Tubular reformer furnace chamber

The purpose of the furnace in the tubular reformer is to provide the heat of reaction as energy efficient as possible. The furnace is often the largest single equipment item in a syngas process and it contributes a major part both of the exergy losses and the total cost. 

The model for the tubular reformer furnace must provide  

A proper optimisation of a steam reformer must always be based on a furnace model, since the delivered heat flux profile is bounded by the furnace configuration and the flexibility of the burners. Seen from an exeigy point of view outer tube-wall temperature and heat flux profiles may decrease the exergy losses [335], but it should be checked if they can be provided by a furnace. 

The furnace is divided into zones. By use of the methods in [243] [362], the direct exchange areas are calculated using simplified geometrical approaches or they may be calculated using a Monte-Carlo technique [352]. The direct exchange areas are then converted to total exchange areas and finally to directed flux areas, which are the ones used in the balance equations by the methods in [243]. 

Each gas volume zone, i, has a gas temperature Tg,i and each surface zone has a surface temperature T i. 

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Steam reforming refers to the endothermic, catalytic conversion of light hydrocarbons (methane to gasoline) in the presence of steam [see Eq. (5.1)]. The reforming reaction takes place across a nickel catalyst that is packed in tubes in an externally-fired, tubular furnace (the Primary Reformer). The lined chamber reactor is called the secondary reformer , and this is where hot process air is added to introduce nitrogen into the process. Typical reaction conditions in the Primary Reformer are 700°C to 830°C and 15 to 40 bar46. 

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