CFD Study of An Industrial Heater March 2013 Zhili (Alex) Qin, CFD - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

CFD Study of An Industrial Heater March 2013 Zhili (Alex) Qin, CFD Engineer Zeeco Inc. www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Heater Geometry Heater Radiant Section Burners 2 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Heater Geometry Process Tubes 3 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Heater Geometry Combustion Air Distribution Duct 4 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Existing Issues of Heater Operation  Short run length for the heater  Coking inside heater tubes  Non uniform tube metal temperature readings  Suspecting non uniform heat flux distribution on tubes  Acceptable combustion flames 5 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Mesh Note : • Mesh was prepared using STAR-CCM+ 7.04 • Trimmer with Prism Layers • 13.4 Million cells for half of the heater 6 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Model Setup  STAR-CCM+ 7.04  Segregated Flow, Species, & Energy  Multi-Component Species  Combustion  Turbulence  Radiation 7 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Predicted Combustion Flame Left View 8 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Predicted Combustion Flame Front View 9 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Carbon Monoxide 10 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Unburnt Hydrocarbon 11 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Oxygen 12 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Temperature 13 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Tube Metal Temperature Left View 14 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Flue Gas Temperature @ Tubes Left View 15 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Heat Flux Profile @ Tubes Left View Left Middle Right 16 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Weighted Heat Flux @ Various Locations 6 Left Middle Right 5 Elevation Above Floor, m 4 3 2 Note : Weighted heat flux is the percentage of heat flux data 1 relative to the overall average heat flux for all the tubes. 0 50% 70% 90% 110% 130% 150% 170% Weighted Heat Flux, % 17 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Predicted Air Flow Distribution to Burners Error of Air Flow Rate, % Burner 00 (Left) -4.20% Burner 01 10.56% Burner 02 9.62% Burner 03 8.28% Burner 04 7.00% Burner 05 5.98% Burner 06 3.94% Burner 07 2.81% Burner 08 0.84% Burner 09 -0.22% Burner 10 -1.38% Burner 11 -2.24% Burner 12 -3.14% Burner 13 -3.41% Burner 14 -4.56% Burner 15 -5.63% Burner 16 -6.02% Burner 17 -6.57% Burner 18 -8.67% Burner 19 (Right) -2.99% 18 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple

Summary  CFD study of an industrial heater was successfully performed by using STAR-CCM+.  Heater operation under actual conditions was modeled and issues were identified.  Recommended solutions were provided (not included in this presentation).  STAR-CCM+ is an efficient and cost-saving engineering tool for trouble-shooting. 19 www.zeeco.com Combustion and Environmental Solutions, Pure and Simple