Training Program on

Petroleum Refining
Technology
Session 4: Thermal Design
of Reboilers
Faculty: R. Mukherjee
Heat Transfer
Consultant
New Delhi

Topics
Pool boiling
Parameters affecting boiling
Types of reboilers: features,
advantages and disadvantages

Thermal Design of Reb

Boiling

Extremely complex heat transfer

phenomenon
Most researched subject in heat transfer.
Types of boiling
* Pool (kettle and internal)
* Flow (thermosyphon)
* No-boiling (forced flow)
Thermal Design of Reb

Pool boiling curve

Thermal Design of Reb

Parameters affecting pool boiling

Temperature difference
Surface effects
Mixture effects

Thermal Design of Reb

Temperature difference
T: driving force, even affects boiling
HTC.
The higher the T, the greater the HTC.
Consider the following example:

Thermal Design of Reb

Case study
Shellside

Tubeside

1. Fluid

Propane

Steam

2. Temp. in/out, oC

72.8

175/126.4

3. Operating pressure,
kg/cm2 abs.

25.3

2.5

4. All. pr. drop, kg/cm2

Negl.

0.1

5. Fouling resistance, h
m2oC/kcal

0.0002

0.0001

6. Heat duty, kcal/h

177,600
Thermal Design of Reb

Construction parameters
1. Type of reboiler

Internal, U-tube

2. Port diameter, mm

337

3. No. of tubes x no. of tube passes

40 Us x 2

4. Tube OD x BWG x straight length, mm

20 x 2 x 450 (eff. st.)

5. Heat transfer area, m2

2.57

6. Pr. drop, kg/cm2 shellside/tubeside

Nil/negl.

7. HTC, kcal/h m2oC shell/tube/overall

12,435/6618/763

8. MTD, oC

53.6

Thermal Design of Reb

Effect of variation of delta-T

on boiling HTC
Steam pressure, kg/cm2 abs.
1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Boiling HTC, 10,977

kcal/h m2oC

12,806

14,208

15,356

MTD, oC

37.6

46.5

53.6

59.7

Heat duty,
kcal/h

146,200

185,900 218,500

246,600

Thermal Design of Reb

Surface effects

Nucleate boiling is a surface

phenomenon.
A certain degree of superheat essential.
Rough surfaces yield a higher heat
transfer coefficient.

Thermal Design of Reb

Vapor generation and boiling sites

Thermal Design of Reb

High flux tubes

High flux tubes are sintered tubes which

incorporate stable re-entrant sites.
Boiling HTC several-fold higher.
With high flux tubes, lower HT area for
same T or lower T for same HT area.
Q = U.A.T

Thermal Design of Reb

High flux vs bare tubes

Thermal Design of Reb

Mixture effects

Pure components: only phase change

(boiling)
Mixtures: additional liquid sensible heating
-> lower HTC (worse for pool boiling)
Greater no. of components -> higher
boiling range -> lower HTC

Thermal Design of Reb

Case study
Shellside

Tubeside

1. Fluid circulated

Hydrocarbon

Steam

2. Temp. in/out, oC

135.5/179.5 (bubble
pt. = 135.5 C)

200/200

3. Boiling range, oC

89.5

4. Operating pr, kg/cm2 abs.

26.0

16.0

5. All. pr. drop, kg/cm2

Negl.

0.1

6. Fouling resistance, h m2 oC/kcal

0.0002

0.0001

7. Heat duty, kcal/h

3,840,000

Thermal Design of Reb

Construction parameters
1.Type of reboiler

BKU (kettle)

2. Port/shell ID, mm

950/1350

3. No. of tubes x no. of tube passes

450 Us x 2

4. Tube OD x BWG x st. length, mm

x 14 x 5000

5. Connections, shellside/tubeside, mm In 300 out 2 x 250/in 200 out

80
6. Effective heat transfer area, m2

285

7. Pr. drop, kg/cm2 shellside/tubeside

Nil/negl.

8. HTC shell/tube/overall, kcal/h m2 C

1338/10,248/813.5

9. Mixture correction factor

0.3

10. MTD, oC

20.5

Thermal Design of Reb

Mixture correction factor

Boiling range, oC

Mixture correction factor

Boiling HTC, kcal/h m2oC

89.5

0.3

1338

70

0.34

1447

50

0.4

1606

40

0.45

1717

30

0.5

1862

25

0.53

1954

20

0.58

2066

15

0.63

2205

10

0.7

2388

0.8

2651

0.89

2893

1.0

3194

Thermal Design of Reb

Variation in boiling HTC with

boiling range

Thermal Design of Reb

Flow boiling

Many principles of
pool apply here as
well.
Flow restricted to a
channel:
hydrodynamic
effects are much
more pronounced.

Two distinct groups of

flow regimes: (a) liquid at
wall (wet) as in bubble,
slug, churn and annular
and (b) vapor at wall
(dry) as in mist and film.
Evidently, the designer
tries to operate in a wet
regime.
Thermal Design of Reb

Types of reboilers
Kettle and internal
Horizontal thermosyphon
Vertical thermosyphon
Forced flow

Thermal Design of Reb

Kettle Reboilers

Thermal Design of Reb

Kettle Reboilers: Principal

Features
Can fully vaporise column bottoms:
additional stage for distillation
Enlarged shell provides disengagement
space.

Thermal Design of Reb

Kettle Reboilers: Advantages

Additional distillation stage

Pool boiling, hence insensitive to
hydrodynamics. Operation much better (a)
fluctuations (b) low pressure (c) high pressure
(near critical)
No external two-phase piping, hence higher
reliability

Thermal Design of Reb

Kettle Reboilers: Disadvantages

Relatively costly. AKT even more.

MTD determination difficult and uncertain, hence
conservative approach often adopted. The higher the
temperature range, the greater the penalty.
200 200
180 158
---------20
42
Fouling tendency high as little turbulence. Should not be
used for dirty services.
Thermal Design of Reb

Horizontal Thermosyphon Reboilers

Thermal Design of Reb

Horizontal Thermosyphon Reboilers:

Principal features

Usually G or H to
minimise pr. drop,
sometimes E or J for
vaporising wide-boiling
mixtures
Longitudinal baffle
prevents shortcircuiting, minimises
phase separation and
promotes mixing of light
and heavy components

Vaporisation 20-30%,max.
50%: penalties of low HTC,
excessive fouling and
reduction in MTD

Thermal Design of Reb

Horizontal Thermosyphon Reboilers:

Advantages

High circulation
rates, high
convective heat
transfer
component, high
boiling HTC

Lower fouling
potential compared
to kettles. Can be
used for dirty boiling
streams.
Less sensitive than
VTRs. Kettles least.
Thermal Design of Reb

Horizontal Thermosyphon Reboilers:

Disadvantages

Higher cost than VTRs. Usually floatinghead. Multiple nozzles and extra piping.
Fouling on shellside, more difficult to clean
than VTRs.
Two-phase flow in exit piping requires careful
analysis and design.

Thermal Design of Reb

Vertical Thermosyphon Reboilers

Recirculation type

Once-through type
Thermal Design of Reb

Vertical Thermosyphon
Reboilers: Principal features

Boiling inside tubes,

single tube pass,
fixed tubesheet.
Boiling inside tubes
well researched.

As fixed tubesheet,
heating medium has to
be clean.
Reboiler-to-column
piping critical. Unduly
small outlet piping
biggest single cause of
mal-operation.
Thermal Design of Reb

VTRs: Flow regimes

Thermal Design of Reb

Vertical Thermosyphon Reboilers:

Advantages

Least cost. Fixed tubesheet.

Fouling less pronounced due to high
circulation and shear stress. Easier to
clean on tubeside.
Highest MTD pure countercurrent

Thermal Design of Reb

Forced flow reboilers

Thermal Design of Reb