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Research Papers

# Investigating the Effect of Fuel Rate Variation in an Industrial Thermal Cracking Furnace With Alternative Arrangement of Wall Burners Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation

[+] Author and Article Information

Faculty of Caspian,
College of Engineering,
University of Tehran,
P.O. Box 43841-119,
Rezvanshahr 43861-56387, Iran

Neda Gilani

Fouman Faculty of Engineering,
College of Engineering,
University of Tehran,
P.O. Box 43515-1155,
Fouman 43516-66456, Iran
e-mail: gilani@ut.ac.ir

Jafar Towfighi Daryan

Faculty of Chemical Engineering,
Tarbiat Modares University,
P.O. Box 14115-143,
Tehran 19166, Iran

1Corresponding author.

Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS. Manuscript received August 31, 2016; final manuscript received May 14, 2017; published online July 25, 2017. Assoc. Editor: Steve Q. Cai.

J. Thermal Sci. Eng. Appl 9(4), 041012 (Jul 25, 2017) (11 pages) Paper No: TSEA-16-1250; doi: 10.1115/1.4036801 History: Received August 31, 2016; Revised May 14, 2017

## Abstract

A new arrangement of side-wall burners of an industrial furnace was studied by three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. This simulation was conducted on ten calculation domain. Finite rate/eddy dissipation model was used as a combustion model. Discrete ordinate model (DOM) was considered as radiation model. Furthermore, weighted sum of gray gas model (WSGGM) was used to calculate radiative gas properties. Tube skin temperature and heat flux profiles were obtained by solving mass, momentum, and energy equations. Moreover, fuel rate variation was considered as an effective parameter. A base flow rate of fuel ($m˙=0.0695kg/s$) was assigned and different ratios (0.25 $m˙$, 0.5 $m˙$, 2 $m˙$, and 4 $m˙$) were assigned to investigate the heat distribution over the furnace. Resulted temperature and heat profiles were obtained in nonuniform mode using the proposed wall burner arrangement. According to the results, despite increased heat transfer coefficient of about 34% for $m˙$–4 $m˙$, temperature profile for this rate is too high and is harmful for tube metallurgy. Also, the proper range for fuel rate variation was determined as 0.5–2 $m˙$. In this range, heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number for $m˙$–2 $m˙$ were increased by 21% and for $m˙$–0.25 $m˙$ were decreased by about 28%.

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## Figures

Fig. 1

Furnace and reactor schemes

Fig. 2

Wall burner arrangement on walls A and B: wall A— and wall B—⊗

Fig. 3

Calculation domain

Fig. 4

Front view of wall burner arrangement

Fig. 5

Part of meshed reactor tube and furnace wall

Fig. 6

Concentration contours: (a) CH4 concentration along the furnace, (b) detailed CH4 concentration, (c) CO concentration along the furnace, and (d) detailed CO concentration at x = 0.238 m for 2 m˙

Fig. 7

Velocity vectors at the bottom of the furnace for (a) 0.25 m˙, (b) 0.5 m˙, (c)  m˙, (d) 2 m˙, and (e) 4 m˙ at x = 0.238 m

Fig. 8

Temperature contours in all the fuel rates for (a) 0.25 m˙, (b) 0.5 m˙, (c)  m˙, (d) 2 m˙, and (e) 4 m˙ at x = 0.238 m

Fig. 9

Flue gas streamlines along the furnace besides a close view at the bottom of the furnace

Fig. 10

Tube skin temperature profiles for different fuel rates: T—top bends and B—bottom bends

Fig. 11

Incident radiation for (a) 0.25 m˙, (b) 0.5 m˙, (c)  m˙, (d) 2 m˙, and (e) 4 m˙ in vertical cross section along the furnace at x = 0.238 m

Fig. 12

Incident radiation for different fuel rates

Fig. 13

Heat transfer coefficient for each tube in all the fuel rates

Fig. 14

Nusselt number for each tube in all the fuel rates

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