COMBUSTION AND HEAT TRANSFER

BY G. SUBHASH REDDY
(Boiler design consultant and retired Director of Boilers)

Boiler operating engineer will be more efficient if he knows certain minimum design
details of the boiler. The following is an attempt to impart the same.

Combustion
For efficient combustion three factors (3 T’s: time, temperature and turbulence) are to be
considered. Sufficient time to burn fixed carbon in solid fuels before it goes out of boiler
from furnace bottom along with ash while maintaining the temperature sufficiently above
its ignition temperature, sufficient time for gaseous combustion of volatile matter before
it is cooled to ignition temperature on its way out of furnace, proper contact of oxygen in
air with carbon on grate and proper mixing of air with powdered coal or liquid & gaseous
combustibles. Air must be admitted at right places (primary, secondary some cases
tertiary), at right time and right quantity for intimate mixing with combustibles for
complete combustion which is practically impossible with calculated amount on chemical
reaction basis.
Ignition temperature of common combustibles:
Lowest for sulfur is 243 C, highest for higher grade hydro carbon is 750 C
Fuels and their analysis
Ultimate analysis: common constituents are given in calculations see annexure -I.
Oxygen composition is analyzed in laboratory by difference.
Proximate analysis:
Fixed carbon – FC (analyzed by difference)
Volatile matter – VM
Moisture – M
Mineral matter – MM (MM > Ash)

Combustion oxygen/air required and products of combustion

Atomic weights of the elements involved in chemical reactions in combustion:
Carbon – 12, hydrogen – 1.008, sulfur – 32.06, oxygen – 16, nitrogen – 14.05
Common Chemical reactions:
C + O2 = CO2 + 8000 kcal/kg of C, 2H2 + O2 = 2H2O + 34000, S + 2O2 = 2SO2 + 2250.
Substituting atomic weight of elements in equation C + O2 = CO2
12 + 16X2 = 12X16X2, 1 + 32÷12 = 12X32÷12, 1 + 2.66 = 3.66
That is, 1 kg of carbon combines with 2.66 kg of oxygen to form 3.66 kg of CO2.
Similarly, 1 kg of hydrogen combines with 7.94 kg of oxygen to form 8.94 kg of H2O.
And 1 kg of sulfur combines with 1 kg of oxygen to form 2 kg of SO2.
Heat of combustion is approximate and the calorific value actual will be slightly different
from calculated when tested in laboratory and differ from fuel to fuel and source to
source even if composition is same.
Composition of oxygen & nitrogen in dry air = 23.15 & 76.85.

Excess oxygen/air
In spite of proper fuel preparation, efficient design of grate & furnace for complete
combustion with minimum air, the necessity of excess is also arises due to the difficulty
of obtaining intimate contact between the air and combustible gases or finely divided
particles. Since the concentration of oxygen and of combustibles decreases towards the
end of combustion zone and the speed of chemical reaction is proportional to the
concentration of the reactants, it is necessary to use excess oxygen in order to speed up
the reaction and complete it before the gases leave the furnace. The amount of excess air
depends on the type of grate in solid fuels, solid fuel size, and amount of volatile matter.
Usual amount of excess air requirement % by weight for common fuels with automatic
uniform feeding for gas 5-12, oil 5-20, pulverized coal 10-20, fluidized combustion 20-
30, stoker 25-60. For stationery grate with manual feeding the excess air will be very
high and depends on size of the fuel and skill of operator. Even with the best skills the
average excess air will be 100%.

Losses and boiler efficiency

Dry gas loss: increases with boiler outlet temperature and excess air.
Air moisture loss: increases with humidity in air.
Loss due to moisture from Fuel & products of combustion: increases with moisture and
hydrogen content in fuel.
Other losses are un-burnt carbon loss, heat in ash loss & radiation loss.
Un-burnt carbon loss shall be reduced by increasing excess air for better efficiency.

Heat transfer
Heat transfer is effected by radiation from flue gas (mainly CO2 & moisture) and from
solids in flue gas like fly ash to tube metal surface, by convection from flue gas to tube
metal surface, by conduction through tube wall thickness from gas side surface to steam
(water or air) side surface, and by convection from tube metal surfaces to steam(water or
air.
Radiation: in flue gas, radiation is mainly from CO2 & moisture and depends upon the
volume of CO2 & moisture, its temperature, metal temperature of heat receiving tubes
and beam length.
Approximate beam length = 3.4 X volume ÷ total bounding area in furnace, inside
diameter for fire tubes, and for bank of tubes it depends on tubes spacing in both
directions and diameter.
Heat radiation (per unit heat transfer area) increases with increase in volume of CO2 &
moisture, flue gas temperature, & beam length; and with decrease of tube metal
temperature. It is the main source of heat transfer in furnace, significant in super heater,
moderate in evaporator and negligible in economizer and air heater.
Radiation heat transfer = σe(Є(T1+273)4-a(T2+273)4) kcal/h m2
Where, σ – stefen boltsmann constant = 4.9 X 10-8 kcal/m2 h k
Є – Emissivity of carbon dioxide and moisture at T1 and increases with T1
a – absorbivity of carbon dioxide and moisture at T2 and increases with T2
Є & a also depends and increases with partial pressure and beam length
T1 & T2 are gas and heat receiving metal temperatures
e – emisivity factor of tube material
Convection: convective heat transfer = heat transfer co. efficient X heating surface area
X temperature difference between fluid and metal surface.
Heat transfer co. efficient depends mainly on mass velocity, temperature of fluid & metal
surface and diameter of the tube. It increases with increase in mass velocity of fluid &
mean temperature of fluid & metal surface and with decrease in tube diameter. It also
depends on flow pattern of fluid with reference to the tubes. It is more with fluid flow
across the tubes like in most water tube boilers and less with fluid flow longitudinal to the
tubes like in smoke tube boilers with other parameters remaining the same.
Conduction increases with thermal conductivity of material and decreases with increase
in distance along the path of heat transfer. The thermal resistance is approximately equal
to thickness divided by thermal conductivity in bare tubes. However, its effect in overall
heat transfer is negligible in boiler applications with bare tubes except in design of
refractory and insulation.
In extended surfaces like gilled/finned tubes the resistance to heat transfer can not be
neglected. The effect of extended surface will increase heat transfer but not in direct
proportion to increase in heating surface. Since the distance in material along the path of
heat transfer(equivalent thickness) is very complicated to calculate resistance, fin and
surface efficiency is calculated depending on the geometry and thermal conductivity of
fin and introduced as a reduction factor to the convective heat transfer co efficient. The
overall effect is to increase heat transfer moderately in view of higher increase in heating
surface and lower decrease in heat transfer co efficient.
In fluidized bed with tubes there will be additional heat transfer from bed material to tube
surface and depends on the concentration size & density of bed material and fluidization
velocity at the cost of tube erosion. In circulating fluidized combustion similar effect
takes place in super heater and evaporator which are kept in fluidization zone in some
designs. Its effect is introduced as co efficient ‘Uco’.
General equation for overall heat transfer in a heat exchanger = ‘U’ X ‘A’ X ‘LMTD’
Where,
U – overall heat transfer co efficient as in the equation;
1÷ U = 1÷ (Ur + Ucg + Uco) + Ffg + T ÷ K + 1÷ Ucs + Ffs
Ur – radiation heat transfer co efficient
K÷ T – conductivity co efficient of metal (K – thermal conductivity of material, T - thick)
Ucg – convective heat transfer co efficient gas side
Ucs – convective heat transfer co efficient steam (water or air) side
Ffg – fouling factor gas side due to deposition
Ffs – fouling factor steam (water) side due to scale deposition
Fouling factor depends on amount and thermal conductivity of deposition/scale.
A – heating surface area
LMTD - log mean temperature difference is in between inlet and outlet side temperature
differences between two fluids like gas & steam (water or air).
LMTD = ((Tgi-Ti) – (Tgo-To)) ÷ (loge(Tgi-Ti) ÷ (Tgo-To)).
Where, Tgi & Tgo (Tgi > Tgo) are gas and water temperatures
Ti & To gas inlet and outlet side (Ti > To in counter flow) and (Ti < To in parallel flow).
‘T÷K’ is negligible in boiler application.
furnace : except ‘Ur’ effect of all other quantities are negligible on ‘U’.
Super heater: ‘1÷Ucs+Ffs’ is very less and can be neglected for rough estimation.
Evaporator and economizer : ‘1÷Ucs’ is negligible.
pressure drop
longitudinal flow: gas flow in fire tubes, steam flow in super heater coils, and water flow
in economizer coils are normal examples.
Pressure drop in kgf/m2 = N X G2 ÷(2g).
N - sum of components as follows
Nt - component of tube length = f X V X (length ÷ diameter)
N1 - component of inlet, exit and acceleration = 0.5Vi + Ve +(Ve – Vi)
Nb - component of bends = fb X V
Where,
G – mass velocity of fluid = weight of fluid divided by flow area in kg/h m2
fb – bend factor depends on ratio of bend radius & tube diameter and angle of bend,
increase with decrease of former and with increase of latter.
f – friction factor of tube depends on tube diameter, its surface roughness and Reynolds
number of fluid flow and decrease with increase of diameter and Reynolds number.
V, Vi & Ve are specific volumes of fluid average, inlet and exit in m3/kg
Pressure drop of gas also increases with altitude of location in the ratio of absolute
ambient pressures.
Cross flow: gas flow across tube banks of super heater, evaporator, and economizer
Pressure drop in mm of water per each tube row crossed = f X V X G2 ÷(2g).
F - friction factor for flow pattern and depends on tube diameter & its surface roughness,
spacing in both direction and Reynolds number.

Circulation:
Flow in evaporators (boiler bank) of most of boilers is by thermal gradient (density
difference between inlet and outlet of evaporator), is several times more than boiler
capacity and is two phase flow. Further in order to avoid tube failure due to deviation
from nucleate boiling, the quality steam in mixture is to be restricted depending on
pressure, necessitating increase of flow several times of boiler capacity and thus pressure
drop increases. The arrangement shall be checked for balance of pressure drop in tubes,
down comers and risers with thermal gradient available. It is more sensitive due to heat
added in down comer tubes of boiler bank.

Annexure- I

Steam generation for coal(fuel), grate area and heating surface.

For particular steam generation, the requirement of fuel and heating surface is shown in
calculations. Consumption of fuel is equal to;
heat in steam outlet – heat in water inlet + heat in blow down + heat lost in soot blower steam
Efficiency X calorific value of fuel
Simply for one ton/hr equivalent evaporation of steam, amount of coal with 3800 kcal/kg
calorific value in a boiler with 75% efficiency = 1000X540÷(3800X0.75) = 190 kg.
There is no definite equation for steam generation for grate area and for heating surface.
Amount of solid fuel that can be burned on grate depends on various factors like draught
system type of grate, type of fuel(moisture content, volatile matter & calorific value),
overall arrangement of fuel feeding, air pressure, temperature & distribution of air and
furnace geometry. The range is from 100 kg/sq m for stationary grate, natural draught to
450 kg/sq m for fluidized combustion in respect of coal with 3800 kcal/kg calorific value.
Steam is generated in water wall & evaporators(bank tubes) in water tubes and in shell
with fire tubes mainly receiving latent heat. Therefore, equivalent evaporation of steam
is = U X LMTD X heating surface ÷ 540.
For 10 kg/cm2 pressure fire tube shell type internal furnace boiler the heating surface
required for one ton/hr equivalent evaporation of steam = 33.3 sq m. this also coincides
with the statutory(IBR) figure for calculation of safety valve capacity.