Design project Task 3: Individual design of waste heat boiler

Department: Chemical & Environmental Engineering Name: Isaac Mohanadasan Student ID: Group 2 Date due: 12/3/2011 Date Submitted: 15/3/2011

Contents
Summary Introduction Design basis and objectives Design constraints Existing designs Operating conditions and distributions Material selection Design methodology and steps Process control Safety and maintenance Start up and shutdown Procedures Economics Equipment drawing Equipment specification Appendix A: References Appendix B: Design equations Appendix C: Excel calculations Appendix D: Mass and energy balances Appendix E: correlations

Introduction
Energy conservation and its optimum utilisation are of key importance to all plant design. The aim of all plant designers is to maximise the use of all available energy to reduce operating costs and increase potential revenue. Our design group objectives are simply to maximise profits by minimising incurred costs and manufacturing more sellable products. In our sulphuric acid manufacturing process, a sulphur burner aids in producing sulphur dioxide, a raw material required for sulphuric acid manufacture. The conversion of sulphur to sulphur dioxide is highly exothermic, and the process stream has to be cooled before it meets the necessary conditions required to enter the sulphur trioxide converter. The thermal energy released during this cooling process, known as waste heat, is proposed to be used to produce sellable steam thus generating profit. The production of steam takes place in a waste-heat boiler and may be used to generate electricity. I have been asked to design a waste-heat boiler which meets the design group and clients requirements. This report outlines the design objectives and constraints and provides an idea on the design consideration and methodology used for the waste heat boiler. The design procedure is broken up into four stages, which include; materials of construction, thermal design, mechanical design and an evaluation/optimisation of the design. Other design considerations have been included in the report such as safety, economic, control and maintenance.

Design objectives and constraints

The overall design objective of the sulphuric acid manufacturing plant is to maximise profits by producing more sellable products while reducing capital and operating costs. The waste heat boiler must abide by the overall design objective. To achieve the main objective, there must be an efficient transfer of thermal energy between the process flue gas and water within the waste-heat boiler. Effective heat transfer leads to the production of more steam which increases profits. In addition, the mechanical design of the process equipment must be simple as possible and easy to maintain. Low maintenance and simplicity reduce both capital and operating costs. Furthermore, the material of construction, and boiler itself, must be able to withstand its desired design life. The process should be relatively easy to control, which reduce operating costs. The design is constrained by several factors both externally and internally. External constraints are fixed, in the sense that the design must comply with them. Externally, the design must comply with Government control, economics & resources available. Governments have imposed emission standards which the plant and therefore the waste heat boiler must conform to. The economics and resources available heavily influence the design of any piece of equipment. Mechanical codes and standards are imposed to standardise equipment sizing, for ease of manufacturing. Physical and chemical laws aid in producing a reliable design which can withstand its design life. Internal constraints are less rigid and include the material of construction, choice of process and its conditions. As a designer, we must meet the requirements of the client whilst abiding by any constraints imposed.

Existing Designs
In our waste-heat boiler, a process gas stream is used to heat water to produce steam. There are several available technologies which can be used to utilize thermal energy from a process gas to produce steam. The two main waste-heat recovery boilers used in the sulphuric acid industry are water-tube boilers and fire-tube boilers. In a fire tube boiler, hot process gases pass through the tubes and boiler feed water in the shell side is converted into steam. Fire tube boilers are used for relatively small requirements of steam under medium to low pressures. On the other hand, in water-tube boilers, feed water flows through the tubes and enters the boiler drum. The circulated water is heated by the process gases and converted into steam at the vapour space in the drum. Water-tube boilers have the ability to provide higher capacities of steam under greater pressures. Our client and group objectives are to obtain the highest possible profits whilst keeping operating and capital costs as low as possible. When comparing the two available designs, it appears that both processes incur relatively similar capital costs. However, water-tube boilers provide a greater yield of steam at higher pressures than fire-tube boilers. This is because water-tube boilers allow for higher thermal transfer efficiencies. Its greater utilisation and more efficient use of thermal energy allows for a greater production of steam, which increases potential revenue. When the heating fluid is flue gas then a water-tube boiler is nearly always adopted since it is cheaper to keep the steam, which is at pressure, within small diameter tubes and contain the flue gas, which is normally slightly below atmospheric pressure inside a large refractory lined or water cooled enclosure. For these very reasons, the water tube design is of preference. Although water-tube boilers are feed quality sensitive, the benefits are greatly compensating. As a result, I intend to build on existing water-tube boiler designs, and incorporate the potential benefits into our design to achieve the specified design objectives.

Component Description
A water-tube boiler is composed of a shell and tube heat exchanger structure, where hot process gas flows across a shell and interacts with tubes in which water flows through. The water in the tubes becomes partially vaporises, and this liquidvapour mixture enters a steam drum. The steam separates from the liquid in the vapour space within the steam drum. The remaining water is recycled in the boiler.

Operating Conditions & distributions of equipment

For our process, process flue gas leaves the sulphur burner at 938.96oC at a mass flow rate of 220,740.25 kg/hr. The process gas consists of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur dioxide and may contain particulate matter from the burner. Hence, properties of air can be used to determine several design conditions. This mixture of gases is used to convert water into steam within the tubes of the boiler. It can be assumed that the quality of water is of a good standard with negligible oxygen content. The exit flue gas must be at a temperature of 417oC, under the appropriate conditions required for the sulphur trioxide converter. The

pressure across the shell drops as the processes gas flows through. There is a steady decrease in pressure across the tubes as the water flows through. Careful considerations need to be made for efficient operations. For instance, the operating temperature should not fall below the dew points of the gases, as this reduces heat transfer area which decreases the production of steam. Too high temperatures will lead to failures within the structure of the equipment as mechanical properties deteriorate. High temperatures may promote scaling and fouling all of which reduce thermal efficiencies. Pressures within the boiler affect the stresses applied to equipment and flow rates of fluids exiting the boiler. Distribution of heat can be considered to be roughly uniform as baffles ensure the process gas flows evenly across the tubes within the shell. Hence, temperature and pressure boundaries are defined.

Material Selection
The governing factor in material selection is the ability of said material to resist corrosion. In addition, mechanical & thermal properties, fabrications, availability and cost all need to be considered carefully for the correct selection of construction materials. The most economical material that satisfies both process and mechanical requirements should be selected. This will be the material that gives the lowest cost over the working life of the plant, allowing for maintenance and replacement. Its selection directly affects operating, capital and maintenance costs and as a result must be chosen with caution. Steels are the most common materials used for equipment design. This is because of its high durability, availability, thermal properties and costs. Carbon steel is the cheapest form available. It has a higher thermal conductivity and strength compared to other forms of steel. However, the process gas consists of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur dioxide entering the boiler at a temperature of 938.96oC. Carbon steels heated for prolonged periods at temperatures above 455C may be subject to carbon segregation, which is then transformed into graphite (Ref. E5, p. 23.5). When this occurs the structural strength of the steel is reduced. In addition, oxygen in the process gas causes the carbon steel surface to oxidise, which decrease thermal transfer efficiencies. Even though the process gas is noncorrosive, any leakage within the tube side will create an environment that produces sulphuric acid. Carbon steel has a low resistance to corrosion, which indicates that it is not ideal for our design. Studies have found that an increase of chromium content within steel allow for operating temperatures to be more flexible. According to literature, an alloy of 14% to 18% chromium extends the service to 850C[5]. Our process gas stream enters the boiler at 938.96oC. As a result, steel containing 26% chromium is selected as the material of construction, known as stainless steel grade 310. Amongst its flexibility and stability at high temperatures, there are many other benefits of its use. The high chromium content ensures resistance to oxidations and surface corrosion. According to literature, the material has a Good resistance to oxidation in intermittent service in air at temperatures up to 1040C and 1150C in continuous service.it has a Good resistance to thermal fatigue and cyclic heating. Widely used where sulphur dioxide gas is encountered at elevated temperature[6]s. In addition, its high youngs modulus and tensile strength insure the stability of the equipment design. It has a good resistance to scaling, which greatly improves the thermal efficiencies of

the boiler. Grade 310, combining excellent high temperature properties with good ductility and weldability, is designed for high temperature service. It resists oxidation in continuous service at temperatures up to 1150C[7]. Therefore, mechanically, the material can easily be welded for ease of fabrications. Steel 310 has a similar thermal expansion coefficient to carbon steel, and is relatively low which is beneficial. However, a compromise has to be made as its thermal conductivity is lower than that of carbon steel. Nevertheless, in comparison to other more suitable materials it has one the highest thermal conductivity. It is readily available and is relatively cheap. Hence, one can conclude that all the material requirements have been fulfilled. As a result, stainless steel 310 has been selected as the material of construction for both the shell and tube.

Design Methodology & Steps

The design selected is a 1-2 shell and tube heat exchanger in which the exit water/steam composition within the tubes is connected to a steam drum. The heat exchanger selected is an open floating head heat exchanger to allow for thermal expansions. The number of tube passes was set as 2 for a greater heat transfer coefficient. A shell and tube heat exchanger was selected due to its simplicity and versatility. It provides a large surface area within a small volume. The benefit of a floating head exchanger is that the tubes can be easily removed for cleaning. In addition, a clamp ring-type internal floating-head exchanger is selected. This split-flange design reduces the large clearances otherwise needed in other internal floatinghead exchangers.

Before any numbers can be calculated we must first understand the fundamental parameters that affect the design of the waste heat boiler and thus thermal transfer efficiencies. High flow rates, fluid velocities and viscosities all ensure the flow regimes within the boiler are turbulent. Turbulent flow improves thermal transfer efficiencies. However, higher pressure drop occur. Higher pressure drops incur additional costs of operating as the pumps have to work harder. In addition, higher velocities increase the rate of erosion of the metal surface. A benefit is that particles from the burner, such as ash, cannot settle as easily. As a result phenomenon such as fouling and scaling are reduced. Water has a great chance of causing fouling the tube surface; hence its velocity is kept high. Common tube velocities are between the range of 1-3 m/s. The velocities form the basis of the design as most of the critical parameters are in one way or another related to it. To begin the design process, an estimate of the overall heat transfer coefficient needs to be made. For the purpose of my design, I have used an initial value of 100w/m.k. This estimation helps us determine the internal configuration of the boiler. The next part of the design involves the selection of the tube diameter and length. In order to select the optimum tube dimensions, tube lengths were varied at fixed diameters until a fluid velocity of 1 was found. The obtained values are shown below:

ID (mm) L(m) 10 15 20 25 30

V (m/s) 9 15 21 27 33 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.02

Pressure drop (Pa) 3888054.55 4366357.75 4536846.62 4613501.62 4653191.98

number of tubes 1897.175 878.48 496.7388 319.73 223.12

As you can see from the table above, as the diameter increases, the number of tubes required decreases. On the other hand, the lengths of the tubes increase with diameter in order to maintain the same fluid velocity. In addition, pressure drop also increases with diameter. Hence, a compromise needs to be made between the properties above to obtain an optimum value. Larger tubes will generally result in a lower cost exchanger[9], as it reduces shell diameter. However, it increases pump requirements. As a result, a tube internal diameter of 25mm (1inch) is selected with a length of 27m based on optimum selection. Once the tube dimensions are determined, we are then able to determine other internal components. Tube arrangement was selected as triangular as it is the best arrangement for maximum heat transfer. It does however; increase the pressure drop on the shell side. As a rule of thumb, the tube pitch is 1.25 time the outer diameter of the tubes. Hence the outer diameters of the tubes are computed as low as possible to ensure the size of the shell is at its optimum. All thicknesses in the design include a 2mm corrosion allowance. Baffles play an important role in the heat transfer process as they direct the process gas flow path. The also provide support for the tubes within the shell. Hence, the spacing of the baffles along the length is of importance. According to literature, the optimum spacing is 1/5th of the shell diameter with a baffle cut of 25%. These values have been used in the calculations. The next part of the design is the re-evaluation of the estimated overall thermal coefficient. Both the kern and bell methods have been compiled and used for the calculations. This is because the kern method is inaccurate for calculating the shell-side heat transfer coefficient and shell-side pressure drop[8]. This is because the method does not take into consideration bypass and leakage factors. These methods are based on experimental work with standard tolerances. They give reasonable results in most cases and are therefore applied here. A preliminary estimation was made in order to obtain geometrical data of the equipment to apply these method. Based on the estimated thermal conductivity, a new calculated thermal conductivity is derived from the selected methods. These methods consider the tube side and shell side thermal coefficients independently and equate them together to obtain the overall thermal coefficient. The estimated value is then re-evaluated until the estimate equals the value obtained by the kern method. Geometry of the equipment is changed for optimum sizing and to increase surface area of the tubes, if it is required. Details of the calculations have been included in the appendix. The overall thermal coefficient calculated was 196.21w/m.k. The pressure drop on the tube side was computed as 802441.3 pa. The pressure drop on the shell side was found to be 25166081 pa which all seems reasonable. Since the bell method is more accurate for

determining thermal coefficients, its overall thermal coefficient is used for the design. The steam drum sits on the top of the heat exchanger, and is a relatively simple design. Details of the calculations used are shown in the appendix.

Mechanical design
The sizing of the equipment was done in accordance with British codes and standards which include the following: BS 3274 (1960): Tubular Heat Exchangers for General Purposes. BS 3606 (1978): Specification for Shell Tubes in Heat Exchangers. BS 5500 (1985): Unfired Fusion Welded Pressure Vessels.

Maintenance
If water quality is not good, it may cause the tubes to degrade gradually. This will reduce the design life of the equipment. As a result, the water must be Deaerated in order to reduce the oxygen content within the water. Deposition, such as ash, from the gas stream coming from the burner needs to be handled as it will reduce heat transfer areas thus reducing thermal transfer efficiencies. It is proposed that a boiler blow down system is used to remove any particulate matter and condensate from the shell side. The floating head design allows the tubes to be removed for cleaning. Erosion is not considered as the material of construction is erosion resistant and fluid velocities are within the allowable range..

Start up and shut down procedures

The boiler must initially be preheated so that the material properties within the boiler are stable. The drum and water feed valves have to be fully open initially so that the tubes are not empty. The heating of empty tubes may be hazardous. The process gas valve is the last valve that should be opened. The liquid hold-up volume within the steam drum acts as a time constraint. To shut down the boiler, the process gas valve must be closed first, to avoid heating of empty tubes. Next, the feed water, and finally the steam drum valve must be closed in that order.

Safety considerations
Several factors need to be considered for a successful and safe design. Firstly all parameters must be controlled with the appropriate monitoring and control mechanisms. If the process gas flow rate was higher than its design value, then there would be a pressure build-up within the boiler system. More steam is produced which increase the pressure demands of the steam drum. This could lead to material failure if not properly controlled. In addition, higher water flow rates will reduce the temperature of the process gas making its conditions undesirable for the converter. Hence water flow rates need to be monitored carefully. Any leakages along the tube side could potentially be catastrophic as acid will be produced from the combination of process gas and water. It is proposed that pigs be used to monitor the inner surface of the tubes. Pigs are devices that flow through pipes and monitor their integrity. However, a pig catcher needs to be installed, adding to capital costs. In the event of a tube leakage, the process gas must be by-passed.

Process control
According to literature, the most effective type of control is a PID controller. Hence, this control has been used in the design to regulate parameters. What it does is basically restores any deviated variable back to its set point. It has been employed to control the flow rates of the water and process gas. Flow rates directly affect other parameters such as temperature and pressures. The exit process gas must be at a temperature suitable for the converter. Hence temperature control has been used in the design by manipulating flow rates. The following diagram shows the control mechanisms of the design:

Where the exit steam enters a steam drum. Costing Costing was determined using plant design equations as follows.
[ ] * + 2]

Cost of the equipment was found to be

References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Coulson-Richardson-s-Chemical-Engineering-Vol-6 design Equitment description of componets & design considerations Types control and maitainance evaluation components page 2 Design calculation and samples p198 Design calculation and samples p198 http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=966 http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=966

8. http://www.engr.iupui.edu/me/courses/shellandtube
9. Coulson-Richardson-s-Chemical-Engineering-Vol-6 design

Appendix: Calculations
For the purpose of these calculations, I have assumed the flowing Water is vaporises within the tubes The process gas has the same properties as that of air

The energy evolved from the process gas:

Where 1 represents properties of the process gas and 2 is that of the water

From the above equation, the mass of the water can be calculated Calculation of mean temperature difference For counter current flow, log mean temperature difference is

The log mean temperature difference is corrected by the correlations given in appendix B Heat transfer area

Where the overall heat transfers coefficient is estimated a 100w/m.k for determination of equitment dimensions. Based on trial and error method for determining the most effective dimensions of the tubes, a tube with an internal diameter of an inch and a length of 27 was selected Number of tubes:

Tube cross sectional area = Volumetric flow rates:

Tube side velocity Tube side velocity ( The tube bundle Diameter: ( Shell clearance: )

Area of shell:

tube pitch =1.25 baffle spacing =

From the area of the shell we can then calculate the the velocity as follows;

Tube side heat transfer coefficient

(kf/di) Shell side heat transfer coefficient (kern method)

Shell side heat transfer coefficient (Bell method)

hs = hoc Fn Fw Fb FL where hs heat transfer coefficient calculated for cross-flow over an ideal tube bank, no leakage or bypassing. Fn = correction factor to allow for the effect of the number of vertical tube rows, Fw = window effect correction factor Fb = bypass stream correction factor, FL = leakage correction factor.

Overall heat transfer coefficient:

Tube side pressure drop: [ Shell side pressure drop: (Kerns method), ( )( Shell side pressure drop: (bell method) ) ( ) ( )( ) ]

Steam drum design

Settling velocity:

Volumetric flow rates = Lv/Dv ratio was at 4 based on the outlet steam pressure Vapour velocity:

Vapour residence time: =

Assuming real time is the same as actual time, we can calculate the diameter of the vessel and hence the length.

Excel calculations
Mechanical design of waste heat boiler Shell side Variables Flue gas inlet pressure Flue gas inlet temperature Shell thickness Pressure Dsi Stress factor Joint factor 0.011 N/mm2 616.0714269 mm 515 na 0.8 na with corrosion

Thickness Tube side Pressure Ds Stress factor Joint factor

0.008224364 mm

2.008224 mm

0.385 N/mm2 25 mm 515 na 0.8 na with corrosion

tube thickness Steam drum Pressure Ds Stress factor Joint factor

0.01167537

2.011675 mm

0.385 N/mm2 1934.280457 mm 0.515 na 0.8 na with corrosion

Shell thickness

615.9619323

617.9619 mm

Physical and chemical data Process gas Propertise inlet mean outlet units

temperature cp k density viscosity

938 1.1427 0.068 0.34 0.000042

677.5 1.10885 0.06018 0.425 0.00003766

417 c 1.075 kj/kgmol.k 0.05236 w/m.c 0.51 kg/m3 0.00003332 pa.s

water propertise Propertise temperature cp k density viscosity energy calculations Mass flow rate of gas heat evolved Mass of water 61.34451514 Kg/s 35439.39198 kj/s 40.83633712 kg/s inlet 25 4.181322 0.607 997.13 0.00089 mean 133.5 3.999261 0.328175 507.315 0.0004536 outlet units 242 c 3.8172 kj/kgmol.k 0.04935 w/m.c 17.5 kg/m3 0.0000172 pa.s

Overall heat transfer coefficient estimate U 196 w/m2C

Mean temperature difference log Mean temperature Heat transfer area A 401.585 m2 Number of tubes And tube sizes tube OD Tube ID Length Number of tubes Tube cross area area per pass 29.02335 mm 25 mm 27 m 163.128228 0.000490859 m2 0.04003651 m2 i 450.2489347 C

Tube side velocity Volumetric flow tube side velocity

0.080495032 m3/s 2.010540677 m/s

Bundle and shell diameter Nt 163.1282 db K Shell ID 548.0714 mm 0.249 616.0714 mm Diameter of tube bundle

Area of shell tube pitch baffle spacing Ds do Area of shell Mass flow rate gas Mass flowrate/s Gs Vs

36.27918843 123.2142854 616.0714269 29.02335074 0.01518176 220840.2545 61.34451514 4040.672139 9507.463856

mm mm mm mm m2 Kg/hr

input

m/s

Tube side heat coifficient Kern Re 65262.71 Pr di L/di Jh hi 0.005528 25 1080 0.0035 Input 539.4351 w/m2c

Shell side heat transfer coificient Re equialent diameter Pr Jh h0 Overall heat rransfer coificient thermal conductivity of steel 310 1/u fi fo U

2211107.101 20.60803019 mm 0.000693906 0.007 input 4.099707088 w/m2c

18.7 w/mC 0.246189459 0.0002 Input 0.0001 4.061912342

-0.97928

pressure drop tube side Number of passes Jf pressure drop Pressure drop shell side Jf pressure drop

2 0.045 input 802441.3121 pa

0.025 input 25166080.57 pa

steam drum settling velocity without pad vapor vol flow rate selected Lv/Dv ratio Lv DV cross sectional area vapour velocity vapour res time actual res time Dv Liquid hold up liq cross sec length hold up vol hold up time 0.523733138 m/s 0.078559971 m/s 3.505400865 m3/s 4 Lv = 0.5Dv

0.393 8.919595077 1.677852349 0.448450851 1.934280457 0.000648196 1.469217069 7.73712183 11.36751145 17537.15617

Dv^2 Dv^-2 Dv Dv^3 m m3/s m2 2 m3/s s

Bells method calculations crossflow area 2.634740615 shell side mass velocity 23.28294284 equivalent diameter 20.60803019 Mean temp 677.5 density 0.425 Kf 0.06018 Re 618240.649 Pr 0.000693906 Baffle cut 0.25 Jh 0.002 ho 327.5160302

m2 Kg/sm2 mm C kg/m3 w/mk

input

CORRECTION FACTOR Tube row Vertical tube pitch 31.56289393 mm Baffle height 154.0178567 mm height between baf 308.0357135 number of res cross 9.75942555 Fn 1 find CORRECTION FACTOR window height of baffle cord ra Tubes in one window Tubes in cross flow Rw Fw CORRECTION FACTOR bypass Ab 0.008378571 ratio 0.003180037 Fb 1 1 Hs 353.7173126

-42.75446418 0.14 22.83795192 117.4523241 0.28 1.08

Overall heat transfer coieffiecent 1/U U 0.00509671 196.2050128

0.001045983

Pipe sizing Designed so fluid velocity is between 1-2 m/s Pressure number of drop tubes 3888054.55 1897.175 4366357.75 878.48 4536846.62 496.7388 4613501.62 319.73 4653191.98 223.12

ID (mm) L(m) 10 15 20 25 30

V 9 15 21 27 33 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.02

tubes selected are of 1 inch diamter and a length of 21

Mass balance

Energy balance