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Simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow of hot oil in radiation section of an industrial furnace considering coke deposition

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Abstract

In this study, a steady three-dimensional simulation of the coil containing hot oil in the radiation section of the vertical cylindrical furnace of an industrial unit was investigated with and without considering oil decomposition and coke formation. Flow velocity and pressure, fluid outlet temperature, and coil wall temperature at different points of the coil were calculated using computational fluid dynamics. For model validation, the values of the simulated coil wall temperature at the end of the flow path and also the outlet fluid temperature from the coil were compared with the industrial data. For the simulation case of without deposition, the wall and outflow temperature showed 211.19% and 13.47% deviation, respectively. In order to improve the results, the simulation was repeated considering coke layer on the coil. The coke thicknesses in different passes of the coil were estimated using a trial-and-error procedure. The results indicated that the deviations for the wall temperature and the fluid temperature reduce to 14.25% and 12.48%, respectively. Results showed that the deposited coke layer reduced the temperature of the heat transfer fluid and enhanced the coil wall temperature. Then, the exact analyses of the fluid temperature, velocity, and pressure and also the wall temperature in different points of a coil’s bend were performed for the two cases of without deposition and with deposition. The minimum and maximum velocities were observed at the entrance to and exit from a bend, respectively.

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Abbreviations

A o :

Outer coil surface (m2)

C 1 :

Realizable \(k - \varepsilon\) model constant

C 2 :

Realizable \(k - \varepsilon\) model constant

C 1 ɛ :

Realizable \(k - \varepsilon\) model constant

C 3 ɛ :

Realizable \(k - \varepsilon\) model constant

C μ :

Realizable \(k - \varepsilon\) model constant

c p :

Heat capacity (J kg−1 K−1)

De:

Dean number

d :

Diameter, m

E :

Total energy per unit mass (J kg−1)

F :

External body forces (N)

f :

Friction factor

G b :

Generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to buoyancy (J m−3 s−1)

G k :

Generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to the mean velocity gradients (J m−3 s−1)

G :

Gravitational acceleration (m s−2)

h n :

Enthalpy of species n per unit mass (J kg−1)

h oil :

Oil heat transfer coefficient in clean coil (W m−2 K−1)

\(h_{\text{oil}_\text C}\) :

Oil heat transfer coefficient in coked coil (W m−2 K−1)

J n :

Diffusion flux of species n (kg m−2 s−1)

K :

Local head loss coefficient

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy (m2 s−2)

k th :

Thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

k th c:

Coke thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

k th w :

Wall thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1)

l :

Length (m)

m :

Mass (kg)

Nu:

Nusselt number

p :

Pressure (Pa)

Pr:

Prandtl number

Q :

Total heat rate (W)

q :

Heat flux (Wm−2)

Re:

Reynolds number

r :

Radius (m)

r C :

External radius of the coke layer (m)

r i :

Internal radius of the coke layer (m)

r o :

External radius of the coil wall (m)

r 1 :

Internal radius of the coil wall (m)

S :

Inverse of the mean shear timescale (s−1)

S ij :

Mean strain rate tensor

S h :

Source term in the energy equation (J m−3 s−1)

S k :

Source term in the turbulence kinetic energy equation (J m−3 s−2)

S m :

Mass of dispersed phases added to continuous phase (kg)

S ɛ :

Source term in the dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy equation (J m−3 s−2)

T :

Temperature (K)

T in :

Inlet oil temperature (K)

T oil :

Oil temperature in clean coil (K)

T oil C :

Oil temperature in deposited coil (K)

T out :

Outlet oil temperature (K)

T 1 :

External wall temperature of clean coil (K)

T 1C :

External wall temperature of coked coil (K)

T 2 :

Internal wall temperature of clean coil (K)

T 2C :

External wall temperature of coke layer (K)

T 3C :

Internal wall temperature of coke layer (K)

t :

Time (s)

u :

Fluid velocity perpendicular to the gravitational vector (m s−1)

u i , u j :

Velocity component in the ith or jth direction (m s−1)

V :

Mean velocity (m s−1)

v :

Fluid velocity parallel to the gravitational vector (m s−1)

v :

Velocity vector (m s−1)

x i , x j :

Coordinate in the ith or jth direction (m)

Y m :

Contribution of the fluctuating dilatation in compressible turbulence

z :

Vertical height (m

γ :

Specific mass (kg s−2 m−2)

ε :

Dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (m2 s−3)

η :

Turbulence to mean shear timescale ratio

μ :

Molecular viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

μ t :

Turbulent viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

ρ :

Density (kg m−3)

σ k :

Turbulent Prandtl number in realizable \(k - \varepsilon\) model

σ ε :

Turbulent Prandtl number in realizable \(k - \varepsilon\) model

τ :

Stress tensor

i :

Direction i

j :

Direction j

n :

Species n

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Mahshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mahshahr, Iran

    Elham Amini, S. M. Peyghambarzadeh & S. H. Hashemabadi

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

    Soroush Zarrinabadi

  3. CFD Research Laboratory, School of Chemical, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran, 16846, Iran

    S. H. Hashemabadi

Authors
  1. Elham Amini
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Correspondence to S. M. Peyghambarzadeh.

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Amini, E., Peyghambarzadeh, S.M., Zarrinabadi, S. et al. Simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow of hot oil in radiation section of an industrial furnace considering coke deposition. J Therm Anal Calorim 147, 4821–4835 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-021-10847-7

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