Thirty-Day Field Test of a Refinery Process Heater Equipped with Low-NOX Burners


 United States
 Environmental Protection
 Agency
Industrial Environmental Research
Laboratory
Research Triangle Park NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA-600/S7-83-010   Apr. 1983
Project Summary
Thirty-Day  Field  Test  of  a
 Refinery  Process  Heater
 Equipped  with  Low-NOx Burners
W. A. Carter and R. J. Tidona
  This summarizes a continuous-mon-
itortestto evaluate the long-term emis-
sions from a gas-fired petroleum heater
equipped with low-NOx burners. The
objective of the test was to provide
gaseous emissions data from a 62.9
m3/h (9,500 bbl/d) natural draft pro-
cess heater.  The gaseous emissions
measured were NO, CO, O2, and COj-
The data were analyzed to determine
the statistical distribution and statis-
tical parameters. The data were found
to be log-normally distributed, and the
mean value was 44 ng/J (0.10 lb/106
Btu) with a geometric dispersion of
1.07.
  This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Industrial Environmental Re-
search Laboratory, Research Triangle
Park, NC. to announce key findings of
the research project that is fully doc-
umented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).

Objective and Scope
  The objective of this field test was to
measure gaseous emissions from a gas-
fired petroleum  process heater for 30
days.  In addition, heater operation was
monitored and operational data were re-
corded.
  The program scope calls for 30-day field
tests to be conducted on process heaters
equipped  with low-NOx burners firing
gaseous fuel, and No. 2 and No. 6 fuel oils.
The subject of this report is the long-term
test of a gas-fired process heater equipped
with low-NOx  burners.
  The final report documents test equip-
ment, describes the heater, summarizes
the data recorded, and presents an analysis
of the emissions data. Included as appen-
dices in the final report are continuous
monitor certification data and 15-minute
average emission data.

Results
  The process heater at which this field
test was conducted was identical to one
which had been previously tested by KVB
under a task to conduct baseline tests of
process heaters equipped with low-NOx
burners.  It was not possible to conduct
the 30-day test on the heater tested pre-
viously because it was out of service to
undergo a major rework. The period of this
30-day test was July 31 through Septem-
ber 20, 1981.
  The process heater was a natural draft,
natural-gas-fired heater equipped  with
three John Zink LNC-16 low-NOx burners.
Its capacity was 62.9 m3/h (9500 bbl/d)
or 5.3 MWth (18 x 106 Btu) of heat input
  The procedure and results of the 30-day
test are discussed in detail in  the final
report. A summary of the 24-hour average
gaseous emissions is presented in Table
1, compiled from  15-minute averages
recorded on an automatic data logger. A
statistical analysis of the data was per-
formed to determine the distribution of the
data It was determined that the data are
best represented by a log-normal distribu-
tion. Based on this analysis, the mean NO
value was 44 ng/J (0.10 lb/106 Btu) with
a geometric dispersion of 1.07.

Conclusions
  Based on analyses of the data gathered
during this extended duration test, the
following can be concluded:

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1. Retrofitting a process heater with
low-NOx burners can be an effective
NOx control technology. The heater
maintained the low-NOx mode for
more than 30 days with a mean NO
value of 44 ng/J (0.10 lb/106 Btu)
with heater loads of 42.47 - 57.22
m3/h (641 1 - 8638 bbl/d). From
previous field tests ( Ref. 1 ) the average
NOx emissions from various types of
natural draft process heaters with
standard burners are 61 ng/J (0.1 4
lb/1 06 Btu).

2. Heater operation with the low-NOx
burners presented no reliability or
functional problems during the 30-
day test
3. The continuous monitor system using
an extractive sample system provided
accurate reliable data for the entire
30-day test The monitor system
provided data 92 percent of the time
the heater was on the line.

References
1. Tidona, R.J. et al., "Emissions From
Refinery Process Heaters Equipped
with Low-N0x Burners," EPA-600/
7-81-1 69 (NTISNaPB 82-231 838),
October 1981.







Table 1.


Date
7/31/81
8/ 1/81
8/ 2/81
8/ 3/81
8/ 4/81
8/ 5/81
8/ 6/81
8/ 7/81
8/ 8/81
8/21/81
8/22/81
8/23/81
8/24/8 1
8/25/81
8/26/81
8/27/81
8/28/81
8/29/81
8/30/81
8/31/81
9/ 1/81
9/ 2/81
9/ 3/81
9/10/81
9/11/81
9/12/81
9/14/81
9/15/81
9/16/81
9/17/81
9/18/81
9/19/81
9/20/81
Summary of Daily Average Gaseous Emissions - Process Heater
Petroleum Process Heater, Low NOx Burners
24 Hour Data
Drv Stack Gas Concentration

Load
bbl/day
7920.0
7920.0
7920.0
7920.0
7755.0
8580.0
8580.0
8580.0
8580.0
6550.0
6550.0
6700.0
7150.0
7150.0
6411.4
6524.8
7531.5
8638.2
8290.0
8290.0
8425.5
8500.0
7546.8
6990.5
7000.0
7000.0
7000.0
7000.0
7000.0
6892.3
6849.5
6935.3
7000.0
02
VOL%
MEAS
3.1
3.8
4.0
4.7
3.5
3.8
4.0
3.3
4.2
10.6
7.8
6.3
7.1
7.1
6.6
6.7
6.9
5.4
4.2
4.5
5.2
4.7
5.3
5.8
7.5
8.5
7.4
6.2
5.8
6.3
6.9
6.7
6.4
CO2
VOL%
MEAS
10.2
9.5
9.3
9.1
9.5
9.4
9.2
10.0
9.3
5.1
7.1
7.9
7.5
8.0
8.1
8.1
7.9
8.9
9.6
9.3
8.7
9.6
10.4
9.0
7.9
7.3
7.9
8.8
9.0
8.8
7.7
8.6
8.7
CO
PPMV
MEAS
11
7
8
7
7
8
6
6
5
48
6
6
8
11
5
5
7
6
22
13
7
49
6
18
21
30
12
15
16
15
12
16
17
NO
PPMV
MEAS
79
80
79
77
80
81
80
79
78
41
60
68
69
69
71
69
68
71
72
72
69
84
78
68
62
51
64
69
74
73
68
71
69
CO
PPMV
3%02
11
7
8
7
7
8
6
6
5
83
8
7
10
14
6
6
8
6
23
14
7
53
6
21
28
43
15
18
19
18
15
20
20
NO
PPMV
3%02
79
83
83
85
82
84
84
80
83
71
82
83
89
89
88
86
87
82
77
78
78
92
89
80
82
73
84
84
87
89
87
89
85

CO
ng/J
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
27
2
2
3
4
2
2
2
2
7
4
2
17
2
7
9
14
5
6
6
6
5
6
6

NO
ng/J
43
45
45
46
44
46
45
43
45
38
44
45
48
48
48
47
47
44
41
42
42
50
48
43
44
39
46
45
47
48
47
48
46
W. A. Carter and R. J. Tidona are with KVB, Inc.. Irvine, CA 92714.
Robert E. Hall is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Thirty-Day Field Test of a Refinery Process Heater
  Equipped with Low-NO* Burners," (Order No. PB 83-168 633; Cost: $14.50,
  subject to change) will be available only from:
       National Technical Information Service
       5285 Port Royal Road
       Springfield, VA 22161
       Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
       Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory
       U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
       Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
          Government Printing Office:  1983-659-017/7055

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