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Simplified Analysis of Radiation Heat Exchange in Boiler Superheaters

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January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165

Heat Transfer Engineering, 30(8):1–9, 2009

Copyright 
C Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0145-7632 print / 1521-0537 online
DOI: 10.1080/01457630802659953

Simplified Analysis of Radiation Heat

Exchange in Boiler Superheaters

DAWID TALER1 and JAN TALER2

1
Department of Power Plant Installations, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, University of Science
and Technology, Cracow, Poland
2
Department of Power Plant Machinery, Institute of Process and Power Engineering, Cracow University of Technology,
Cracow, Poland

This article describes the determination of the radiation heat transfer coefficient in radiant platen superheaters and on
convective heating surfaces. A new simple formula for determination of the heat transfer coefficient is derived on the basis of
a diffusivity model of radiation heat exchange. The radiation heat transfer coefficients are determined on the tube surface in
a convective evaporator, in a second stage convective heat superheater, and in a platen superheater of a pulverized coal-fired
5 boiler. The calculations were carried out applying the method presented in this article, the Central Institute for Boilers and
Turbines method, and formulas resulting from the analysis of heat exchange in an enclosure containing a gas of a constant
temperature. In order to assess the accuracy of the achieved results, the flow of flue gas and the heat exchange were modeled
using a commercial computational fluid dynamics program.

INTRODUCTION starting. In cases when the temperature of superheated steam at

The radiant and convective superheaters are located in boiler
passes through which high-temperature flue gas flows. The gas
temperature drops from about 1100◦ C at the exit of the furnace
15 chamber to about 400◦ C before entering the economizer. The
radiant platen superheaters are located in areas of highest flue
gas temperature, and the water heater in the lowest tempera-
ture pass. The share of convection in the total heat exchange of
platen superheaters located directly over the combustion cham-
20 ber amounts only to 10 to 15% [1]. In convective superheaters,
the share of radiation heat exchange is lower, but cannot be
neglected.
Correct determination of the heat flux absorbed through the
boiler heating surfaces is very difficult. This results, on the one
25 hand, from the complexity of heat transfer by radiation of flue
gas with a high content of solid ash particles, and on the other
hand, from the fouling of heating surfaces by slag and ash. The
degree of the slag and ash deposition is hard to assess, both at the
design stage and during the boiler operation. In consequence,
30 the proper size of superheaters is being assumed only after boiler
Address correspondence to Dr. Dawid Taler, Department of Power Plant
Installations, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, University of
Science and Technology (AGH), Al. Mickiewicza 30, Paw. B-3, 30-059 Cracow,
Poland. E-mail: taler@imir.agh.edu.pl
1
the exit from the superheater stage under examination is higher
than design value, then the area of the surface of this stage has
to be decreased. However, if the exit temperature of the steam
is below the desired value, then the surface area is increased. 35
To calculate the radiation heat transfer from the hot flue gases
to the tubes, it is necessary to solve the radiative heat transfer
equation (RTE) [2–4].
However, the RTE is an integro-differential equation and its
exact solution can be obtained for very simple cases, such as 40
one-dimensional problems with constant radiation properties
of the participating medium. Consequently, numerous approxi-
mate methods for solving the RTE have been developed during
the last few decades [2–4]. The following approximate methods
are used frequently in commercial heat transfer codes: the dif- 45
fusion approximation (the Rosseland approximation), the first-
order spherical harmonics approximation (also known as the
P-1 method, or the Eddington approximation), the discrete ordi-
nates method (DO), and the discrete transfer radiation method
(DTRM). 50
The radiation heat flux for gray gas under optically thick
conditions may be calculated from the Rosseland equation [3],
which is similar to Fourier’s diffusion law for heat conduction
with a strongly temperature-dependent thermal conductivity.
The radiation transfer depends on the temperature field within 55
the medium and its radiation properties, but is independent of
January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165

2 D. TALER AND J. TALER

the surface emissivity and the temperature of the medium ad- gray surface of the chamber [10]. That formula cannot, however,
jacent to a surface differs from the surface temperature. The be applied in boiler technology because the flue gas temperature
Rosseland approximation can be expected to give accurate re- is about 700 K (platen superheater and convective evaporator)
60 sults for fluidized beds and very sooty flames. to about 200 K (economizer) higher than the temperature of the 115
The integro-differential RTE may be converted to an approx- outside tube surface.
imate set of partial differential equations by expanding the radi- A simple mathematical model for calculating radiation heat
ation intensity in a series of spherical harmonics and truncating transfer coefficient in bar tube bundles is described in [11]. The
it to N terms. This approach leads to the P-N approximation. principle of this method is based on replacing the real geometry
65 The P-1 is a powerful yet simple method, which can give accu- of the control volume belonging to one tube with an equivalent 120
rate solutions for the vast majority of engineering problems. A cylindrical surrounding surface.
particular advantage of the spherical harmonics method is that In this article, a new formula is proposed for calculating the
it can be formulated in three dimensions. radiation heat exchange coefficient, which is characterized by
The DO method is based on an assumption that the radiation good accuracy in a wide range of flue gas temperatures, thus
70 intensity changes in a continuous but unspecified manner with being suitable for both radiant platen type and convection type 125
angular direction at any point. In this method the RTE is solved superheaters.
for a set of directions (ordinates) spanning the total solid angle
of 4π . The resulting ordinary differential equations are solved
along the specified directions. DERIVING THE FORMULA FOR CALCULATING THE
75 In the DTRM, the differential equation for the radiation in- RADIATION HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT
tensity is integrated along a series of rays emanating from a
single point in each discrete control volume on a surface. The In an adiabatic enclosure, such as that of Figure 1, gaseous
intensity of radiation approaching a point on a wall is integrated combustion products, containing ash and soot or coke particles, 130
over the hemispherical solid angle to yield the incident heat flux. radiate heat to a cold heat sink (a tube heated externally that car-
80 The high accuracy of the RTE solution can be achieved by ries steam or water to be heated). The combustion products can
the methods DO and DTRM, which can also be used for bench- be in motion with relation to the sink surface. The heat flux from
marking. the hot gas at temperature Tg to the sink surface at temperature
The accuracy of the approximate methods used for solving Tw depends not only upon the total emissivity of the gas εg and 135
the radiative heat transfer equation should be compatible with the emissivity of the sink surface εw , but also upon the ratio of
85 that of the method used to estimate radiation properties. Despite the enclosure volume V to the sink area A, i.e., V /A. The heat
many approximation procedures, the solution of radiation heat transfer between the hot gases and the cold sink will be analyzed
transfer problems is still a challenging task. using the P-1 method [3]. This method assumes that radiation
There are many engineering applications for which it is con- intensity I at any point varies smoothly in three dimensional 140
venient to calculate radiation heat transfer in a simplified but
90 reliable manner. The transfer of heat by radiation is taken into
account during the design and operation of superheaters by
adding the so-called radiation heat transfer coefficient to the
convective heat transfer coefficient.
The Russian standards [5] elaborated by the Central Institute
95 for Boilers and Turbines (CKTI) and the All-Soviet Union Heat
Technology Institute as well as the books [6, 7] containing the
analytical-empirical formula suggested by Hottel and Sarofim
[2]. While applying that formula, it is difficult to calculate the
values of the radiation heat transfer coefficient for the edge tubes
100 of a given superheater section, when the free space between
adjacent superheater sections contains flue gas.
Another popular formula for calculating the radiation heat
transfer coefficient was elaborated for surfaces forming a closed
space containing a flue gas at a constant temperature [8, 9].
105 That formula yields almost twice as low values of the heat
transfer coefficient in platen superheaters, because it neglects the
presence of ash in the combustion gas. In order to improve the
accuracy of that formula, especially for cases when the spacing
between the duct walls is small and their temperature is close to
110 or higher than the gas temperature, a new formula was derived to Figure 1 Radiation heat transfer in an adiabatic enclosure containing hot
determine the heat exchange between a non-gray gas and a non- gases (a gaseous heat source) and heat absorbing surface (a heat sink).

heat transfer engineering vol. 30 no. 8 2009

January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165

D. TALER AND J. TALER 3

space. Thus, it is particularly suited for situations in which ra- then Eq. (8) can be written in the form
diation is emitted isotropically from hot combustion products.
2εw σ  4 4  4 
In the P-1 method, the changes of the radiation temperature θr A Tw − θ̄r = 4aσ V θ̄r − T̄g4 (9)
are described by the following equation: 2 − εw
  4
Solving Eq. (9) for θ̄r and introducing the geometric mean
−∇ · q̇ = 4a σ θ4r − Tg4 (1)
beam length s, 175
145 where the radiation temperature θ4r = I / (4σ) is a function of
s = 4V /A (10)
the radiation intensity I and the Stefan-Boltzmann constant σ =
5.67 × 10−8 W/m2 K4 . Equation (1) is an elliptic partial differ- it follows that
ential equation, and is related to heat conduction equation that
describes the steady-state temperature distribution in the domain 4 as T̄g4 + εeq Tw4
θ̄r = (11)
150 with heat generation [12]. Thermal energy is being generated as + εeq
withinV at the rate of 4a σ (Tg4 − θr4 ). The radiation heat flux is where
given by
2εw
q̇ = − ∇φ (2) εeq = (12)
2 − εw
where  = 1/ (3a), φ = 4σ θ4r . The symbol a denotes the After assuming that θr =∼ θ̄r and substituting expression (11)
absorptivity of the medium in which the radiation occurs. into the boundary condition (3), one obtains
155 Equation (1) is subject to Marshak’s boundary condition [3]:
σ εeq a s  4 
  q̇n = T̄ − Tw4 (13)
2σεw θ4r − Tw4 a s + εeq g
q̇n (A) = − ∇φ · n|A = (3)
(2 − εw ) The radiation heat transfer coefficient may be expressed as 180
where q̇n is the normal component of the heat flux on the heat  4 
q̇n σ εeq as T̄g − Tw
4
sink surface A. hr = =   (14)
In order to determine the mean coefficient of radiation heat T̄g − Tw as + εeq T̄g − Tw
transfer hr, on the tube surface, Eq. (1) is integrated over the where εeq is defined by Eq. (12).
160 enclosure volume V : The mean beam lengths is given by Eq. (10). In the case of
 
  optically thick media, where the product as ≥0.1, the value of s
− ∇ · q̇ dV = 4aσ θr4 − Tg4 dV (4)
V V is calculated from the modified definition
Considering that in the case of heating surfaces of boilers the V
s=C (15)
flue gas temperature before and after a tube row does not change A
much, it is admissible to modify the right side of Eq. (4) using where C < 4.0. A value of C = 3.6 works well in many sit- 185
the mean temperatures uations [9, 10] . The coefficient C is assumed to be between
 C = 3.4 [14] and C = 3.8 [8]. In cases of larger values of the
4 1
θ̄r = θ4r dV (5) product as, the value of the coefficient C is lower (3.4 ≤ C ≤
V
3.6). When computing the value of the radiation heat transfer
 coefficient hr using Eq. (14) in the case of platen superheaters, 190
1
T̄g4 = Tg4 dV (6) the value of s can be determined from Eq. (15) assuming that
V
3.4 ≤ C ≤ 3.6, and in convection superheaters, when as > 0.1,
165 The volume integral on the left side of Eq. (4) can be converted Eq. (10) can be used. The geometric mean beam lengths s for
to a surface integral using the Green–Gauss–Ostrogradski di- platen superheaters and that of plain tube bundles determined
vergence theorem [13] by Eq. (15) are given by the following expressions: 195
  Platen superheater surfaces:
∇ · q̇ dV = q̇·ndA (7)
C
V A
s=   (16)
where A denotes the closed surface area of the heat sink, which 2 1
Ag
+ 1
Bg
+ 1
Cg
is located in the enclosure. Noting that q̇ · n = q̇n (A), and
170 substituting Eqs. (5), (6), and (7) into Eq. (4), we obtain Plain tube bundles (Figure 2):
  
 4 d 4 s 1 s2
q̇n dA = 4aσ V T̄g4 − θ̄r (8) s=C − 1 (17)
A 4 π d2
where q̇n is given by Eq. (3). Assuming that in Eq. (3) the where Ag , Bg , and Cg are the height, width, and depth of the
radiation temperature θr is equal to the mean temperature θ̄r , space between the adjacent superheater platens.
heat transfer engineering vol. 30 no. 8 2009
January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165
4 D. TALER AND J. TALER
Figure 2 Control volume of a tube in a bank.
200 The calculation of the geometric mean beam length s also
requires a wider discussion. Equation (16) is developed under
the assumption that flue gas fills a cuboid with the dimensions
Ag × Bg × Cg , and that all sides of the cuboid, with the surface
area given by A = 2(Ag Bg + Ag Cg + Bg Cg ), are heating sur-
205 faces. The actual area of the superheated tubes, A = 2Ag Cg ,
which absorbs the heat, differs from the area of the cuboid walls.
In the method presented in this article, the geometric mean beam
length s can also be determined for the inner tubes using Eq.
(17), which is valid for the aligned and staggered tube arrange-
210 ments. The number of control volumes, with dimensions shown
in Figure 2, is equal to the number of tubes in the tube bundle.
The mean beam length sfor the platen superheater can be de-
termined by the modified formula, which considers the greater
volume of the radiating flue gas (Figure 3):
gases RO2 such as CO2 and SO2 , and the partial pressure of
V 4 s1 (s2p + 0.5s2 )
s = 3.4 = 0.85 d −1 (18)
A π d2
Figure 3 Control volume for a platen in the superheater of the pulverized
coal-fired with a capacity of 210 × 103 kg/h.
heat transfer engineering
In the case of the tube at the end of the platen consisting of 215
13 tubes, the thickness s2p shall be replaced by s2k (Figure 3).
The absorption coefficient a in the equation for the total
emissivity εg of a gas filling the analyzed enclosure
εg = 1 − e−kps = 1 − e−as (19)
can be calculated using the following equation [5–7]:
√
a = kp = (0.78 + 1.6 rH2 O − 0.1 psum s)
 
T̄g √
× 1 − 0.37 psum s (20)
1000
where k denotes the radiation extinction coefficient, and T̄g is 220
the mean temperature (K) of the gas. Because Eq. (20) takes
into account only the radiation of gases, the real value of k is
much higher than the value obtained from Eq. (20). In real con-
ditions the radiation of soot, ash, and coke particles contained
in the gases also has to be considered [5–7, 14–15]. In the pul- 225
verized coal-fired boilers, the radiation of ash and coke particles
is accounted for, as follows:
k = kg rn + ka μa + kcoke κ1 κ2 (21)
where ka stands for the ash and slag particle radiation coefficient,
which depends on the flue gas temperature, μa is the mass
concentration of ash and slag particles in the flue gas, and kcoke 230
denotes the coke particle extinction coefficient. The constants
κ1 and κ2 depend on the volatile matter content of the coal and
the furnace type, respectively. A procedure for the calculation
of the extinction coefficient k for the gas-, oil-, and coal-fired
boilers is described in detail in the boiler standards [5, 6]. 235
The pressure psum is the sum of partial pressures of triatomic
water vapor H2 O:
psum = p rsum (22)
where
rsum = rRO2 + rH2 O 240
The symbol p denotes the absolute pressure of combustion prod-
ucts, in the case of atmospheric pressure p = 1.013 × 105 Pa,
and rRO2 or rH2 O is the volumetric fraction of RO2 = CO2 + SO2
or H2 O in the products of combustion. In case of boiler flue gas,
when calculating the absorption coefficient a, it is necessary to 245
consider also the slag and ash particles, as well as the coke and
soot particles [5, 6].
Finding the natural logarithm of Eq. (19) gives
 
ln 1 − εg
a=− (23)
s
When determining the absorption coefficienta, applying formu-
las other than Eq. (20), the coefficient a is to be determined from 250
Eq. (23) having calculated the value of εg .
In order to assess the accuracy of the derived formula (14),
the radiation heat transfer coefficient hr was also computed
vol. 30 no. 8 2009
January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165

D. TALER AND J. TALER 5

applying the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) FLUENT Convective Evaporator 290
255 6.2 program.
The following data are assumed in the calculations: d =
0.057 m, s1 = 0.225 m, s2 = 0.2 m, T̄g = 1367.5 K, Tw =
666 K, εw = 0.8, a = kp = 0.394 1/m.
A COMPARISON WITH OTHER METHODS The geometric mean beam lengths obtained from Eq. (17)
OF DETERMINING THE RADIATION is s = 0.8064 m. The constant C in Eq. (17) was assumed to 295
HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT have a value of 3.4, sinceas > 0.1 (as = 0.394 × 0.8064 =
0.32). The radiation heat transfer coefficient calculated using
The radiation heat exchange between the flowing flue gas Eq. (14) proposed in this paper, is hr = 68.4 W/m2 K. The
260 and the surface of superheater tubes was modeled by applying radiation heat transfer coefficient hr was also calculated using
FLUENT 6.2, using the DTRM and DO methods. Eq. (24), assuming in Eq. (17) the factor C = 3.6, in agreement 300
The radiation heat transfer coefficients are also calculated with the standard [5]. In this case, the geometric mean beam
using simple formulas, which are widely applied to the design length is s = 0.8534 m, and the emissivity of flue gases is εg =
of boilers and other heating equipment. The CKTI method [5, 0.2855. The coefficient obtained from the CKTI formula (24) is
265 6] applies the formula suggested by Hottel and Sarofim [2]: hr = 68.6 W/m2 K. The results obtained do not differ greatly.
The calculations were also carried out using FLUENT 6.2. The 305
1 + εw T̄g4 − Tw4
hr = σ εg (24) heat exchange was modeled in the space shown in Figure 2.
2 T̄g − Tw Two cases have been analyzed. In the first one it was assumed
that the gas temperature T̄g is constant. The external surface
where the emissivity εg is found using Eq. (19).
of the analyzed space is thermally insulated. The calculations
When solid particles are absent in the gaseous combustion
were carried out using the DTRM and DO methods, achieving 310
products (gas- or oil-fired boilers), then the following modified
hr = 60.8 W/m2 K and hr = 61.1 W/m2 K, respectively. In the
formula [5, 6] is recommended:
second case the calculations were conducted assuming that gas
1 + εw T̄g4 − (Tw /T̄g )3.6 T̄g4 flows into the analyzed space at the velocity w = 5.31 m/s. The
hr = σ εg (25) flue gas temperature at the inlet was Tin = T̄g = 1367.5 K.
2 T̄g − Tw
The external surface of the analyzed space is also thermally 315
270 Equation (24) is frequently cited in literature [5–7]. A popular insulated.
formula for the radiation heat transfer coefficient is given in The calculations carried out using the DTRM and DO meth-
books [8–10] as ods yielded the results hr = 60.8 W/m2 K and hr = 59.3 W/m2
K, respectively. One can note that the value of the radiation
εw εg T̄g4 − αgw Tw4 heat transfer coefficient calculated by the method proposed in 320
hr = σ (26) this article is higher than the more accurate values achieved
εw + αgw (1 − εw ) T̄g − Tw
using FLUENT 6.2. The differences, however, are not great.
where εg denotes the mean emissivity of flue gas with the tem- The maximum relative difference is 100 × (68.4–60.8)/60.8
perature T̄g , and αgw the mean absorptivity of flue gas when =12.5%. Also, note that when using FLUENT 6.2, the model-
275 the wall temperature is Tw . Equation (26) is not used for the ing concerns a single tube located inside a tube bundle. In the 325
calculation of the radiation heat transfer coefficient in coal- case of edge tubes, the heat transfer coefficients are higher, since
fired steam boilers, since it is not clear how to determine εg strong irradiation occurs on the tubes by the flue gas, which fills
and αgw for the participating medium, which contains solid the empty spaces ahead and past the given superheater stage.
particles. The mean value of the radiation heat transfer coefficient in the
whole bundle is higher than the value determined for an internal 330
tube, located inside the bundle. It is thus to be expected that
the value of the heat transfer coefficient obtained using the pre-
280 EXAMPLES OF CALCULATION OF THE RADIATION sented method is closer to the mean value for the entire tube
HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT bundle.

The coefficient for convective evaporator and the second

stage superheaters of a pulverized coal-fired boiler with a mass
flow capacity of 210 × 103 kg/h are calculated first. Then, the
285 radiant heat transfer coefficient for a platen superheater (radiant
superheater) of the same boiler is determined. The combustion
products flow over the vertical tube rows (perpendicular to the
axis) with aligned tubes. The thermal design of that boiler is
described in the Standard Method [15].
heat transfer engineering
Second Stage Superheater 335
The calculations were based on the following data: d = 0.038
m, s1 = 0.097 m, s2 = 0.08 m, T̄g =1198 K, Tw = 743 K, εw =
0.8, a = kp = 0.6371 1/m. The geometric mean beam length
s, calculated using Eq. (17), assuming C = 3.4 because as >
0.1, is s = 0.1887 m. The radiation heat transfer coefficient 340
vol. 30 no. 8 2009
January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165

6 D. TALER AND J. TALER

calculated by formula (14) proposed in this paper is hr = 24.0

W/m2 K. In view of the not very high value of the product as
= 0.1198, the value hr was also calculated assuming C = 3.6,
yielding s = 0.1998 m, and hr = 25.4 W/m2 K.
345 The heat transfer coefficient hr was also calculated using the
CKTI formula (24), assuming in Eq. (17) the value C = 3.6 in
accordance with the standard [5]. The emissivity of flue gas is
εg = 0.1195. The coefficient calculated by the CKTI formula
(24) is hr = 23.5 W/m2 K. The consistency of the achieved
350 results is also acceptable.
The calculations have also been carried out using FLUENT
6.2. The modeled domain is shown in Figure 2. Two cases were
analyzed. In the first one, the gas temperature T̄g was assumed
to be constant. The external surface of the analyzed space is
355 thermally insulated. The calculations were run by DTRM and
DO methods, yielding the results hr = 26.0 W/m2 K and hr =
26.5 W/m2 K, respectively. In the second case, the calculations
assumed that gas is flowing into the analyzed space at the ve-
locity w = 5.31 m/s. The flue gas temperature at the inlet was
360 Tin = T̄g = 1198 K. When conducting the calculations by the
DTRM and DO methods, the results were hr = 25.2 W/m2 K
and hr = 25.7 W/m2 K, respectively. It is clear that the value of
the radiation heat transfer coefficient calculated by the method
developed in this paper is close to the more accurate values
365 obtained by FLUENT 6.2. The maximum relative difference is
100 × (24.0–26.5)/26.5 = −9.4%. The radiation heat transfer
coefficient was also determined for the platen superheater.

Platen Superheater

A platen superheater is a pendant four-pass heat exchanger.

370 There are fourteen platens situated at the exit of the boiler com-
bustion chamber at the distance of 0.52 m to each other. The
superheated steam and the combustion products flow at right
angles to each other. The platen superheater can be classified
according to flow arrangement as a parallel-cross flow heat ex-
375 changer. A side view of the platen superheater with dimensions
is shown in Figure 4a and a cross section of three neighboring
platen with a marked control volume in Figure 4b. Each individ-
ual platen consists of thirteen tubes through which superheated
steam flows parallel.
380 The calculations were based on the following data: d = 0.032
m, Ag = 8 m, Bg = s1 = 0.52 m, Cg = 2 m, s2 = 0.036 m,
T̄g =1020◦ C = 1293 K, Tw = 443.5◦ C = 716.5 K, εw = 0.8,
a = kp = 0.495 1/m. The geometric mean beam length s =
0.6672 m was obtained from Eq. (16) for C = 3.4. The radiat-
385 ing heat transfer coefficient calculated by formula (14) proposed
in this study is hr = 65.89 W/m2 K. This coefficient was also
calculated using CKTI Eq. (24), assuming in Eq. (16) the coef-
ficient C = 3.6, following the standard [5]. The geometric mean
beam length in that case is s = 0.706 m, and the emissivity of
390 flue gases is εg = 0.295. The coefficient obtained from CKTI
Eq. (24) is hr = 66.1 W/m2 K. The achieved results are thus Figure 4 Arrangement of tubes in the platen superheater: (a) side view with
dimensions, (b) cross section of three neighboring platen with a marked control
very similar. volume.
heat transfer engineering vol. 30 no. 8 2009
January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165

D. TALER AND J. TALER 7

Table 1 FLUENT 6.2 results from splitting the analyzed space into rectangular volumes

Tube number
Quantity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Mean values

Method DTRM
q̇r ,kW/m2 44.2 36.8 37.2 38.0 38.4 37.7 37.8 38.1 38.5 39.0 39.0 39.2 44.9 38.7
hr ,W/m2 K 76.6 63.9 64.6 65.9 66.6 65.4 65.5 66.1 66.8 67.6 67.6 68.0 77.8 67.9
hc ,W/m2 K 70.2 63.2 62.2 61.6 60.5 59.8 59.6 59.1 60.1 59.9 59.4 59.8 65.8 61.6
Method DO
q̇r ,kW/m2 42.3 36.9 37.8 38.4 38.7 37.2 36.0 37.2 38.3 39.3 39.4 39.1 43.0 38.74
hr ,W/m2 K 73.4 64.1 65.5 66.6 67.0 64.6 62.4 64.6 66.4 68.1 68.3 67.8 74.6 67.2
hc ,W/m2 K 69.1 63.4 62.7 62.1 60.9 59.8 58.5 58.7 60.1 60.2 60.0 60.0 64.7 61.7

The heat transfer coefficient was also calculated using Eq.
(26). Assuming an identical gas composition as in the case of the
395 suggested method and the CKTI method, we get: εg = 0.148,
αg = 0.190, hr = 35.3 W/m2 K. The coefficient calculated using
Eq. (26) is thus almost twice as small as the coefficient found
using the formula developed in this paper and the equation
recommended in the CKTI standard. The main cause for such
400 a great discrepancy is the fact of neglecting the presence of ash
and coke particles in the flue gas when calculating the coefficient
hr using Eq. (26), which are accounted for while using other
methods.
Equation (26) cannot therefore be applied without essential
405 modifications to calculate the radiation heat transfer coefficient
on the surface of tubes placed in the flowing dusty flue gas. For a
tube located inside the platen, the mean beam length, calculated
by Eq. (17), is s = 0.6059 m, and for the edge tubes (the first
and last tube in the platen) we get from Eq. (18) the value of
410 s = 1.3446 m. The heat transfer coefficients obtained from Eq.
(14) are hr = 60.95 W/m2 K and hr = 110.53 W/m2 K for the
inner and edge tubes, respectively. It is evident that the effect
of radiation on the heat transfer coefficient at the external tubes
is considerable. Considering that steam flows parallel through
eleven inner tubes and two edge ones, the mean heat transfer 415
coefficient is
11 × 60.95 + 2 × 110.53
h̄r = = 68.6 W/m2 K
13
The values of radiation heat transfer coefficients obtained
using the developed method are very close to the values ob-
tained by the simulation CFD. The numerical simulations using 420
FLUENT 6.2 (Table 1) gave similar results: h̄r = 67.9 W/m2 K
(DTRM) and h̄r = 67.2 W/m2 K (DO). The maximum relative
difference between the mean values of the heat transfer coeffi-
cient is 100 × (67.2–68.6)/67.2 = −2.1%. The two-dimensional
simulation of flow and heat exchange was carried out for one 425
of four passes of a platen consisting of 13 tubes, through which
superheated steam flows parallel (Figure 4). Modeling was con-
ducted for a control volume marked in Figure 2a, with the di-
mensions shown in Figure 3. The flue gas temperature at the
inlet was assumed to be 1293 K, the temperature of the ex- 430
ternal surface of tubes equaled 716.5 K, the emissivity of the

Figure 5 Splitting the analyzed enclosure into rectangular control volume.
Figure 6 Changes of the mean heat transfer coefficients: (1) radiation coef-
ficient hr determined by the DO method when splitting the modeled space into
rectangular control volumes; (2) the convective coefficient hc ; (3) radiation co-
efficient hr obtained from the proposed Eq. (14) allowing for different radiation
heat transfer on edge tubes in the platen; (4) radiation coefficient hr obtained
from the proposed Eq. (14); (5) radiation coefficient hr obtained from the CKTI
Eq. (24).

heat transfer engineering vol. 30 no. 8 2009

January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165
8 D. TALER AND J. TALER
Figure 7 Distribution of the radiation coefficient hr (1) and the convective
coefficient hc (2) of heat transfer along the circumference of tube number 7 in
W/m2 K.
external tube surface was 0.8, and the absorption coefficient of
flue gas was a = 0.495 1/m. The flue gas velocity at the inlet
was 5.31 m/s. The convective heat transfer coefficients were also
435 determined. The results of calculations using the DO method,
when dividing the analyzed enclosure into rectangular control
volumes (Figure 5) are presented for each tube in Table 1 and
in Figure 6. The consistency of results gained by the method
presented in this article with the results achieved using the CFD
440 simulation is acceptable, irrespective of the equation used for
calculating the mean beam length s.
Figure 7 shows the change of the radiation and convective
heat transfer coefficient on the circumference of the seventh
tube, located in the center of a platen consisting of 13 tubes.
445 The greatest value of the coefficient occurs on the side surface
of the tube on both sides of the platen. At angles ϕ = 0◦ and
ϕ = 180◦ , the heat transfer coefficients are small, due to shading
by the neighboring tubes.
CONCLUSIONS
450 This article presents a new formula for the radiation heat
transfer coefficient in coal-fired boilers. The formula was de-
veloped by applying the diffusivity model of radiation heat
exchange; thus, it does have a reasonable physical basis. The
presented examples of superheater calculations and the com-
455 parisons with results obtained by other methods show that the
heat transfer engineering
formula is accurate. It has been shown to give consistent results
with the CFD simulation using FLUENT 6.2. The maximum rel-
ative differences between the results obtained using the present
method and the CFD simulation does not exceed ±12.5%. The
semi-empirical CKTI formula, which is widely used in the ther- 460
mal design of steam boilers, gave consistent results with those
obtained by the proposed formula, but its physical basis is dif-
ficult to understand. The developed formula also enables the
calculation of increased values of heat transfer on the surfaces
of the edge tubes of a given superheater stage, with nearby large 465
spaces between tube banks filled with flue gas. The application
of the present method is not limited to the test cases analyzed in
the article. The advantage of the developed approach is that it
can be easily extended to more complex situations, for example,
the radiation heat transfer in superheater tube banks placed in a 470
convection pass with walls, which are formed by tubes carrying
water or steam can be analyzed.
When calculating the radiation heat transfer coefficient of
superheaters of solid-fuel-fired boilers, it is essential to take
into account the presence of ash and coke in the flue gas, as well 475
as the possible fouling of the external surface of tubes by ash or
slag.
The accuracy of calculating the radiation heat transfer coef-
ficient can be improved by assuming the value of the coefficient
C in the equation for the mean beam length s according to 480
the value of the product of the absorption coefficient a and the
mean beam length s. In cases of lower values of this prod-
uct, the value of the coefficient Cis higher (3.6 ≤ C ≤ 4.0),
whereas when the product is higher, the coefficient is smaller
(3.4 ≤ C ≤ 3.6). Also, when the layer of external ash deposits 485
is thick, the temperature of its surface on the side of flue gas is
high, and the density of the heat flux transmitted by radiations
decreases.
NOMENCLATURE
a absorption coefficient, 1/m 490
A external surface area of the heat sink, m2
Ag , Bg , Cg height, width, depth, respectively, m
C constant
d outer tube diameter, m
h heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K 495
I radiation intensity, W/m2
k extinction coefficient, m/N
ka ash and slag particle radiation coefficient, m/N
kcoke coke particle extinction coefficient, m/N
n unit surface normal (pointing away from gas vol- 500
ume surface into the heat sink)
p pressure, Pa
psum sum of the partial pressures of CO2 and H2 O in
the combustion products
q̇ heat flux, W/m2 505
q̇ heat flux vector
r gas volumetric fraction in gas mixture
vol. 30 no. 8 2009
January 10, 2009 0:32 806 UHTE_A_366165

D. TALER AND J. TALER 9

s geometric mean beam length, m B, Boilers and Ancillary Plant, 3rd ed., Pergamon Press, Oxford, 550
s1 pitch of tubes in plane perpendicular to flow, m UK, 1991.
510 s2 pitch of tubes in direction of flow, m [2] Hottel, H. C., and Sarofim, A. F., Radiation Transfer, McGraw-
s2k distance between the right control volume bound- Hill, New York, 1967.
ary and the symmetry plane between the last and [3] Siegel, R., and Howell, J. R., Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1981. 555
next to the last tube in the platen (Figure 3), m
[4] Howell, J. R., Thermal Radiation in Participating Media: The
s2p distance between the left control volume bound- Past and the Present and Some Possible Future, Transactions of
515 ary and the symmetry plane between the first an the ASME, Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 110, pp. 1220–1229,
second tube in the platen (Figure 3), m 1988.
T temperature, K [5] Kuznetsov, N. V., Mitor, V. V., Dubovskij, I. E., and Karasina, 560
V volume, m3 E. S., Thermal Calculations of Steam Boilers. Standard Method,
w gas velocity, m/s Energy, Moscow, Soviet Union, 1973 (in Russian).
[6] Blokh, A. G., Heat Transfer in Steam Boiler Furnaces, Hemi-
520 Greek Symbols sphere, Washington, D.C., 1988.
[7] Kakaç, S., Boilers, Evaporators, and Condensers, Wiley, New 565
α absorptivity York, 1991.
[8] Brandt, F., Wärmeübertragung in Dampferzeugern und
ε emissivity
Wärmetauschern, FDBR-Fachverband Dampfkessel-Behälter-
εeq coefficient defined by Eq. (12)
und Rohrleitungsbau, Vulkan-Verlag, Essen, Germany,
θr radiation temperature, K 1985. 570
525 κ1 constant depending on the volatile matter content [9] Baehr, H. D., and Stephan, K., Wärme- und Stoffübertragung,
in the coal Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1994.
κ2 constant depending on the furnace type [10] Mills, A. F., Basic Heat and Mass Transfer, 2nd ed., Prentice Hall,
μa mass concentration of ash and slag particles in the Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 1999.
combustion products [11] Stehlik, P., Radiation Component in Thermal Calculation of Tubu- 575
530 σ Stefan–Boltzmann constant, σ = 5.67·10−8 lar Heat Exchanger, Heat Transfer Engineering, vol. 16, no. 1, pp.
W/m2 K4 19–28, 1995.
ϕ angle, rad [12] Taler, J., and Duda, P., Solving Direct and Inverse Heat Conduc-
tion Problems, Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2006.
∇ vector differential operator (gradient operator)
[13] Riley, K. F., Hobson, M. P., and Bence, S. J., Mathematical Meth- 580
ods for Physics and Engineering, Cambridge University Press,
Subscripts
Cambridge, UK, 1998.
[14] Stultz, S. C., and Kitto, J. B., Steam. Its Generation and Use, The
535 a ash or slag particle Babcock & Wilcox Company, Barberton, Ohio, 1992.
c convective [15] Lokshin, V. A., Peterson, D. F., and Schwarz, A. L., Standard 585
coke coke particle Methods of Hydraulic Design for Power Boilers, Hemisphere,
CO2 carbon dioxide Washington, D.C., 1988.
g gas
540 in inlet Dawid Taler is Assistant Professor of Mechanical
H2 O water vapor Engineering at the University of Science and Tech-
n normal to the surface nology in Cracow, Poland. He obtained his Ph.D. in 590
r radiation 2002 from the University of Science and Technology
of Cracow. He is the author of two books and many ar-
RO2 triatomic gas species participating in radiation
ticles on heat exchangers and thermal measurements.
545 w Wall

Superscripts
Jan M. Taler is Professor of Mechanical Engineering
at the Cracow University of Technology in Poland. 595
− mean He obtained his Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees in Mechani-
cal Engineering from the Cracow University of Tech-
nology. Since joining the university in 1974 he has
REFERENCES authored more than 250 papers and three books in
heat transfer. His research interests are heat trans- 600
[1] Littler, D. J., Davies E. J., Johnson, H.E., Kirkby, F., Myerscough, fer, inverse heat transfer problems, dynamics of large
P. B., and Wright, W., Modern Power Station Practice, Volume steam boilers and thermal stresses.

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