(133b) Emisshield: Application to Pyrolysis Furnaces

For more than twenty years, furnace operators have sought to save energy and improve refractory life through the application of emissivity ceramic hot face coatings of various emissivity values and structures. By raising the emissivity of the hot face, radiant heat transfer is increased and the temperature of the refractory substrate should be reduced. The fundamental physics and material sciences are valid, however initial energy saving benefits provided from previous coatings have been short lived, especially at temperatures above 2,000° F. This lack of life was due to emissivity agent degradation, loss of adhesion and reactions occurring with the underlying substrates. Thermal shock could also not be handled by these initial materials.

New multifunctional ceramic systems based on advanced material science have been proven to maintain their adhesion, high emissivity, and other multifunctional properties on ceramic, refractory, and metal substrates at temperatures up to 3500° F. Originally Developed by NASA and subsequently modified and improved after several years of Research and Development, these proprietary ceramic systems are setting new standards of performance and reliability at temperatures below and above 2000° F in reformers and cracking furnaces. By increasing radiant heat transfer from the refractory to the radiant tubes, significant energy savings, NOx reduction, heat loss reduction, and improved refractory life are realized. In the same manner, coated metal substrates such as process tubes are uniformly heated, protected from high temperature oxidation, corrosion, and thermally induced stress thus resulting in reduced maintenance and improving operations. The coating of process tubes has occurred and studies are underway to quantify uniform heating, reduced coking and improved Product quality.

The potential application of these ceramic systems cuts across a wide spectrum of thermal process industries and types of equipment. Numerous installations have proven successful in periodic and tunnel kilns of brick plants, annealing furnaces, refinery and petrochemical process heaters, forge and heat treat furnaces, burner assembles, and utility boilers. With fuel prices at record levels, saving energy is a priority of every operator of high temperature industrial equipment. This ceramic system enables operators to increase production with existing facilities, save energy, potentially reduce downtime and air emissions.

Successful installations and related case histories will be presented in petrochemical and ethylene facilities.

While it is often difficult to isolate the fuel savings benefits attributable solely to the ceramic system in large process heaters, clients have observed fuel savings of 5%+ exclusive of other benefits.

Product identity: Emisshield® Products are manufactured by Wessex Incorporated. Emisshield® and Wessex® are registered trademarks of Wessex Incorporated. Emisshield® Products are protected by US Patents 7,105,047; 6,921,431 and other US and Foreign Patents Pending.