Facts At Your Fingertips

Industrial Gas Burners

Department Editor: Scott Jenkins

ombustion in industrial burners is a critical operation in the

chemical process industries
(CPI) for supplying thermal energy
for heat transfer, fluid heating, steam
generation, distillation, endothermic
chemical reactions, metal melting and
others. Burners are mechanical devices utilized for mixing proper quantities
of fuel and air, and also for maintaining
a stable flame inside fired equipment.
Included here are brief descriptions of
key aspects of industrial burner components and operation.

Fuel-air mix

Industrial process burners can be

classified in several ways, including
the type of fuel-air mixing involved
(diffusion or premixing).
Raw-gas burners are used for
most applications. In these burners,
the fuel gas passes through orifices
in the gas tip and is injected directly
into the combustion zone, where it
mixes with air. A stabilizer cone is located just below the gas to improve
combustion stability. These burners
are suitable for mounting in plenum
chambers (the area where air enters
the burner), and can be used with
preheated combustion air.
Pre-mix burners are those in which
fuel and air are mixed prior to combustion. Pre-mix burners are sometimes used in specialized applications. In these burners, the kinetic
energy made available by the expansion of the fuel gas through the
fuel-gas orifice introduces about half
of the combustion air (called primary
air) into the Venturi mixer. This mixture then exits through a large burner
tip, where it is mixed with the balance
of the combustion air (secondary air).
This secondary airflow enters the
burner through the outer, secondary
air register. Premix burners require
less furnace draft than raw-gas burners. Premix burners can produce a
wide range of flame shapes.

Reducing NOx

Combustion operations frequently

create nitrogen oxides (NOx), specifically NO and NO2, which must
32

Fuel

Secondary
combustion
zone

fluegas recirculation to help reduce

NOx formation. The best results are
obtained where internal fluegas recirculation is used to dilute the fuel
gas in a staged fuel burner, creating
a gas with a low calorific value.

Primary
combustion
zone

Flame size

Air

Fuel

be highly controlled, as they can be

harmful pollutants. Currently, three
burner configuration methods exist
for reducing nitrogen oxides in burners: staged air, staged fuel and internal fluegas recirculation combined
with staged air or staged fuel.
Staged air burners. These types of
burners work by introducing 100% of
the fuel into the burner and only part
of the combustion air (primary air),
thus creating a sub-stoichiometric
flame. This flame has a reduced temperature and therefore inhibits NOx
formation. The flame is completed
with the addition of the secondary
air to complete the combustion process. This process allows for greater
control at lower burner loads and
also accommodates a wider range
of fuels.
Staged fuel burners. This burner
method introduces 100% of the
combustion air into the burner and
splits the fuel supply into primary and
secondary volumes (Figure). The primary fuel mixes with the combustion
air to create a flame. As with staged
air burners, the peak flame temperature is lower, and NOx formation is
reduced. Secondary fuel is added to
complete the combustion process.
Staged fuel burners provide greater
NOx reduction, as the fuel supply
has a larger effect on NOx formation. This method is more commonly
used when a consistent fuel supply
is available.
Internal fluegas recirculation burners. This method combines either
staged air or staged fuel with internal
Chemical Engineering

The size of the burner flame is an important parameter in controlling the

heat transfer to tubes in the furnace.
The flame size and shape should be
such that the tubes impingement of
the flame upon the tubes they are
heating is avoided.
Maximum flame diameter can be
calculated using Equation (1).

(1)

where:
Df max = Maximum flame dia., ft
Lf = Flame length, ft
SVflame = Specific volume of flame,
ft3/lb
SVfuel + air = Specific volume of fuel
and air mixture, ft3/lb
Vf = Flame propagation velocity, ft/s
Maximum burner length can be
calculated from Equation (2)

(2)

where:
Db = Burner diameter, ft
Vb = Burner exit velocity, ft/s
The diameter of the burner flame
should be evaluated at maximum
burner-flame length.

Burner spacing

Burner spacing is normally 2 to 5 ft, or

sufficient to provide reasonable burner-to-burner clearance, as based on
the maximum burner-flame diameter.
Burner-to-tube clearance must also
be such that minimum clearance is
based on a reasonable distance between burner outside-flame diameter
and outside diameter of the tubular
heating surfaces.
n
Editor's note: The content presented in this column was
adapted from the following articles: Cross, Alan, Fired-Heater
Burner Performance, Chem. Eng., April 2008, pp. 4447
and Al-Hajji, M.H., Burner Inspection and Maintenance,
Chem. Eng., November 2014, pp. 4045.
www.chemengonline.com

July 2016