Convection section

The measured fuel flows, arch oxygen composition, and high pressure steam drum heat balance confirm that the heat duties calculated from the process side (as opposed to the flue gas side) are most accurate, as would be expected. The high pressure steam system and boiler feed water measurements impact significantly on the convection section heat balance since boiler feed water preheat and steam superheat duties make up the majority of the convection section duty. The high pressure steam import flow, and the expected versus measured and calculated S5mthesis gas compressor steam turbine performance further support that the process side, and not the flue gas side measurements are the most accurate. 

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Pre-Keformer A pre-reformer is based on the concept of shifting reforming duty away from the direct-fired reformer, thereby reducing the duty of the latter. The pre-reformer usually occurs at about 500°C inlet over an adiabatic fixed bed of special reforming catalyst, such as sulfated nickel, and uses heat recovered from the convection section of the reformer. The process may be attractive in case of plant retrofits to increase reforming capacity or in cases where the feedsock contains heavier components. 

The steam generator is a balanced draft, controlled circulation, multichamber unit which incorporates NO control and final burnout of the fuel-rich MHD combustion gases. The MHD generator exhaust is cooled in a primary radiant chamber from about 2310 to 1860 K in two seconds, and secondary air for afterburning and final oxidation of the gas is introduced in the secondary chamber where seed also condenses. Subsequent to afterburning and after the gas has been cooled down sufftciendy to soHdify condensed seed in the gas, the gas passes through the remaining convective sections of the heat recovery system. 

The oxidant preheater, positioned in the convective section and designed to preheat the oxygen-enriched air for the MHD combustor to 922 K, is located after the finishing superheat and reheat sections. Seed is removed from the stack gas by electrostatic precipitation before the gas is emitted to the atmosphere. The recovered seed is recycled by use of the formate process. Alkali carbonates ate separated from potassium sulfate before conversion of potassium sulfate to potassium formate. Sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate are further separated to avoid buildup of sodium in the system by recycling of seed. The slag and fly-ash removed from the HRSR system is assumed to contain 15—17% of potassium as K2O, dissolved in ash and not recoverable. 

Pipe StiU furnaces vary greatly and, in contrast to the early units where capacity was usuaUy 31.8—79.5 m /d (200—500 bbl//d), can now accommodate 3975 m (25,000 bbl) or more of cmde oU per day. The waUs and ceiling are insulated with firebrick and the interior of the furnace is partiaUy divided into two sections a smaller convection section where the oU first enters the furnace and a larger section fitted with heaters where the oU reaches its highest temperature. 

Selection of the high pressure steam conditions is an economic optimisation based on energy savings and equipment costs. Heat recovery iato the high pressure system is usually available from the process ia the secondary reformer and ammonia converter effluents, and the flue gas ia the reformer convection section. Recovery is ia the form of latent, superheat, or high pressure boiler feedwater sensible heat. Low level heat recovery is limited by the operating conditions of the deaerator. 

Incorporation of a feed gas saturator cod in the convection section of the primary reformer allows for 100% vaporization of the process condensate. The steam is used as process steam in the reformer. 

In fossil fuel-fired boilers there are two regions defined by the mode of heat transfer. Fuel is burned in the furnace or radiant section of the boiler. The walls of this section of the boiler are constmcted of vertical, or near vertical, tubes in which water is boiled. Heat is transferred radiatively from the fire to the waterwaH of the boiler. When the hot gas leaves the radiant section of the boiler, it goes to the convective section. In the convective section, heat is transferred to tubes in the gas path. Superheating and reheating are in the convective section of the boiler. The economizer, which can be considered as a gas-heated feedwater heater, is the last element in the convective zone of the boiler. 

Fig. 7. Ain preheaters where ID = induced draft and FD = forced draft fan. (a) Rotating metal basket or Lungstrom regenerative preheater and (b) hot oil or water belt (Uquid mnaround) used to move convection section heat to ain preheater in furnace retrofit.

Efficiency. Since only 35 to 50% of fired duty is absorbed in the radiant section, the flue gas leaving the radiant chamber contains considerable energy that can be extracted efficiently in the convection section of the furnace. In the convection section, the feed is preheated along with dilution steam to the desired crossover temperature. Residual heat is recovered by generating steam. The overall thermal efficiency of modem furnaces exceeds 93%, and a value of 95% is not uncommon. 

The inside of the convection tubes rarely foul, but occasionally the Hquid unsaturates in feedstocks tend to polymerize and stick to the walls and thus reduce the heat transfer. This soft coke is normally removed by mechanical means. In limited cases, the coke can also be burnt off with air and steam. Normally, the outside surface of the convection section fouls due to dust and particles in the flue gas. Periodically (6 to 36 months), the outside surface is cleaned by steam lancing. With Hquid fuel firing, the surface may require more frequent cleaning. 

Though this is a quartic equation, it is capable of explicit solution because of the absence of second and third degree terms. Trial-and-error enters, however, because (GSi)r and are mild functions of Tg and related Te, respectively, and aprehminary guess of Tg is necessaiy. An ambiguity can exist in interpretation of terms. If part of the enclosure surface consists of screen tubes over the chamber-gas exit to a convection section, radiative transfer to those tubes is included in the chamber energy balance, but convection is not, because it has no effect on chamber gas temperature. 

In the horizontal-tube box heater with side-mounted convection tube bank, the radiant-section tubes run horizontally along the walls and the flat roof of the box-shaped heater, but the convection section is placed in a box of its own beside the radiant sec tion. Firing is horizontal from the end walls. The design of this heater results in a relatively expensive unit justified mainly by its abihty to burn low-grade high-ash fuel oil. Duties are 53 to 210 GJ/h (50 to 200 10 Btu/h). 

Vei tical cylindrical helical coil heaters are hybrid designs that are classified as vertical heaters, but their in-tube characteristics are like those of horizontal heaters. There is no convection section. In addition to the advantages of simple vertical cylindrical heaters, the helical coil heaters are easy to drain. They are limited to smaU-duty applications 5 to 21 Gl/h (5 to 20 10 Btu/h). 

FIG. 27-51 Representative types of fired heaters a) vertical-tube cylindrical with cross-flow-convection section (h) horizontal-tube cabin (c) vertical cylindrical, helical coil, from Berman, Chem. Eng. 85 98-104, June 19, 1978.)... 

External Combustor (experimental). The heat exehanger used for an external-combustion gas turbine is a direct-fired air heater. The air heater s goal is to achieve high temperatures with a minimum pressure decrease. It consists of a rectangular box with a narrow convection section at the top. The outer casings of the heater consist of carbon steel lined with lightweight blanket material for insulation and heat re-radiation. 

The radiant section tube coils of horizontal fired heaters are arranged horizontally so as to line the sidewalls and the roof of the combustion chamber. In addition, tliere is a convection section of tube coils, winch are positioned as a horizontal bank of tubes above the combustion cham her. Nonnally the tubes are fired vertically from the floor, but they can also be fired horizontally by side wall mounted burners located below the tube coil. Tins economical, high dficiency design currently represents the majority of new horizontal-tube-t1icd heater installations. Duties run from 5 to 250 MMBtu/hr. Six types o) horizontal-tube-fired heaters arc-shown in Figure 3-21. 

Figure 3-20. Vertical-tube-fired heaters con be identified by the vertical arrangement of the radiant-section coil, (a) Vertical- lindrical all radiant, (b) Vertical-cylindrical helical coil, (c) Vertical-cylindrical, with cross-flow-convection section. d) Vertical-cylindrical, with integral-convection section, (e) Arbor or wicket type, (f) Vertical-tube, single-row, double-fired. [From Chem. Eng, 100-101 (June 19, 1978).]...

For industrial boilers the mean gas temperature at the furnace exit, or at the entrance to the convection section of the boiler, may be calculated using the relationship ... 

The radiant section of an industrial boiler may typically contain only 10 per cent of the total heating surface, yet, because of the large temperature difference, it can absorb 30-50 per cent of the total heat exchange. The mean temperature difference available for heat transfer in the convective section is much smaller. To achieve a thermally efficient yet commercially viable design it is necessary to make full use of forced convection within the constraint of acceptable pressure drop. 

The difference in temperature between the tube wall and the water is small, typically less than lOK in the convection section. Therefore, little error is introduced by using the water temperature as in the evaluation of the gas transport properties. 

Gas transport properties for the products of combustion of the common fuels, fired at normal excess air at or nearfull boiler load, may be obtained from Tables 23.1-23.4. Non-luminous gas radiation has a small overall effect in the convective section, typically 2-5 per cent of total convection. It may therefore be neglected for a conservative calculation. 

In the convective section, the gas-side heat transfer coefficient controls the heat flux distribution since the... 

The burners are positioned at base or sides of radiant section. Gaseous and liquid fuels are used. The combustion air may be preheated in tubes in the convection section. 

The combustion gases flow across the tube banks in the convection section and the correlations for cross-flow in tube banks can be used to estimate the heat transfer coefficient. The gas side coefficient will be low, and where extended surfaces are used an allowance must be made for the fin efficiency. Procedures are given in the tube vendors literature, and in handbooks, see Section 12.14, and Bergman (1978b). 

The lower tubes in the shield bank in the convection section will receive heat by radiation from the radiant section. This can be allowed for by including the area of the lower row of tubes with the tubes in the radiant section. 

Most of the pressure drop will occur in the convection section. The procedures for estimating the pressure drop across banks of tubes can be used to estimate the pressure drop in this section, see Section 12.9.4 and Volume 1, Chapter 9. 

The pressure drop in the radiant section will be small compared with that across the convection section and can usually be neglected. 

It is normal practice to operate with a slight vacuum throughout the heater, so that air will leak in through sight-boxes and dampers, rather than combustion products leak out. Typically, the aim would be to maintain a vacuum of around 2 mm water gauge just below the convection section. 

The stack height required will depend on the temperature of the combustion gases leaving the convection section and the elevation of the site above sea level. The draft arises from the difference in density of the hot gases and the surrounding air. 

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