Ask the Experts
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Designing Thermal
Afterburners
Q. What general procedure may be used to design combustion
equipment for thermal-oxidation afterburning applications?
Afterburning is the most common term used to describe a
combustion process that is employed to control gaseous emis-
sions. There are two key calculations associated with combustion
devices — the determination of fuel requirements and the physical
dimensions of the unit. A general design procedure, developed by
the author, is provided below. In this methodology it is assumed
that the process gas stream flowrate, inlet temperature, and the
combustion temperature are known.
Step 1. Calculate the heat load (Q) required to raise the
enthalpy (H) of the process gas stream from its inlet temperature
(T1) to the operating temperature of the combustion device (T2):
Q = ∆H
where the change ∆H = H (at T2) – H (at T1)
Step 2. Correct the heat load for any radiant losses (RL):
Q = (1 + RL)(∆H)
where RL is measured on a fractional basis.
Step 3. Assuming a natural gas of known heating value HVG
is the fuel, calculate the available heat at the operating tempera-
ture HAT. For engineering purposes, one may use a short-cut
method that bypasses a detailed calculation.
HAT = HVG(HAT/HVG)ref
where subscript ‘‘ref ’’ refers to a reference fuel. For natural gas
with a reference HVG of 1,059 Btu/(standard ft3 or scf), the available
heat (assuming stoichiometric air) is given as:
(HAT)ref = –0.237T + 981
where units of (HAT)ref and T are Btu/scf and °F, respectively.
The term HA is defined as the available heat and represents
the quantity of heat released within a combustion chamber
minus both the sensible and latent heats in the flue gases.
Step 4. The flowrate of natural gas required qNG in scf/min
(scfm) is:
qNG = Q/HA (use consistent units)
Step 5. Calculate the total volumetric flowrate through the
afterburner, qT, as the sum of the process gas stream qp and the flue
products of combustion qc at the operating conditions:
qT = qp + qc
A good estimate for qc is qc = (11.5)(qNG)
where 11.5 is a stoichiometric coefficient to allow for the
calculation of the amount of flue gas produced during combustion.
Step 6. Calculate the cross-sectional area S and residence time
t of the afterburner:
S = qT/v, where v is the throughput velocity of the process gas.
t = V/qT
where t is measured in seconds, V is the chamber volume (ft3),
and qT is the gas volumetric flowrate at combustion conditions in
the chamber (actual ft3/s).
Example. The design review of a direct flame afterburner
A regulatory engineer must review plans for a permit to con-
struct a direct flame afterburner serving a lithograph operation.
18 April 2005 www.cepmagazine.org CEP
LOU THEODORE is a consultant for Theodore Tutorials (E-mail: loutheodore@veri-
and academia in environmental, accident and emergency management, air-pollution
prevention/control, among other topics. Theodore has authored over 90 books,
including the “Handbook of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Calculations,”
the book from which this article has been extracted, with permission from John
Wiley & Sons © Copyright 2005. Theodore received a BChE from The Cooper Union
and MChE and EngScD degrees from New York Univ.
The purpose of the review is to determine whether the proposed
system will meet emission standards.
Operating data. Process exhaust volumetric flowrate =
7,000 scfm (60°F; 1 atm); mass flowrate of hydrocarbons (e.g.,
toluene) in effluent air to afterburner = 30 lb/h; process gas
temperature at afterburner entry = 738°F; afterburner tempera-
ture = 1,400°F; afterburner heat loss = 10% in excess of calcu-
lated heat load; afterburner dimensions are 4.2 ft in diameter ×
14 ft in length.
Regulatory design criteria. Afterburner temperature =
1,300–1,500°F; residence time = 0.3–0.5 s; velocity of gas in after-
burner = 20–40 ft/s.
System data. Gross heating value of natural gas = 1,059
Btu/scf; flowrate of combustion products = 11.5 scf/scf natural
gas burned; available heat of natural gas at 1,400°F = 600 Btu/scf
of natural gas; molecular weight of toluene = 92; average heat
capacity of effluent gases between 738°F and 0°F = 7.12
Btu/(lbmol/°F); average heat capacity of effluent gases between
1,400°F and 0°F = 7.38 Btu/(lbmol/°F).
Solution. The design temperature (T2) is within agency criteria.
Step 1. To determine the fuel requirement for the afterburner,
first calculate the total heat load Q (in Btu/min) required to raise
7,000 scfm of the effluent stream from 738°F to 1,400°F. This
calculation requires knowledge of the molar flowrate n, which is
obtained by noting that 1 lbmol of an ideal gas at 60°F and 1 atm
occupies 379 ft3:
n = (7,000 scfm)/(379 ft3/lbmol) = 18.47 lbmol/min
Q = n(CP.2 (T2 – Tb) – CP.1 (T2 – Tb))
Q = 18.47((7.38)(1,400–0) – (7.12)(738 – 0))
= 93,780 Btu/min
Step 2. Calculate the actual heat load required, accounting for
a 10% heat loss, in Btu/min:
Q × 1.1 = 93,780 × 1.1 = 103,200 Btu/min
Step 3. The HAT is specified as 600 Btu/scfm.
Step 4. Calculate the flowrate of natural gas required to sup-
ply the actual heat required to heat 7,000 scfm of the effluent
from 738°F to 1,400°F in scfm:
qNG = Q/HA = 103,200/600 = 172.0 scfm
Step 5. Determine qT if qp= 7,000 scfm and qc is calculated as:
qc = qNG (11.5 scf combustion products/scf natural gas)
qc = 172.0 × 11.5 = 1,978 scfm
qT = qp + qc= 7,000 + 1,978 = 8,978 scfm
This represents the flowrate at 60°F and 1 atm. To convert to the
flowrate at 1,400°F, apply the ideal gas law:
qT = 8,978(1,400 + 460)/(60 + 460) = 32,110 acfm
Step 6. Calculate S and v:
S = πD2/4 = π (4.2)2/4 = 13.85 ft2
v = qT/S = 32,110/13.85 = 2,318 ft/min = 38.6 ft/s
t = L/v = 14/38.6 = 0.363 s
Thus T , v and t meet the agency criteria.