and the mean beam length = 2.48 atm.ft

( T g +460 )
z=
1000
( 1100+ 460 )
z= =1.56 a=0.47916−0.19847 z+ 0.022569 z 2
1000
a=0.47916−0.19847 ( 1.56 ) +0.022569 ( 1.56 )2=0.2245
b=0.047029+0.0699 z−0.01528 z 2
b=0.047029+0.0699 ( 1.56 )−0.01528 ( 1.56 )2=0.1189
c=0.000803−0.00726 z +0.001597 z 2
c=0.000803−0.00726 ( 1.56 ) +0.001597 ( 1.56 )2 =−0.0066
2
∅=0.2245+0.1189 ( 2.48 ) + (−0.0066 )( 2.48 )
∅=0.4788

20. Exchange factor, F:

F=a+ b ∅+ c ∅2
∅ = gas emissivity
AW
z= =4.31
α AR
a=0.00064+ 0.0591 z +0.00101 z2
2
a=0.00064+ 0.0591 ( 4.31 )+ 0.00101 ( 4.31 ) =2.74
b=7.0256+0.4908 z−0.058 z 2
2
b=7.0256+0.4908 ( 4.31 ) −0.058 ( 4.31 ) =8.06
c=−0.144−0.552 z +0.040 z 2
2
c=−0.144−0.552 ( 4.31 )+ 0.040 ( 4.31 ) =−1.78
F=2.74+ 8.06(0.4788)+(−1.78)(0.4788)2
F=6.1910
21. Convection heat:
Heat convection is transferred by the motion of a fluid such as air. Convection occurs as the
tubes at the top of furnace get their heat from the hot exhaust gases rise through the
heater.
Qc=Total heater duty−Q R
Qc=2.94−2.20
MBtu
Qc=0.74
hr

22. Area Convection:

Qc
¿
Uc ( LMTD )
0.74 ×10 6
¿ =295.12 ft 2
2.628 ( 954.1357 )

23. Number of tubes in convection area:

Area Convection
N=
Tube diameter ×exposed lenght
295.12
N=
3.1416 ×28.5
N=3.3=3 tubes

24. Based on the(American Petroleum Institute, 2001), requires this type of heater to have an
L/D ratio of less than 2.75. The diameter is assumed to be with width.
Width of convection:
length
=2.75
width
28.5
width= =10.3636 ft
2.75

25. Height of Convection:

10.3636
¿
3.1416
¿ 3.30 ft , it can be assumed a row has 3tubes .
 Hence, 3 tubes will be installed in this equipment for convection area. Since the high of
convection section can fit for 3 tubes. Minimum gap between convection tubes and shield
tubes is 1 ft.
H= (1 ×3.1416 )+1
H=4.1416 ft

26. Stack height:

As per API 560, the height of bottom of radiant section to exit of flue gas from stack must be
30m which is equal to 98.08 ft (Tiwari et al., 2018). Therefore, the stack height can be
assumed as following:
¿=98.4252−radiant height −convection height
¿=98.4252−9.42−4.1416
¿=84.8636 ft
The diameter of the stack is assumed to be 4 ft (Couper et al., 2012).

27. Tube Materials:

Table 4.0: Maximum Design Temperature for Tube Support Materials (American Petroleum
Institute, 2001)

Temperature (oF) Material Casting Plate

1200 2.25Cr-1Mo A217 Gr WC9 A387 Gr 22, C1.1
1600 25Cr-12Ni - A240 Type 309H
1800 50Cr-50Ni-Cb A560 Gr 50Cr-50Ni-Cb -

Based on the Table 1.2, the tube within an industrial pyrolysis furnace can be made of 50Cr-
50Ni-Cb because the temperature of the fired heater reaction below 1800 oF.
1.4 Mechanical Drawing

Figure 3.0: Box-type Furnace

Figure 4.0: Cross

section view of fired heater
Figure 5.0: Top view of fired heater

Figure 6.0: Inner view of fired heater

1.5 Specification Datasheet

Table 5.0: Specification datasheet for fired heater

SPECIFICATION DATASHEET
Item Name Box-Type Furnace
Item No. H-107
Author Muhammad Asyraf Bin Zainuddin
SPECIFICATION DATA
Total Heat Duty 2.94 MBtu/hr
Average Radiant Heat Flux 10,000 Btu/hr.ft2
Inlet Temperature 89.6 oF
Outlet Temperature 608 oF
Log Mean Temperature Difference, LMTD 954.1357 oF
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, Uc 2.628 Btu/hr.ft2.oF
Cold Panel Area, ACP 256.5 ft2
Inside Surface of the shells, AS 1727.63 ft2
Refractory Area, AW 1471.13 ft2
Mean Beam Length 10.77 ft
Emissivity, Ǿ of the Gas 0.4788
Exchange Factor, F 6.1910
TUBE
Outer Diameter 3.1416 ft
Absorptivity, A of the Tube Surface 0.9475
Mean Tube Wall Temperature 448.8 oF
Type of Material 25Cr-12Ni
RADIANT SECTION
Radiant Heat Absorption, QR 2.20 MBtu/hr
Area Section 220.25 ft2
Number of Tube 10
Number of Shield Tube 3
Number of Ceiling Tube 5
Number of Tube at Wall 2
Height 9.42 ft
Length 70.14 ft
Width 15.7 ft
CONVECTION SECTION
Convection Heat Absorption, QC 0.74 MBtu/hr
Area of Section 295.12 ft2
Number of Tube 3
Number of Rows 1
 Height 3.30 ft
Length 28.5 ft
Width 10.3636ft
STACK
Stack Temperature 1750 oF
Height 84.8638 ft
Diameter 4 ft

Ibrahim, H. A.-H. (2010). Fired Process Hheaters. October 2010.

https://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/11623/InTech-Fired_process_heaters.pdf

Couper, J. R., Penney, W. R., Fair, J. R., & Walas, S. M. (2012). Heat Transfer and Heat
Exchangers. In Chemical Process Equipment (Issue d). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-
12-396959-0.00008-2

Pasman, H. (2015). Risk Analysis and Control for Industrial Processes - Gas, Oil and
Chemicals: A System Perspective for Assessing and Avoiding Low-Probability, High-
Consequence Events. Risk Analysis and Control for Industrial Processes - Gas, Oil and
 Chemicals: A System Perspective for Assessing and Avoiding Low-Probability, High-
Consequence Events, June 2015, 1–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2013-0-14379-6

Yuen, W. W. (2008). Definition and evaluation of mean beam lengths for Applications in
multidimensional radiative heat transfer: A mathematically self-consistent approach.
Journal of Heat Transfer, 130(11), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2969752

American Petroleum Institute. (2001). Fired Heaters for General Refinery Service: API
Standard 560. Api Standard 560, Third Edition, 208.