Training Services

Troubleshooting
Oil Firing

FH/11-1

Section Outline

„ Viscosity
„ Fuel Oil Properties
„ Oil Gun Location
„ Fuel Oil Pressure
„ Steam Pressure Differential

FH/11-2

1
 Oil Gun

„ Mechanical atomization in
oil spud
„ 0.3 lb steam/lb oil enters
side ports of atomizer and
shears oil
„ 100 micron liquid oil
particles exit through oil tip

FH/11-3

Oil Gun

„ Zink No.9 EA Gun with 8

firing ports
„ Standard Design

FH/11-4

2
 Oil Gun

„ Zink No.9 MEA Gun with 8

firing ports
„ Improved Design
„ Better Atomization and
Combustion

FH/11-5

Oil Gun

„ Zink No.9 MEA Gun with 8

firing ports
„ Improved Design
„ Better Atomization and
Combustion

FH/11-6

3
 Viscosity

„ Viscosity of the fuel oil is the most important

factor in its successful combustion
„ Too cold an oil will have too high a viscosity,
resulting in poor atomization
„ Large oil droplets do not burn completely,
leaving “fireflies” in the flame

FH/11-7

Oil Fireflies

„ Poor Combustion
„ Damage to tubes
„ Particulate
„ Cause- Cold oil or Wet
Steam

FH/11-8

4
 Oil Fireflies

„ Poor Combustion
„ Damage to tubes
„ Particulate
„ Cause- Cold oil or Wet
Steam

FH/11-9

Viscosity
(continued)

„ Heavy oils require higher temperatures to get

proper viscosity

– Required viscosity - 100 SSU (20 cS) typical

FH/11-10

5
 Viscosity
(continued)

„ Procedure to determine proper fuel oil

temperature
– Obtain one point viscosity at 100-130°F (38-
54°C) for No. 2 oils or at 210°F (100°C) for
No. 6 oils
– Plot point on viscosity-temperature chart;
draw line parallel to other lines
– Determine proper operating temperature for
20 cS (100 SSU)

FH/11-11

Fuel Oil Properties

„ Flash Point
„ Pour Point
„ Heat of Combustion
„ Ash Content
„ Viscosity vs. Temperature
„ Sulfur and Nitrogen Content
„ Heavy Metals Content (Sodium, Vanadium,
Arsenic, Mercury, etc.)

FH/11-12

6
 Fuel Oil Properties
Property ASTM Test No.1 No.2 Grade No. 4 No. 5 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6
Method (Light) (Light) (Heavy)
Flash Point °C, min D93 38 38 38 55 55 55 60
Water and sediment, vol%, max D2709 0.05 0.05 ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
D95+D473 ----- ----- (0.50) (1.00) (0.50) (1.50) (1.00)
Distillation temperature °C D86
10% vol. recovered, max 215 ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
90% vol. recovered min ----- 282 ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
90% vol recovered, max 288 388 ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Kenematic viscosity at 40°C, mm% D445
min 1.3 1.9 1.9 ----- >5.5 ----- -----
max 2.1 3.4 3.5 ----- 24.0 ----- -----
Kenematic viscosity at 100°C, mm% D445
min ----- ----- ----- 5.0 ----- 9.0 15.0
max ----- ----- ----- 8.9 ----- 14.9 50.0
Ramsbottom carbon residue on 10% D524 0.15 0.35 ----- ----- -----
distillation residue, % mass, max
Ash, % mass, max D482 ----- ----- 0.05 0.15 0.10 0.15 -----
Sulfur, % mass, max D129 0.50 0.50 ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Copper strip corrosion rating, max D130 No.3 No.3 No.3 ----- ----- ----- -----
3 h at 50°C
Density at 15°C, kg/m3 D1298 ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
min ----- ----- >876 ----- ----- ----- -----
max 850 876 ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
Pour Point, °C, max D97 -18 -6 -6 ----- -6 ----- -----

Copyright ASTM
Reprinted with permission

FH/11-13

Fuel Oil Heat of Combustion

20400

20000

19600
Heat of Combustion, Btu/lb

Gross Heat
19200

18800

18400 Net Heat

18000

17600

17200

16800
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
API Gravity
HTR-R00-94 FH/11-14

7
 Fuel Oil Viscosity

Reprinted by permission of the copyright owner, Exxon Research and Engineering Co., N.J. From “Data Book on Hydrocarbons,” by J.B.
HTR-R00-108 Maxwell D. Von Nostrand Company, New York 1950. FH/11-15

Fuel Oil Viscosity

HTR-R00-107 FH/11-16

8
 Oil Gun Location

„ Proper position is critical to proper spray

pattern and air mixing

Proper location Too far in Too far back

HTR-R00-97 FH/11-17

Proper Oil Gun Position

„ Zink No.9 EA Gun with 8

firing ports
„ Approximately 1” (25mm)
below tile ledge
„ Combustion occurs 2”
(50mm) above tip
„ Flame recirculation

FH/11-18

9
 Proper Oil Gun Length

„ Zink No.9 EA Gun with 8

firing ports
„ Oil Gun Inserts are different
Lengths
„ Impossible for operator to
position properly
„ Flame impingement, coking
and oil drips result

FH/11-19

Troubleshooting

„ Leaking Oil
„ Burners Need Cleaning
„ Improper Oil
Temperature at Burner
„ Poor Damper Control
with Wing Nut
„ Cannot Set Same Air
Rate to Each Burner

FH/11-20

10
 Troubleshooting

„ Good Damper Control

„ Positive Position Click
Style
„ Individual Primary and
Secondary Controls on
Combination Burners

FH/11-21

Troubleshooting
„ Light Oil Gun Off Gas Flame
„ Reduces Heater Fouling
„ Oil requires Heat and Temperature to Vaporize
„ Vacuum Bottoms in No.6 Oil has boiling range 1000-1500
°F(540-815°C)

FH/11-22

11
 Oil Gun Heat Release
100 #11 TIP-2 Oil
John Zink Series EA Oil Gun #11 TIP-6 Oil
(Based on 200 SSU Oil #10 TIP-2 Oil
30 psig Steam Differential
#10 TIP-6 Oil
Heat Release, Btu x 106/hr

#9 TIP-2 Oil
#9 TIP-6 Oil
#9 TIP-2 Oil
#8 TIP-6 Oil
10
#7 TIP-2 Oil
#7 TIP-6 Oil

1
10 100
Oil Pressure, psig
HTR-R00-98 FH/11-23

Fuel Oil Pressure

„ Design should be 70-90 psig (5-6.3 kg/cm2 g)

„ Too low pressure can result in poor turndown
„ Poor atomization
„ Plugging (coke formation) in oil guns

FH/11-24

12
 Flameout

„ Low Oil Pressure

„ High Steam Pressure
„ Particulate
„ Fouling on tubes

FH/11-25

Steam Pressure Differential

„ Poor atomization if too low or high

„ Typical 30 psi (2.1kg/cm2 ) differential above
oil pressure
„ Steam must be dry
„ Wet steam causes fireflys

FH/11-26

13
 Steam Pressure Differential

„ Low Steam Pressure

Differential due to high
pressure drop in steam
check valve
„ Poor Atomization
„ Particulate
„ Fouling on tubes

FH/11-27

Fuel Oil Strainers

„ Locate dual strainers at each heater
„ Use large capacity basket type, not Y-type as shown

FH/11-28

14
 Fuel Oil Strainers
„ Crud caught in strainer after tank switch
„ Use stainers at each heater in addition to main fuel strainers located
at fuel oil pumps

FH/11-29

Troubleshooting
„ Oil Ash acts as insulation
„ Increased fuel firing
„ Sandblast clean

FH/11-30

15
 Retractable Sootblowers

„ Retractable sootblowers
„ Operated once or twice per day
„ Need dry steam to prevent
refractory damage
„ Steam blowdown before
blowing
„ Insulate steam lines to prevent
condensation

FH/11-31

Retractable Sootblowers
„ Lance rotates in a helical motion
„ Blowing Rate ~ 10,000 lb/hr
„ Blowing Time 20-30 seconds

FH/11-32

16
 Retractable Sootblowers
„ Poppet steam valve leaks are common
„ Diamond Power 1K sootblowers are recommended

FH/11-33

True Cost of Oil Firing

„ The LP model often shows a very big differential between gas fuel
values and oil fuel values. Therefore, there is a large economic
incentive to increase the amount of oil firing. However, there are many
hidden costs associated with the firing of fuel oil. These costs include;
• 0.3 kg steam consumed in the oil gun per 1 kg oil burnt
• steam consumed in the daily sootblowing
• steam consumed in oil line tracing
• 5-7% fuel efficiency loss due to convection fouling in the crude heaters
resulting in high EII energy index
• online radiant section ammonium nitrate cleaning cost
• tube support replacement cost due to high firebox temperatures from
oil fouling and oil ash corrosion
• convection tubesheet replacement due to failures caused by
sootblowing with wet steam
• high sootblower maintenance cost

FH/11-34

17
 True Cost of Oil Firing
• yearly primary oil tile replacement due to oil ash
corrosion
• cost associated with replacing oil gun internals every 1-2
years
• high labor cost associated with weekly oil gun cleaning
• decreased refractory life and heater casing damage due to
sulfur corrosion from oil firing
• inventory cost of maintaining oil gun replacement parts
and burner tile replacement parts in warehouse
• increased SOx and NOx emissions

• Use part of fuel savings to finance new

burners and parts

FH/11-35

Plot Rate of Fouling

„ On-line clean every 9-18 months

Predictive Fouling Predictive

fouling
900 #1 CDU
temperature
Tube scale

800
700
600 #2 CDU
500
400 #3 CDU
0 10 20
Tim e - Months #4 CDU
FH/11-36

18
 Chemical Cleaning

„ CTP offline phosphoric

acid tube cleaning
„ Very effective in
removing ash deposits

„ CTP(phbarre@ctp-
environnement.com)
Phone 33-139-19-15-50

FH/11-37

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