FIRED

HEATER DESIGN

FIRED HEATER
DESIGN

TECHNIP 1
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HEATER DESIGN

PROCESS CONSIDERATIONS:

Maintain hydraulic symmetry:-Pipe

lengths, fittings shall be same for all

passes.

Vaporizing Fluids Min.no. of passes.

Min. radiation loss ( based on LHV):

Without APH=1.5% With APH=2.5%

Arch pressure:

Normal Value -2.5 MMWG

TECHNIP 2
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HEATER DESIGN

PROCESS CONSIDERATIONS (cont.)

• Min. excess air:

(A) Natural Draft:-
Gas Firing 10%
Oil Firing 15%
(B) Forced Draft:-
Gas Firing 5%
Oil Firing 10%

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HEATER DESIGN

RADIANT SECTION DESIGN

• Radiant average flux ( Kcal/Hr/M2 ):

Crude 32500
Vacuum / Naphtha / DHDS 27100
Delayed coker / Visbreaker 25000
• Maximum film temp shall not be exceeded.
• Maximum metal temp shall not be exceeded.
• Max. volumetric heat release:
Oil Firing 107 Kcal/M3
Gas Firing 142 Kcal/M3

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HEATER DESIGN

RADIANT SECTION DESIGN (cont.)

• Vertical cylindrical heaters:
H / D < 2.75
• Horizontal tube heaters:
H / W < 2.75
• Max. length for Vertical tubes = 18.3 M
• Max. unsupported length for Horizontal tubes = lesser of
35 OD or 6M
• Min. distance b/w refractory & tube center = 1.5Xnominal
diameter
• Duty absorbed in radiant = 60-70% of total absorbed duty
• Normal Bridge wall temp = 600 - 800 deg C
• Min design temp for tube support = 871 deg C

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HEATER DESIGN

CONVECTION SECTION DESIGN

• Flue gas mass velocity ( Kg/S/M2):

Natural draft : 1.5 - 3.0
Forced draft : 3.0 - 4.5
• Process mass velocity = 1220 - 1710 Kg/S/M2
• Typical flue gas side heat transfer coefficient is
between 15 - 25 Kcal/Hr/M2/K.
• Types of extended surfaces:
Studs : for heavy fuels ( viz. Fuel oil )
Fins: for lighter fuels ( viz. Fuel gas, Bio gas)

TECHNIP 6
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HEATER DESIGN

CONVECTION SECTION DESIGN (cont.)

• Normally first 3 rows are considered as shield

tubes. Hence no extended surfaces are provided to
prevent overheating of these tubes.
• Never exceed critical velocity.
• Maximum film temp shall not be exceeded.
• Maximum metal (tube & extended surfaces) temp
shall not be exceeded.

TECHNIP 7
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HEATER DESIGN

STACK DESIGN

• Stack is designed to maintain -2.5 MMWG pressure at minimum

120% of design heat release with design excess air & max. ambient
temp.
• Draft Analysis:
Draft = 0.1203 * Pa * ( ( Mwa / Ta ) - ( MWf / Tf ) ) * ( Z2-Z1 )
Where,
Pa = Ambient air pressure @ grade level (KPa)
Ta, Tf = Ambient air & Flue gas temp respectively ( K)
Mwa , MWf = Mol. Wt. of air & flue gas respectively ( Kg/Kg mol )
Z2, Z1 = Elevation of point 1 & 2 respectively (M)

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HEATER DESIGN

STACK DESIGN (cont.)

• Total draft Gain = draft gain in convection + draft gain in

stack.
• Total pressure loss = pressure loss in convection ( entry
loss, loss across tubes & exit loss ) + pressure
loss in stack ( entry loss,damper loss, friction
loss & exit loss )
• For viable design,
Arch pressure - Total pressure loss = Total draft gain
• Normal Flue gas velocity in stack:
Natural draft 8M/S
Induced draft 15 - 20 M / S

TECHNIP 9
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HEATER DESIGN

STACK DESIGN (cont.)

• Flue gas condensation:
Sulfur dioxide produced as a result of combustion
converts into SO3 and reacts with water vapor present in
the flue gas to form sulfuric acid. This sulfuric acid at low
temperature condenses on the inside surface of the
refractory. This is harmful for both the refractory & the
casing.
Flue gas dew point depends on:
(A) Fuel sulfur content
(B) Flue gas O2 content
(C) Flue gas moisture content
(D) Combustion temp
(E) Fuel & flue gas additives
To avoid flue gas condensation, the flue gas temp is kept
min 20-30 deg C above the flue gas dew point.

TECHNIP 10
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HEATER DESIGN

FORCED DRAFT FAN

• FD fans are designed with min 15 % margin over air flow rate
corresponding to design heat release.
• FD fan discharge pressure should be capable enough to over
come:
(A)Combustion air duct pressure loss ( straight & fittings )
(B)APH
(C)Burners
• Design velocities in combustion air duct:
Straight, Tee, Turns ~15 M / S
Burner air supply & Plenum duct 7.5 - 10.5 M / S
• Normally Centrifugal fan with fixed speed drive are used.
Capacity control is done by either Inlet guide vans / Inlet /
Outlet damper.

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HEATER DESIGN

FORCED DRAFT FAN (cont.)

• For critical applications ( viz. CDU/VDU etc.) 2 FD

fans are provided.
• Two options are used in case of 2 FD fans provided:
(A) 1 fan is running, other is standby - simple &
cheaper but less reliable.
(B) Both the fans are running at 50 % load - costly
but more reliable.
• MOC of casing - CS
MOC of Impeller - CS

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HEATER DESIGN

FORCED DRAFT FAN (cont.)

• Following parameters to be specified for the

selection of FD fan:
(A) Flow rate: Min / Nor / Max
(B) Temp: Min / Nor / Max / Design
(C) Inlet Pressure: Min / Nor
(D) Outlet Pressure : Nor / Max
(E) Air composition
(F) Driver : Motor / Steam turbine
(G) Spares

TECHNIP 13
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HEATER DESIGN

INDUCED DRAFT FAN

• ID fans are designed with min 20 % margin over flue gas

flow rate corresponding to design heat release.
• Normal discharge pressure of ID fan is ambient pressure.
• Suction pressure = arch pressure - total pressure loss in
convection -
total pressure loss in off take duct- pressure drop
in inlet damper.
• Design velocities in off take duct:
Straight, Tee, Turns ~12 M / S
• MOC of casing - CS / SS
MOC of Impeller - CS / SS / Corten Steel A

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HEATER DESIGN

INDUCED DRAFT FAN (cont.)

• Types of drive:
( A) Fixed speed drive (1000 or 1500 rpm ) -
Capacity control by Inlet guide vans/ Inlet damper
(B) Variable speed drive ( Fluid coupling, VFD ) -
Capacity control by varying speed.
Qα n , H α n2 , P α n3
• Care must be taken to avoid flue gas condensation
on the Impeller. Hence the minimum temperature
at ID fan inlet shall be about 25-30 deg C above
dew point.

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HEATER DESIGN

INDUCED DRAFT FAN (cont.)

• Following parameters to be specified for the

selection of ID fan:
(A) Flow rate: Min / Nor / Max
(B) Temp: Min / Nor / Max / Design
(C) Inlet Pressure: Min / Nor
(D) Outlet Pressure : Nor / Max
(E) Flue gas composition
(F) Driver : Motor / Steam turbine
(G) Spares

TECHNIP 16
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HEATER DESIGN

BURNERS
• Types of Burners:
(A) Gas Firing
(B) Oil Firing
(C) Combination Firing
• No. of burners required for a given heat release shall
be optimized based on following criteria:
(A) In normal cases, max heat release per burner shall
not exceed 3.0 MMKCal/Hr.
(B) Turndown requirements
(C) Flame dimension: ( Flame impingement on tubes,
refractory & adjacent burners shall be avoided )
(D) Heat distribution requirements

TECHNIP 17
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HEATER DESIGN

BURNERS (cont.)
• Component of Burner:
Main Gas/Oil tips , Pilot tip , Main flame scanner ( IR / UV ) ,
Pilot flame scanner ( Ionization rod ) , Igniter , Sight ports.
• No. of Burners Max./Nor. Heat Release
<5 1.25
6-7 1.20
>8 1.15
• Min Pilot heat release 20000 Kcal/Hr
• Type of Oil atomization:
(A) Pressure atomization = min oil pr. ~ 10 Kg/Cm2g
(B) Steam atomization = steam/oil ~ 0.3 Kg/Kg & Delta P
~2.1 Kg/Cm2
• For Oil fired burners, max. viscosity is 43 CSt.

TECHNIP 18
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HEATER DESIGN

BURNERS (cont.)
• Generation of pollutants from Burner:
(A) SOx : Sox (SO2 & SO3 ) generation chiefly depends on the
sulfur content of the fuel.
(B) NOx : NOx (NO & NO2 ) is generated thermally by the
reaction occurring above 700-800 deg C. Methods of NOx
reduction are:
Splitting fuel within burner
Splitting combustion air within burner
Diluting air-fuel mixture by flue gas mixing.
Normal limit is 50-125 ppmv for gas firing & 200-250 ppmv for
oil firing.
(C) Unburnt hydrocarbon: Result of improper mixing of fuel
with air.
(D) SPM: Soot, ash etc. Refraction method is used to monitor
the SPM content in flue gas.

TECHNIP 19
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HEATER DESIGN

BURNERS (cont.)

• Min parameters required for burner selection:

(A) Heat release : Min / Nor / Max
(B) Type of burner : Natural draft, Forced Draft, Low Nox,
Combination.
(C) Fuel details : Composition, LHV, Pressure,
Temperature
(D) Combustion air details: Temperature, Pressure,
Relative humidity
(E) Nos. of burners, Ignition details.
(F) Emission requirements: SOx, NOx, UHC, SPM, CO etc.

(G) Noise limitation: 85 dBA A 1M from burner.

TECHNIP 20
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HEATER DESIGN

AIR PREHEATER

• Advantages of APH :
(A) Enhance efficiency ( up 92-93 %).
(B) To enhance air-fuel mixing ( High air velocity ).
(C) Reduce oil burner fouling
(D) More complete combustion of difficult fuels.
• Disadvantages of APH:
(A) Increases potential of SO3 & NOx generation as
adiabatic flame temperature is high.
(B) Reduces the stack temp., so either ID fan or
taller stack will be required.

TECHNIP 21
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HEATER DESIGN

AIR PREHEATER (cont.)

• Steam air preheater (SAPH) is used when ambient air temp.
falls to a very low value.
• Type of Air preheaters (recuperative type ) normally used in
refinery services:
(A) Tube Type: Tubes made of cast iron or glass. When cast
iron tubes are provided, the min. metal temp is kept 10-15
deg above dew point.
Adv: Very low leakage, Easy to design & fabricate, normally
Low unit cost, easy for maintainence.
Disadv: Higher pressure drop as compared to plate type,
Heavy so increases the structural cost if placed onboard,
glass tubes may damage during transportation..

TECHNIP 22
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HEATER DESIGN

AIR PREHEATER (cont.)

(B) Plate Type: Typically it contains carbon steel

plates(typically 2mm thick) assembled in a frame. These
modules are standard in size and required capacity is
obtained by increasing the number of modules.
Adv: Low pressure drop, Light in weight & compact, so
mostly used as onboard unit.
Disadv: Costly maintenance, easy to foul &
corrode(sometimes porcelain enameled plates are
used ), high unit cost.

TECHNIP 23
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HEATER DESIGN

AIR PREHEATERS (cont.)

• Min data required for air preheater specification:

(A) Air / Flue gas flowrates : Min / Nor / Max
(B) Air / Flue gas temperatures (in/out): Min / Nor / Max / Des
(C) Air / Flue gas pressures (in) : Min / Nor / Max / Des
(D) Type of APH
(E) Duty : Nor/ Max
(F) Allowable pressure drop ( Air side / Flue gas side )
(G) Sulfur dew point of flue gas
(H) Flue gas composition
(I) Requirements of tube skin thermocouple.

TECHNIP 24
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HEATER DESIGN

SOOTBLOWERS

• Soot is generated as a result of improper combustion in burners.

• Soot has to be removed to maintain heat transfer coefficient.
• Type of soot blowers:
(A) Retractable type: Mostly use for high temperature & dirtier fuel
application. It is more costly but has better cleaning characteristics.
Normally it is used in fully automatic sequential mode.
(B) Fixed Rotary type: It is cheaper than Retractable type but can not be used in
high temperature or dirty fuel services.
(C) Vibration type: Ultrasound waves are used in this type to create vibration to
disengage the soot from the coils. Very limited experience is available for this type.

TECHNIP 25
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HEATER DESIGN

SOOT BLOWERS (cont.)

• Min steam flowrate required : 4535 Kg/Hr

• Min steam pressure required : 10 Kg/Cm2 g
• Each soot blower should cover maximum 1.2M or 5
rows, whichever is less.
• Some times steam lancing nozzles are provided to
remove soot for smaller installations.

TECHNIP 26
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HEATER DESIGN

DAMPERS

• Type of Dampers:
(A) Control damper: It controls the draft in the heater. It can be
either manual or automatic in operation. It always has some
leakage ( ~3%). It can be single blade ( like butterfly damper ) or
multiple blade ( like louver damper ). Multiple blade damper can
have parallel blade opening or opposed blade opening ( better
control but complex in operation).
No. of Blades ~ inside area of the duct or stack (M2) / 1.2
Control damper is normally use in stack, FD/ID fan and
combustion air bypass around the APH.

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HEATER DESIGN

DAMPERS (cont.)

(B) Shut off damper:It is used to prevent the flow

through a duct. It can be operable manually by
chain & pulley arrangement ( as in Guillotine blind )
or by an electric motor ( as in swing gate ). It is
designed for a very high sealing efficiency
( 99.9%).
(C) Diverter damper: It is used to divert the flow of
air or flue gas from one duct to another duct.

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HEATER DESIGN

INSTRUMENTATIONS

• Applicable code is OISD 111.

• Following instruments are normally provided:
Draft gauge for radiant, convection, stack.
High / low arch pressure ( trip / alarm ).
High arch temperature ( alarm ).
Oxygen / CO analyzer in arch ( Alarm ).
Convection outlet temperature / pressure.
Stack outlet temperature / pressure.
SPM / NOx / SOx analyzers.

TECHNIP 29
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HEATER DESIGN

INSTRUMENTATIONS (cont.)

Nozzles for pollution monitoring.

Tube skin temperatures in coil / APH.
Process fluid inlet & outlet temperature / pressure.

TECHNIP 30
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HEATER DESIGN

REFRACTORIES
• Type of refractories:
(A) High Density Fire Bricks(HDFB): These are normally placed on
the floor to protect the mechanically weak castables / bricks. They
have excellent mechanical strength but very poor thermal insulation
properties.They are laid loose on the floor. Exp. AC30 etc.
(B) Insulating Fire Bricks(IFB): These are normally placed on
radiant floor (below HDFB), radiant wall and sometimes in vertical flue
gas ducts. They are lighter than HDFB and hence mechanically poor.
Application of IFB requires more time than castables / ceramic fibres.
They are laid with mortar and expansion gaps are provided to
accommodate the thermal expansion of the bricks. Exp. JM 23, JM 26
etc.

TECHNIP 31
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HEATER DESIGN

REFRACTORIES (cont.)

(C) Castables: Castable are placed in all parts of fired heater. They
can be mechanically very strong ( as Insulyte 15Li ) or thermally
very superior ( like Firelite 124). They are applied on the surface by
pouring or gunning. Anchors (CS or SS-304, depending on the tip
temperature) are used to hold the castable with the casing.
Normally V, Y or chain link type anchors are used.
Castable can be applied in dual layer also. In dual layer
construction, a mechanically superior castable is used on hot face &
thermally superior castable on cold surface.
Sometimes ceramic blocks are used in place of castables. Exp.
Cerablok-800 etc.

TECHNIP 32
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HEATER DESIGN

REFRACTORIES (cont.)

(D) Ceramic Fibres: These refractory materials are very light

weight, thermally superior but mechanically poor material. They
are used as loose fibres for filling gaps, blankets or module for
application on casing plates. They can not be used where the flue
gas velocity is 40fps ( for blankets) or 80fps( for modules).
Further, they can not be applied where the total metal content
exceeds 100 ppm. They are fixed to the casing by studs & nuts.
Application is very fast. Due to their low weight, they can
potentially reduce the structural cost. Normally a vapour barrier
(0.1 mm SS-304 foil) and an anticorrosive paint are used to avert
the flue gas condensation on the casing plate. Exp: Cerablanket
1260, Cerablanket 1450 etc.

TECHNIP 33
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HEATER DESIGN

METALLURGY

• Process affects the material selection:

(A) Oxidation at high temperature.
(B) Vanadium & sodium attack in presence of
sulfur.
(C) Attack by H2S.
(D) Attack by Polythionic acid.
(E) Attack by Chlorine.
(F) Attack by H2.
(G) Carburisation.

TECHNIP 34
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HEATER DESIGN

METALLURGY (cont.)

• Following tube materials are normally used:

Carbon Steel - 525 deg C
Low alloy steel (P11,P22) - 525 deg C
High alloy steel ( P5, P9) -600 deg C
Austenitic Stainless Steel
( SS304 / 310 / 321 / 347) -820 deg C
• Following support materials are normally used:
CS : 427oC, 25Cr-20Ni : 871oC, 50Cr-50Ni-Cb : 982oC
• Heater casing is always made of carbon steel.

TECHNIP 35
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HEATER DESIGN

METALLURGY (cont.)

• Typical tube material for various services:

Crude P5
Vacuum P9
Delayed coker / Visbreaker P9
Hydrotreater SS 321 / SS 347
Hot Oil Heater CS
Reboilers CS

TECHNIP 36