International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology- Volume4Issue2- 2013
Fired Heater Design and Simulation
Mahesh N. Jethva1, C. G. Bhagchandani2
1
M.E. Chemical Engineering Department, L.D. College of Engineering, Ahmedabad-380 015
2
Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, L.D. College of Engineering, Ahmedabad-380 015
Abstract- In fired heaters, heat is released by combustion of fuels
into an open space and transferred to process fluids inside tubes.
The tubes are ranged along the walls and roof of the combustion
chamber. The heat is transferred by direct radiation and
convection and also by reflection from refractory walls lining the
chamber. The design and rating of a fired heater is a moderately
complex operation. Here forced draft fired heater, which is fired
by fuel gas, has been treated. For that all required equations and
generalizations are listed from different fired heater design
methods as per requirement. A fired heater design calculations
are performed using Microsoft Excel Programming software and
the same fired heater data are used in HTRI simulation software
for simulation and comparision purpose.
Keywords- Radiant heat transfer, Convective heat transfer,
Shield section, Heat balance, HTRI simulation, Comparision.
I. Introduction
A fired heater is a direct-fired heat exchanger that uses the hot
gases of combustion to raise the temperature of a feed flowing
through coils of tubes aligned throughout the heater.
Depending on the use, these are also called furnaces or
process heaters. Some heaters simply deliver the feed at a
predetermined temperature to the next stage of the reaction
process; others perform reactions on the feed while it travels
through the tubes.
Fired heaters are used throughout hydrocarbon and chemical
processing industries such as refineries, gas plants,
petrochemicals, chemicals and synthetics, olefins, ammonia
and fertilizer plants. Most of the unit operations require one or
more fired heaters as start-up heater, fired reboiler, cracking
furnace, process heater, process heater vaporizer, crude oil
heater or reformer furnace.
Heater fuels include light ends (e.g. refinery gas) from the
crude units and reformers as well as waste gases blended with
natural gas. Residual fuels such as tar, pitch, and Bunker C
(heavy oil) are also used. Combustion air flow is regulated by
positioning the stack damper. Fuel to the burners is regulated
from exit feed temperature and firing rate is determined by the
level of production desired.
A typical fired heater will have following four sections: (1)
Radiant section, (2) Shield section, (3) Convection section,
and (4) Breeching and stack. A fired heater may be a box
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.internationaljournalssrg.org
(rectangular c/s) or vertical (cylindrical c/s) in shape. Same
way, a fired heater may be classified depending on location of
the burners and type of the draft.
II. Radiant Section Design
A. Radiant Heat Transfer in Radiant Section:
Applying basic radiation concepts to process-type heater
design, Lobo & Evans developed a generally applicable rating
method that is followed with various modifications, by many
heater designers. Direct radiation in the radiant section of a
direct fired heater can be described by the equation shown
below.
= ℱ( − )
Where,
= Radiant heat transfer, Btu/hr
= Stefan-Boltzmann constant,
0.173E-8 Btu/ft2-hr-R4
= Relative effectiveness factor of the tube bank
= Cold plane area of the tube bank, ft2
ℱ = Exchange factor
= Effective gas temperature in firebox, °R
= Average tube wall temperature, °R
B. Heat Balance In The Radiant Section:
There are four primary sources of heat input as well as four
sources of heat output to the radiant section. We can now set
up the heat balance equation as follows:
+ + + =
+ + +
Where,
= heat liberated by fuel, Btu/hr (LHV)
= sensible heat of combustion air, Btu/hr
= sensible heat of steam used for oil atomization,
Btu/hr
= sensible heat of recirculated flue gases, Btu/hr
= heat absorbed by radiant tubes, Btu/hr
= Radiant heat to shield tubes, Btu/hr
= heat loss in firebox through furnace walls,
bridgewall, casing, etc., Btu/hr
= heat of flue gases leaving the radiant section,
Btu/hr
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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology- Volume4Issue2- 2013

C. Total Heat Transfer in Radiant Section (if Shield Section . . .

is present): ℎ = 0.023( ) ( )
The total heat transfer in firebox when shield section is
present will be as follows: And for vapor flow with ≥15,000,

= ( ∝ + )ℱ( − )+ . . .
ℎ = 0.021( ) ( )
+
Where,
= Convective heat transfer to radiant tubes, Btu/hr Where the Reynolds number is,
= Convective heat transfer to shield tubes, Btu/hr
×
=

III. Convection Section Design

And the Prandtl number is,
A. Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient, :
×
1 =
=
Where,
Where, ℎ = Heat transfer coefficient, liquid phase, Btu/hr-ft2-°F
= Overall heat transfer coefficient, Btu/hr-ft2-F = Thermal conductivity, Btu/hr-ft-°F
= Total outside thermal resistance, hr-ft2-F/Btu = Inside diameter of tube, ft
= Absolute viscosity at bulk temperature, lb/ft-hr
And, = Absolute viscosity at wall temperature, lb/ft-hr
= + + ℎ = Heat transfer coefficient, vapor phase, Btu/hr-ft2-°F
Where, = Bulk temperature of vapor, °R
= Outside thermal resistance, hr-ft2-F/Btu = Wall Temperature of vapor, °R
= Tube wall thermal resistance, hr-ft2-F/Btu = Mass flow of fluid, lb/hr-ft2
= Inside thermal resistance, hr-ft2-F/Btu = Heat capacity of fluid at bulk temperature, Btu/lb-°F
And the resistances are computed as,
For two-phase flow,
1 ℎ =ℎ +ℎ
=
ℎ Where,
ℎ = Heat transfer coefficient, two-phase, Btu/hr-ft2-°F
=( )( )
= Weight fraction of liquid
1 = Weight fraction of vapor
=( + )( )
ℎ
C. Effective outside heat transfer coefficient ( ℎ ) for Fin
Where, tubes:
ℎ = Effective outside heat transfer coefficient, Btu/hr-
ft2-F ( + )
ℎ = Inside film heat transfer coefficient, Btu/hr-ft2-F ℎ =ℎ
= Tube-wall thickness, ft
= Tube wall thermal conductivity, Btu/hr-ft-F Where,
= Outside tube surface area, ft2/ft ℎ = Average outside heat transfer coefficient, Btu/hr-
ft2-F
= Mean area of tube wall, ft2/ft
= Fin efficiency
= Inside tube surface area, ft2/ft
= Total outside surface area, ft2/ft
= Inside fouling resistance, hr-ft2-F/Btu
= Fin outside surface area, ft2/ft
= Outside tube surface area, ft2/ft
B. Inside film heat transfer coefficient, ℎ :
The inside film coefficient needed for the thermal calculations
may be estimated by several different methods. The API i. Average outside heat transfer coefficient, ℎ :
RP530, Appendix C provides the following methods,

For liquid flow with ≥10,000,

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology- Volume4Issue2- 2013

1 (
.
)
ℎ = = 0.35 + 0.65
1
+ an inline pattern,
(ℎ + ℎ )
Where,
.
ℎ = Outside heat transfer coefficient, Btu/hr-ft2-F ( )
ℎ = Outside radiation heat transfer coefficient, Btu/hr- = 0.20 + 0.65
ft2-F Where,
= Outside fouling resistance, hr-ft2-F/Btu = Fin height, in
= Fin spacing, in
ii. Outside film heat transfer coefficient, ℎ :
Non-equilateral & row correction, :
For fin tubes arranged in,
.
ℎ = ( ) Staggered pattern,
Where,
( . ) ( . )
= Colburn heat transfer factor = 0.7 + 0.7 − 0.8
= Mass velocity based on net free area, lb/hr-ft2 Inline pattern,
= Heat capacity, Btu/lb-F
= Gas thermal conductivity, Btu/hr-ft-F ( . ) ( . )
= Gas dynamic viscosity, lb/hr-ft = 1.1 − 0.75 − 1.5
Where,
iii. Colburn heat transfer factor, : = Number of tube rows
= Longitudinal tube pitch, in
. = Transverse tube pitch, in
+ 460 .
= ( )
+ 460 iv. Mass Velocity, :
Where,
= Reynolds number correction
= Geometry correction =
= Non-equilateral & row correction Where,
= Outside diameter of fin, in = Mass flow rate of gas, lb/hr
= Outside diameter of tube, in = Net free area, ft2
= Average gas temperature, F
= Average fin temperature, F And,
Net Free Area, :
Reynolds number correction, :
.
= −( )
= 0.25 Where,
Where, = Cross sectional area of box, ft2
= Reynolds number = × = Fin tube cross sectional area/ft, ft2/ft
= Effective tube length, ft
Geometry correction, : = Number tubes wide
=
For segmented fin tubes arranged in, = +2
a staggered pattern,
= Fin height, ft
. = Outside diameter of tube, ft
( )
= 0.55 + 0.45 = Transverse tube pitch, ft
an inline pattern, = fin thickness, ft
= number of fins, fins/ft
.
( )
= 0.35 + 0.50 v. Surface Area Calculations:
For the prime tube,
For solid fin tubes arranged in,
a staggered pattern, = (1 − )

And for solid fins,

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology- Volume4Issue2- 2013

Where,
= (1 − )+ (2 + + +2 ) = Gas Temperature, F
= Tube Wall Temperature, F
And for segmented fins,

= 1− + 0.4 ( + 0.2) IV. Excel Programming

( + 0.2) 2 − 0.4 + + Design of different sections of fired heater has been
+ performed using Microsoft Excel Programming. For the
calculation purpose, different calculation methods and
Where,
equations are used in the programming.
= Outside diameter of tube, ft
= number of fins, fins/ft
= fin thickness, ft Table 1 Radiant Section Design
= Fin height, ft PROPERTY DETAIL AMOUNT
= ? Tube OD, in (do) 8.626
= Width of fin segment, ft thickness, in (tw) 0.05118
No of tubes (Nt) 40
And then, (Radiant)
= − No of tubes (Nt) 12
(Shield)
vi. Fin Efficiency, : Effective length, ft 35.07
For segmented fins, (Le) (Radiant)
Effective length, ft 18.31
= (0.9 + 0.1 ) (Le) (Shield)
Tube spacing, in (CC) 16
And for solid fins, (Radiant)
No of tubes per row 4
(Nt/r) (Shield)
= (0.45 ln ( − 1) + 1)
Transverse pitch, in 16
Where, (Pt) (Shield)
= (0.7 + 0.3 ) Combustion Fraction excess air 0.15
Firebox Diameter, ft (D) 19.98
And, Process fluid Mean wall 1097.95
tanh ( ) temperature, (Tt), ⁰R
=
Flue gas Flue gas temperature 2077.1
Where, (Tg), ⁰R
= +( ) α (Radiant) (-) 0.9086
2 α (Shield) Assumed (-) 1
Acp (Radiant) ft2 1870.52
For segmented fins, Acp (Shield) ft2 97.64
αAcp (Radiant) ft2 1699.51
ℎ + . αAcp (Shield) ft2 97.64
=( )
6 (αAcp)r+(αAcp)s ft2 1797.15
AR/ AT, ft2 2103.81
And for solid fins, ((αAcp)r+(αAcp)s) Area of Shield 97.64
Section, ft2 (As)
ℎ . AR, ft2 306.66
=( )
6 AR/ 0.17
((αAcp)r+(αAcp)s)
vii. Fin Tip Temperature, : Partial pressure atm (P) 0.256
The average fin tip temperature is calculated as follows, Mean beam length ft 13.32
P*l atm-ft 3.406
1 Emissivity E 0.5087
= + − ( . . )
+ Exchange factor F 0.5129
( 2 )

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology- Volume4Issue2- 2013

Radiantion Btu/hr 3.37*10^7 Gas

Heat Transfer MM Kcal/hr 8.488 Colburn HT Factor j 0.00543
Outside Film HT co- hc, Btu/hr-ft2-⁰F 2.0291
efficient
Table 2 Convection Section Design Average Outside HT ho, Btu/hr-ft2-⁰F 2.599
PROPERTY DETAIL AMOUNT co-efficient
Fin Height, in (lf) 1 Fin Efficiency E 0.9838
Thickness, in (tf) 0.05118 Effective Outside HT he, Btu/hr-ft2-⁰F 2.5595
No of fins, fins/ft (nf) 60 co-efficient
Ther. Cond., Btu/hr-ft- 21.292 Overall HT co- Uo, Btu/hr-ft2-⁰F 1.9348
⁰F (kf) efficient
Tube OD, in (do) 8.626 LMTD ⁰F 430.28
Thickness, in (tw) 0.5 HT Area ft2 10102.93
No of rows (Nr) 5 Convection Heat Btu/hr 8.4*10^6
No of tubes per row 4 Transfer MM Kcal/hr 2.119
(Nw)
Effective tube length, 18.307
ft (Le) Table 3 Heat Balance
Pitch, in (Pt) 16 PROPERTY DETAIL AMOUNT
Wall temp, ⁰F (Tw) 959 Assumed amount of % 80
Wall Ther. Cond., 12.83 Radiant HT
Btu/hr-ft-⁰F (kw) Assumed amount of % 20
Process Fluid Inlet temp, ⁰F (t1) 609.8 Convection HT
Outlet temp, ⁰F (t2) 621.1 Thermal Efficiency % (given) 90.7
Ther. Cond., (Liq), 0.04939 Total Heat Input (Qfuel) MM Kcal/hr 11.70
Btu/hr-ft-⁰F (kl) Total Heat Transferred MM Kcal/hr 10.61
Ther. Cond. (Vap), 0.11995 (Qht) (given)
Btu/hr-ft-⁰F (kv) Radiant HT (Qr) MM Kcal/hr 8.488
Sp. Heat (Liq), Btu/lb- 0.694 Convection HT (Qc) MM Kcal/hr 2.122
⁰F (cp,l) Heat Loss (Qloss) MM Kcal/hr (2.5% 0.2924
Sp. Heat (Vap), 0.8985 of Qfuel)
Btu/lb-⁰F (cp,v) Heat out from HT area to MM Kcal/hr 0.7955
Viscosity (Liq), lb/hr- 0.31448 stack (Qstack) (=Qfuel-Qht-Qloss)
ft (µl)
Viscosity (Vap), lb/hr- 0.0508
ft (µv) V. HTRI Introduction
Mass flow rate, lb/hr 1054905.3 HTRI Xchanger Suite® 6.0 combines in a single graphical user
Wt fraction (Liq) (Wl) 0.7 environment the design, rating, and simulation of fired heaters
Wt fraction (Vap) 0.3 (Xfh®). Xfh simulates the behavior of fired heaters. The
(Wv) program calculates the performance of the radiant section for
Fouling factor,hr-ft2- 0.00391 cylindrical and box (cabin) heaters and the convection section
⁰F/Btu (Rfi) of fired heater. It also designs process heater tubes using API
Flue Gas Inlet temp, ⁰F (t1) 1472 530 and performs combustion calculations. Xfh contains
Outlet temp, ⁰F (t2) 788 different calculation modules to simulate the different parts of
Mass flow rate, lb/hr 42620.545 a fired heater. One can run these modules separately or in
(Wg) combination to model part or all of a fired heater.
Ther. Cond., Btu/hr-ft- 0.0353
⁰F (kg)
Sp. Heat, Btu/lb-⁰F 0.3087 VI. Comparision of given/calculated data and
(cp,g) simulated data
Viscosity, lb/hr-ft (µg) 0.0883 The following table of comparision between given or
Inside Film HT co- hi, Btu/hr-ft2-⁰F 461.16 calculated data or results and simulated results proves that the
efficient prepared design module is trustable tool for fired heater
Mass Velocity of Flue Gn, lb/hr-ft2 1017.79 design.

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology- Volume4Issue2- 2013

fired heater design and simulation has been performed in

satisfactory way.

Table 4 Comparision of given/calculated data and

simulated data
PROPERTY DETAIL CAL. SIMU.
DATA DATA References
Overall Performance [1] Process Heat Transfer by Donald Q. Kern,
Heat duty MM 10.61 10.73 [2] http://www.heatexchangerdesign.com,
kcal/hr [3] API 560, Fired Heaters for General Refinery Service, 4th edition, August
2007,
Efficiency (LHV) % 90.7 85
[4] HTRI Xchanger Suite 6.0 software,
Heat release (Total) MM 11.69 12.63 [5] HTRI Manual and Help file
kcal/hr
Fuel LHV kcal/kg 13260 13278.1
Process fluid temp at C 327.28 327.88
crossover
Process fluid temp at C 346 346.64
heater outlet
Radiant Section
Fuel gas temp out C 800 858.71
Average flux rate kcal/hr-m2 29000 25611.2
Duty MM 8.488 7.987
kcal/hr
Surface area m2 166.96 311.87
Pressure drop kgf/cm2 1.292 1.75
Convection Section
Fuel gas temp out C 420 381.56
Outside film kcal/hr- 12.5 17.63
coefficient m2-C
Inside film coefficient kcal/hr- 2251.58 1854.99
m2-C
Overall HT kcal/hr- 9.45 12.7
coefficient (U) m2-C
Convection duty MM 2.122 2.7424
kcal/hr
Surface area m2 938.59 985.27
EMTD C 221.27 220.4
Draft at bridgewall mm H2O 2.3043 2.54
Pressure drop kgf/cm2 0.58 0.547
Burners
Fuel rate kg/hr 882.35 855.2

VII. Conclusion
Using Microsoft Excel Programming software, a design
module has been prepared which can be used for different data
values and gives satisfactory results. In present case, the
design module gives required radiant heat transfer and
convective heat transfer in the fired heater. The specified fired
heater is also simulated in HTRI heat exchanger suite 6.0
using the same fired heater data which are used in MS Excel
design module. The table of comparision illustrates that the

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