Introduction
High temperature furnaces are major sources of carbon and other emissions from industrial processes. Consequently as a result of the widely recognised need to reduce these emissions it is increasingly important to enhance the thermal efficiency of furnaces by improving their design and operation. In addition the furnace designer and user must often try to satisfy the sometimes conflicting requirements of reduced overall operating cost, increased production and improved product quality. Consequently the main aim of the course is to provide greater understanding of the principles and practices associated with efficient design and optimum operation of fuel-fired industrial furnaces. Particular emphasis will be placed on enabling participants to improve the thermal efficiency of these systems.

The detailed course content has evolved as a result of discussions and feedback from industrial advisers and participants on previous presentations. The course will be largely presented through lectures and presentations and comprehensive course notes will be provided. However delegates will be strongly encouraged to take part in discussions during the sessions to ensure that they obtain maximum benefit.

Course Content

Fuels and Combustion
Properties of gaseous and liquid fuels. Basics of combustion-reactants and combustion products, effect of excess air. Combustion and burner aerodynamics. Gas firing, design and operation of gas burners. Oil firing, atomisation, design and operation of oil burners.

Heat Transfer in Furnaces
Emissivity and radiation properties of flames and combustion products. Thermal radiation from gas and oil flames. Convective heat transfer in combustion systems. Conduction in furnaces, heat losses through furnace walls, load temperature uniformity.

Efficient Operation of Furnaces
Thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption. Effects of furnace operation on thermal efficiency. Instrumentation and control of furnaces, air/fuel ratio control, control of furnace pressure and temperature.
Recovery of waste heat from flue gases, load preheating. Combustion air preheating, high temperature heat exchangers, recuperative and regenerative burners.
Reduction of wall and structural losses, low thermal mass refractories. High emissivity coatings
Effects of oxygen addition in combustion processes.

Control of Furnace Emissions
Pollutant formation, smoke, SOx, NOx. Techniques for NOx reduction in high temperature furnaces, "flameless" combustion.

Thermal Design of Furnaces
Mathematical models as an aid to furnace design and operation, application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and zone models, use of simple zone models for prediction of furnace performance. Furnace design case study.
Small-scale experimental modelling techniques and applications.

Who Should Attend?

This course will be of value to staff who are responsible for the efficient management and operation of industrial furnaces as well as for the specification, design and development of this type of plant. It will also benefit personnel involved with technical marketing of combustion equipment and those working in associated fields such as fuel technology and energy management. Research staff working in relevant areas such as combustion and heat transfer may also find the course of value since it provides an overall grounding in industrial furnace technology.

Timing

The course will run from 9 am until approximately 5 pm each day.

Presenters

The course will be presented by Professor John Ward of the University of Glamorgan, Dr Robert Tucker of Zerontec and Jeff Rhine of Rhinenergy who all have many years experience of working in the fields of combustion and furnace technology.