Engineering Practice
Flame behavior is the
Minimizing Flame
Impingements
In Fired Heaters
Kandasamy Vinayagam
Heaters Revamping & Troubleshooting, Inc.
F
ired heaters are used c..-onsider·
ably in the chemical p,·ocess in-
d ustries (CPI), fo,- heating crude
o il in the petroleum refining
and petrochemical sectors. Unfortu-
nately, fired heate1·s are often taken
for gra1,ted and neglected more than
other equipment in terms of opel'ation
and 1naintenance. Proper care and a t-
tention to lhese heaters can prolong
run lengths and increase 1-eliabi lity
and safe operation.
A common reactio1t to the need for
more heat duty is to pump more fuel
into the burners of a w·ed heater, with-
Ollt cross checking its heat-1·elease de-
s ign li n1its. This can cause long·te1m
problems like flame impingement,
tube bowing, sagging, leakage, rupture,
damage and even explosion.
Flame impingement is when a flame
actually touches or ene'lllfs the tubes
or their s uppo,ts. Trus condition is one
of the major problems encountered in
hard-firing heaters, and it can occur
due to inadequate design, poor opera-
tion or poor maintenance. \Vhcn f1a1ne
impingement occurs for even a short
durat ion, damage is done. Conse-
quences can include failures in tubes
that carry process lluids, tube s up-
ports, refractory, burners. casing and
structural i11tegri ty. 'l'his article uses
a horizontal-tube, up-fired, box-type,
natural-draft heater with multiple
burnet s as an example. Most of the
discussions arc, however, applicable to
the majority of w·ed-heater configura-
tions \\'hel'e a flan1e is present.
Flame behavior
An experienced operator or eoginoor
can judge a heater's operation based
on the name's behavior. Before evalu-
70 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MAY 2007
I
'pulse' of direct-fired
heaters and greatly
influences their operation
Here's what to look for an
what to do about it
ating flame impingement, one should In a bad Oame s ituation, it may be
be able to undet stand and identify a difficult to see if enough clearance is
Jlan1e's behavior - in other words, provided betw,:cn the flame and tho
what type of name is consider ed to be tubes in the heater. Baking soda, in
good, bad or in need of improvemen~. powder form, can be used to help make
Flan,e ifl the vis ible envelop~ or the Oue-gas ci.J-c,ulation a.nd O:l.1ne be-
zone in which rapid combustion r eac- havior visible inside the [\re boi<. To do
tions occur, resulting in visible l'.:tdia· this, a very small q uantity (less than
tion. Though flame behavior is actu- I oz) of baking soda can be tossed
ally complex, we will start with sim1>le or sprayed into the area of interest
guidelines to define good a nd bad through the nearest peep doors.
flames. l'.i"or this discussion, \Ye defme Several types of Oames are depicted
a good flame as one whose shape and in Figu.re 1 for comparison. Case 2
dimensions can be easily defined by a shows long and loose names and Case
person observing it with his/her naked 3 indicates cloudy Hames. As oµposed
eye. Typically, tlame heights can vary to Case 1, t he second and third cases
from 1 to 25 ft, based on heat release, are s ituations that do require. an op,,
burner type, mixing Lw·bulence and erst.or's attention. Case 4 show, clear
fuel content. and visible nan1e impingement, which
Burner ve11dors us ually provide may be d ue to damaged bu,ner parts,
flame din1ensions in their drawings misalignment or poor 01l<!ration. This
at the 1naxirnum heat-release condi~ situation needs i:J.nn1cdiate att..c.ntion.
t.ion. One may ask how to measure While it is commonly thouglu Lhat
the flame height in a fire box that is a bluish color indicates n good gas
operating at very high temperatures flame, color is not an importanl issue in
(l,200-l,G00°F). Tn eva luating a heat- heater· operation. T ho color of the ffamr
er's performance, it is not necessary to depends on many factors, including fuel
physically measm·e a flame's height content., oombustion quality and burner
and diameter. An approximation is condition. A good gas flame could, ror
good enough. An operator or engineer· example, be yellowish onmge if the fuel
could, for example, use his/her own contains heavy or aroniatic-hydl'Ocar-
height as a g uiding tool in defining a bon components. Yellowish and orange
f1an1e's he ight. A Oa1ne's diruneter is colors are mainly due to light thal is
relatively easy to approximate. Diam- emitted by bunting carbon. Oil tiring
eters generally range from 0.5 t.o3 ft. A normally results in luminous yellowish
good flame is typically s ltort and tight, flan1es. Gas fir ing resuks u1 non-lumi-
as depicted in Case 1 of Figure 1. nous !or t1-ansparcnt) bluish flames.
We will define a bad flame as one
whose dimensions cannot be well de- Flame stability
fined. Such tlames can be long, loose, When a flame touches the tube~ or
lazy, cloudy, erratic or smoky. The ac- their supports, it soft.ens the mechani-
tual or full.flame shape is beyond the cal integrity of these pa rts. Pressure
dimensions or contours that can be from the process fluid in.side I.he lubes
seeD with the naked eye. and the metal-expansion stress Jcvrls
 Case 1
TUbOSheet
(conwclion
tube $Uppotl)
Tubes
Peep do«&
Burner
rile Burner throat
Air registera J
clampen,
FIGURE 1. These four drawings, which illustrate heaters and their main parts, depict
different types of f lame behavior that may be encountered in a direct-fired heater. The
short, tight flame shown in tile fi rst case Is Ideal for good operation. The other cases de·
pie! s ituations that need attention, as described In the text
will act on this softel' portion of the
tube, and can ulti mately lead to tube
fail ure. U neven or· restricted tube ex-
pansion can a lso lead to tube sagging
or bowing.
Flame stability is affected by vari-
ous factors including fuel t'Ontent., the
velocity of the air·a nd·foel mixture
and burner type. When flame velocity
iV 1; in a downward d lre<ition) is equal
to the velocity of' the air-and-fuel mix-
ture (V2; in an upward dii'ection). then
the Oame sits clire<itly on the burner
tip iFigw-e 2).
When t he velocity of the tln me ex-
ceeds that of the a lr·and· fuel mixture,
then flame flashback occurs. T his
flashback dan1agcs burner parts and,
if allowed to continue and grow. can
C1'e.atc unsafe conditions. When the
velocity of the flame is less than that
of the air-and-fu el mfature, the llame
may lift off of the burner. lo this situ-
ation, the flame may be extingujshed
a nd combustibles can accumulate in
the fire box leading to unsafe operat·
illg cond it ions.
Under normal operating cond itions,
flames ca n lose their ideal shape due
to the followi ng: damage, plugging or
orosio!l of the gas/oil tip; poor mixing
or turbulenc-e of the air and fuel at the
burner throat; inadequate ail' for com-
bustion; and poor burner design.
Burners play a very important role
in fii-ed-heater operations. Any major
variation in feedrntc, fuel content,
fuel-heating value or other o perating
condit ions requires an adjustment
to the burners. Failw·e to adjust the
burners for an adequate air/fuel ratio
to accommodate the change in opera-
tion can result i11 bad flames and poor
heater operation.
Caee2
R efra ecto
Refractory/
c:eramlc fiber
"
Effects of flame impingement
Typically, the theoretical adiabatic or
maximum flame temperature of fuel
gas in air ranges between 3,000 and
4,000°F. The actual flame tempera-
ture inside the fire box - after losing
heat to the surroundings - is in the
range of 2,000 to 3,000"F. Impinge-
ment of this high-temperatur-e llrune
subjects the tubes and tube s upports
to very 11.igh rates of localized heatfl ux
(the amount of heat absorbed per unit
area). 'fl~is can cause coking inside the
tube, as well as leakage, sagging, bow-
ing and ultimately, premature failure
of the tube and lube s upports.
Hot spot,; on tubes frorn Oarne im-
pingement may glow in colors of
cherry red or orange, indicating very
high tube-metal temperatures. These
hig h temperatures can cause hydro·
carbon cracking, which results in coke
formation at the hot s pots (Figure 3).
Wben coke forms ins ide the tubes, it
acts Hke an insulator and doesn't allow
the flowing process fluid to cool the
tube walls. The tube-metal tempera -
tw·e starts to increase, while the heat
transfer across the coke-coated tu be
wall decrea..'les. This can ultimately r e-
sult in htbe rnpture and leakage.
In a two-phase-How heater, Oame
hnpingement pron1otos n1orc vapor
generation resulting in a higher pres-
sure drop across the heater. The in -
creased vapor levels may reduce the
heat-transfer coefficient inside the
tube and lead to an increase in the
tube-metal temperatw·e. A t ube's life
is reduced rapidly at 11.igher tempera-
ture levels.
Tem per atures that rise a bove the
creep-rupture design temperature,
particularly, can lead to a sborte,· tube
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MAY 2007
Ca&e3 ca&e 4
Radiant a«:h
(for draft &
exces•02
measurements)
L
If v, < V2: fl.Bme lift off
It V1 > V2; flame fl.a&h b&ek
v,, 11 v, =V2; stable t&a.me
V, ;:; Flame vek>c.ity, ftls
~ V2 : Alr + ruol mixture
veloclty, rt/&
~mer
A1r- Fu&l
FIGURE 2. For a stable flame, the flame
should sit directly on the burner fuel t ip.
This occurs when the velocities o f the flame
and t he air·and4uel mixture are equal
li fe and rupturing. Flame impingement
can lead t<> heavy oxidation of the tube
metal. which forms a hard scale around
the tube surface. This can affe<it rad.i-
ant heat absorption and tnbe life.
Signs of flame impingement
As we have seen, flame impingement
increases the tube-skin temperature,
coke formation. vapor generation and
process·lluid degradation. Various in·
dicators for these effects can help one
recognize the impending problem.
A r ise in temperatu.re of the tube
wall can be monitored by using tube-
skin thermocouples or by infrared (IR)
thermograpby. If lR scanning is used,
then it must be done at regular iuler-
vals to trend the tempe.rature.
As mentioned carHer, severe and
continuous flame in1pingement may
leavo hot spots, w hich can glow a red·
dis h-orange color. Compa,-ing the color
a nd shape of the tubes inside the fire
box can i ndicato signs of flame im-
pingement. U nusual tube expansion,
bowing, sagging aad unusual distor-
tion in tube supports from their origi·
nal condit ions ar e all signs to bo con-
sider ed.
Pressure drop across the process
tubes can also be a good indicator of
a problem. An unusual increase in
pressure drop can be due to increased
7t

Engineering Practice
,•apor generation (in two-phasc-ilow
beat.crs) or coke formation that re-
sults from flume impingement. In
such cases, monitoring the pressure
d1'0p across the heate,· will indicate
unui,ual fi ring cond it ions or localized
beating. ln some instances, the integ·
riiy of the refractory or steel may be
damaged due to flame impingement.
Preventing flame impingement
A common cause for flame impinge-
ment is either damaged burner parts
(:tipa and tiles, for example) or poor
combustion. Poor combustion gener-
ally results from rui inadequate supply
or Fuel and air at
of ai1; or poor mixing
the burner ihniat. Additional causes
for flame impingement include overfir·
ing of the burners and air leakage. In
&0n1e instunces1 in-egular nue-gas Oov.•
patterns inside the 6rc box can lead to
Oames throughout the ure box.
Design engineering aspects. The
design_ of the heater's fire box should
be adequate enough to contai11 the
flame. The box shou Id not be too nar-
row or too short. Table 1 indicates the
1n1ntn1uru required tube·t.o·burner
clearance, as recoOlJllended by the
Alne·rican Petroleum Institute (API),
for a natural-draft heater.
Choosing tho number of'bumcrs for a
fired heater is usually left to the design
engineer's e,cperience. More burners,
spaced equally in the fire box, will pro-
vide ~ more unifonn beattlux and rela·
tively s horter flame lengths. The trade
off is in increllS('(I cost.~ for tbe burners,
instrumentation, ope.ration and main·
tenance. Considering the potential
losses due to shorter run lengths or 1-e-
Hability issuc,5, it may bo wise to make
the greater initial investment.
Flame heights for good heater and
burner design are, as a guidew1e, less
than one-third to one-naJf of the fire·
box height. Practical experience shows
that flames highe1· than 12 ft are not
a lways stable ru1d can lean towatds
the tubes.
Current NOx-reducing burners uti·
lize air and/or fuel st."lgiug, and internal
Gue·gas ,·ecirculation t.cchniqucs to 1·c·
duce NOx emissions. The-se techniques
tend Lo elongate and delay I.Etc combus-
tion_ process, leading to a lon_ger flame,
as compared to conventional burners.
The fire-box dimensions an_d tube con-
72 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MAY 2007
aguration need to be adequate
to justify the installation of such
NOx-r·cducing bumcrs. The anal- ~ carbon cracking.
ysis usually leads t.o the installa- • When coke forms on
tion of more, sma1Jer bu1·ners. j the Inner walls of the
For forct.'<1-dw1ft burners, flame
heights can be reduced by increas·
i.ng the ait--pressure drop across
the burners. This increases the
turbulence between air 8Jld fuel
to provide adequate mixing energy for
shorter tlames. ln natural-draft. heaters,
however, this is less likely t.o be an op-
tion because the dralt available for the
bw11er is relatively low when compared
to forced -draft systems.
Another option to lower the flame
height is to mod ify the angl11 of the
gas/oil tips. This technique can also be
used to decrease t.b.e width of a fl8Jl1e,
if, for example, the fire-box oonfigura·
tion is better sujted for long and slen·
der name~. These adjustmenL~ to the
flame shape and size can avoid flame
impingement oo the tubes.
The burne-r type and design play
vital roles in reducing llame-.unpinge-
ment pl'Oblems. Premix burners nor·
mally produce shorter flame lengths
than raw-gns burners. Installing
premix burners ·i n shor t fire boxes,
therefore, can reduce the possibility of'
flan1e i i-npingement.
Burners should be designed in such
a way that a minimwn of 90% of the
available draft is consumed across
the burner. AdditionaJJy, a minimum
of 75% of the total draft consumed in
t he burner should be cons umed at the
burner th roat. 'l'his will ensure ad·
equate mixing energy for the air and
fuel to produce stable flames for the
specioed conditions.
Fuel quality also plays a major role
in burner maintenance. Fuel cootail1·
ing par ticulate matter, liqu;d conden-
sate or heavy metals such as Na, Va,
or Ni, can lead to frequent fuel-tip
damage. Installing a good fuel-filtra·
t ioo system ,can reduce or eliminate
such damage.
For a multi-btu·n_er system, the de-
sign of the air plenum and individual
combustion ail' ducts plays a sig-
nificant role in providing uniforn1 air
distribution to the system. When a ir
distribution is poor, some burners will
seek air frx>1n the fire box io oombust
their fuel, creating a fuel-ricb zone or
Fluid film
FIGURE 3.
Cok~ formatiOrt
Flame Impinge-
Hot spots ment causes hot
spots or very high
tube·met11l temp-
eratures, which
can lead to hydro-
tubes, it acts like an
insulator. diminishing
heat transfer and promoting
further increases to the tube·
metal temperature
longer flames. Symmetrical air-duct
arrangements and adequate flow-di-
recting baffles in the air plenuJn can
improve the a ir-flow distribution.
Operation aspects. Damage to the
butner fuel tips results in a cloudy or
erratic fla1ne, which as we h_ave seeo,
may Lead to fli1me impingemeot. Par-
ticulates and heavy metals in tho fuel
can either plug or erode fuel-tip ports.
ln rnulti·burncr beaters, an experi-
enced operator or engineer can dctcr-
mine if II particular tip is damaged or
misaligned by comparing fl,une shapes
from othel' burners. Whe.n a damaged
tip is jdentified, it should be replaced
as quickly as possible.
Improperly aligned fuel tips can
cause flame patterns to disto1t. Ven-
dors' drawings nnd recommendations
should be closely followed to check for
proper fuel-tip alignment. Any mis-
aligm11ents s hould be fixed as early as
possible.
Burner-tile condition also plays A
major l'Ole in determining the flame
shape. Any time a burner tile or regen
(oil-firing) tile is damaged, erratic ru1d
irreb•ular flames can result. It is rec-
ommended to change the damaged tile
without delay.
When flames are long, loose, lazy,
cloudy or erratic, t.beit- impingement
may not be visible to the naked eye.
The l'Oot cause for tbcse bad flames
should be sought and fixed as early as
possible. wng and loose OaJnes may
result in elongated con1bust.ion, indi~
eating an inadequate air s upply at the
burner. WJ1en fuel is Mi combusted
al the burner, it will seek oul oxygen
throughout the fire box and to,·m a
flame wherever the free oxygen is
available. These loose flames may lick
the tubes 01· tube supports.
Since long and unstable flames
may be due lo ove·rfiring the bu men<,
checking if the burner is firing within
its beat-release design limits is a good
 TABLE 1. RECOMMENDED MINIMUM CLEARANCE
FOR NATURAL-DRAFT HEATER OPERATION •
Horizontal to centerline
Maximum V.rtlcal to centerline
heat release roof tubes or refractory wall tubes from burner
per burner, (vertical firing only), ft
MM Btu/hr Oil Firing Gas tiring Oil Firing
4 12 10
6 16 13
8 20 16
10 24 19
12 28 22
14 32 25
course of action for this situation.
Flames lose their st.ability above th.eir
maximum heat-release design limit
and below theil' tum-down (minimum
heat release) limit. In spite of firing
within design limits , if the llamas are
not stable, then it is recommended to
try reducing the firing rate fo,· a b,;er
period ,mtil the name stabilizes. One,;
the flame is stable, st.a,t increa,;ing the
a.i.r Oowrate (by opening the a ir regis-
ter/damper) and the fuel fidng rate, to
get the targeted. process outlet tem·
perature and excess 02.
Smoky flames can be due to inad-
equate combustion air. I n this s itua-
tion, check for the presence of carbon
monoxide (CO) and combustibles in
the fire box. These materials can com-
bust io the convection section of the
heater; if free oxygen is present there.
This process is kno,vn as "after com-
bustion" nnd c,m severely oxidize or
damage the fins in t he convection sec-
tion, l.hereby reducing beat reoovery
in this section.
.In the case of smoky flames, first
check the fuel firing rate to ensw·e Lhat
the bu.roer is not over liJ"ed. Theo b1fog
rlown the firi ng rate momentarily until
coml/iu;~ible'i in the lh!e g~~ l!rc kept
under control (as a rule of thumb, do
not exceed 50 ppm of combustibles). As
mentioned above, the air Oowrate and
fuel tiring rate are then increased to
get the targeted proccs.~·outlct tempe,·-
at.ure and excess 0 2 . •I\ sudden i nc:rcasc:
in oxygen may result in an uncontrolled
!iring pattern and should be avoided.
Excess Ofair levels, as re<:om·
mc11d1>d by the A.Pl, are g.i vcn in T~l,,lq
2. In a. natural-draft heater, the ex-
~ess-0~ control is linkecl with the draft
inside the heatet·. The recommended
draft at the nul.iant arch is -0.1 in.
H20. In natural-draft heaters, stack
dampc,·s control the draft. Variations
in excess 0 2 level, however, alt,J r t he
draft level and vice versa. Therefore,
both the stack dampers and a ir reg-
isters need to be adjusted in order lo
nchiev.e the dfaft and excess 0 2 tar-
TABLE 2. RECOMMENDEDEXCESSAIR I 02•
center line, ft Draft
type
Gas firing
2·.9· 2·~ · Nalurol
3·.3· 3·-0· Nalural
3·.9· 3·~ · Forced
4•-3· 4·--0· Forced
4•.9· 4'-6' " Tabl,,s I and 2 nre cxtroctcd fro))) API 560. "1'"'ir(.'({ li\.-atcr& for Goo·
5•-3• s·-o· i>rt1.l l?elincr,y Scr,·iccg-
gets. The correct location for measur,,
ing draft and excess 0 2 are at the ra-
diant arch, as s hown in Figure 1.
Smoky flames in oil-fired heater.s
can also be due to i.nadequace atomiza·
tion. When saturated steam is used for
atomizing, it s hould be "dry" 01· with-
out condensaro at the burner. To check
the qua lity of atomizing steam, look
fo r condensate removal in the steam
trap. For oi] aton1izat.ion, slightl)' su-
pe1·heated steam is better lo avoid any
water condensate formation (due to
h eat loss in the pipe) at the burner.
Air leakage and poor mixing of the
air and fnel play major roles in the for-
mation of long ancl loose Oamcs. Total
pressul'e drop across a bumer can be di-
vided into tliree main locations: llurner
throat, air register and other pads. The
largest pressure drop should occur at
the burner throat, providing mixing
energy fo,· the air and fuel so that the
flames will be stable. [f the air regis·
or
kr or 11tl,er parts the burner have a
la rger pres$ure d rop, then there will be
inadequate mixing of the air and fuel.
resulting in unstalnle flames. M(mitor·
ing pres.sure drop across the bw·ner
throat helps identify this situation.
If this situation is indicated, try to
operate more burners with a unifor1n
a ir-l'egist.er opening. This will provide
a more-uniform name length and heat-
fllLx pt-ofile in the fire box (radiantsoc-
tion). MininJize air leakage by keeping
a ll observation doors aod openings in
the rad iant box fully closed during
operation. If some burners are offijne~
then keep their air registers/damp-
er$ fully e!Qse(I to prevept a ir !ea~11ge
through them.
Preventive maintenance
Good housekeeping always pays off.
In a typical petroleUJ11 J·efinery, there
may be 25 to 75 fired bearors with dif-
ferent configu rations, and each heater
may have different types of burners.
Adequate par ts need to be kept in the
warehouse for all of the burner types.
Correct burner parts (especially fuel
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM MAY 2007
Excess 0 2,%
Fuel
E'XCM$
air.% Dry Wet
basis l>osls
fuel oil 25 4.38 4.01
Natural oas 20 3.82 3.21
fuel oil 20 3.65 3.33
Natural gas 15 3.00 2.50
tips and burner tiles) need to be avail-
able for installation during o u tage or
turnaroUlld periods. Time constraints
often JJl'Ovent adequate attentioll from
being paid to part availa bility. ln some
instances, fuel tips from a djlferent
burner may be installed just because
the threading fits. Such i,1stallations
may quickly face name stability prob-
lems, resulting in major damage.
Frequently replaced parts, s uch as
fuel t ips, risers, burner t iles , regen
tiles, oil guns and pilots, neeod to be
min·ked properly for correct identifica·
tion and installation. Bu mer drawings
s hould always be consulted for parts
,·epl acemonts. Involving skilled-labor
per~onnel and thoroughly trained in-
spectors can reduce errors.
Dui-ing downtime, it is a good prac-
tice to wrap the gas and oil tips with
masking tape to protect them from
dust and scale. The burner openings
can also be closed 1vith woodc11 boards
before any work starts ins,dc tho
h eat.er. After completion of the work,
the masking t.ape and wooden boards
s hou ld be removed before dosing the
heater for s tart up.
Fl-equeot monitoring, proper 1nainte-
nnn~e. nnd the design and operaiional
aspects mentioned, can reduce <>r elimi-
nate name impingement, which in tum
CM increase the run length, reliability
and safety of fired hearors. •
Edited by Dorothy Lozowski
Author
Ki1nd,1~1,1my Vin uvµgn .,,
work:J u i,;C:nlor tllermo.l
ti,S
cogin4."0T J-lc-11t,·r, Re-
for
vump4'__g &. Troublo'5.hood ng,
In'° {Ho\1~~11n, T<·11 .; Email;
kond a ita tny-.:@1n ~ o.co n, , ,
which p rovides eogineering
L'Orun1lt.ations in NOlt rcduc-
lioo, revampiai;, trouble-
shooting and training in the
fi eld ofrc lincry tired hea1e ri;..
~ - -- ~ Kandafu•ln1y has o,•et" J<I year~
of work C'XIX!ricncc. nnd iit cur rently involv('d
cxtt,u .ivcly i n firC'd· hct1tcr tun il\g, pcrfOr rno.n~.
rcliuhiJity (1nd n..u1leotrlh i,opn1,,4..•me11t.$ " 'ith<>ut
mt\ior c.upiuJ expcod1ltareis. His pr(,"•i,c,,UJ: \\'Ork
t'xpcr.icnoo tnc:.Ludc~ "'or.king ror Thf.'rnlnx Ltd.
{Pun'-\ lndia>, J , Ray ~(c]xlnnou~ Inc. ( Dubai.
lli\..E. and Slngn_poro) and Funutoo I1npro\1e•
mcnts (llouston, Tex.). I re received 11 O.S. Ch.g.
(ront Coi1nbatore Institute C1t1'cchnology <Coi1n-
lmtoro, India) in 19'J3.
73