Numerical Modeling of a Double Fired Process Heater With Different Internal Wall Configurations

A double fired process heater with combination oil/gas burners has been modeled with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The process heater was simulated with two configurations: 1) with internal walls, and 2) without internal walls. The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of the internal walls on flame shape and process tube heat flux. As a result of removing the internal wall, furnace currents are allowed to have a large influence on the flame patterns and the flames lean toward the tubes. It is also shown that higher localized heat fluxes occur on the process tubes with the walls removed. This study demonstrates that the primary function of the internal walls is to isolate cells within the furnace which create satisfactory process tube heat fluxes.