Experimental study of the effect of a radiant tube on the temperature distribution in a horizontal heating furnace

This article reports the experimental study of the heat transfer characteristics in a horizontal heating furnace that is extensively used in the petroleum industry of China. To avoid furnace burnout caused by an uneven furnace wall temperature, a straight radiant tube is proposed to be installed in the furnace, which transfers heat to the furnace wall mainly via a radiation pattern. Seven groups of measure points were selected to record the temperature data; each group consisted of two testing points at the top wall and middle wall. Two burners were investigated to compare the temperature distribution along the horizontal furnace wall. A non-uniformity coefficient ε of the wall temperature was used to quantify the temperature deviation. The experimental results show that the radiant tube can significantly reduce the temperature deviation on the furnace wall. The furnace wall with the SR100 burner has a generally larger ɛ than that with the HQ05 burner without the radiant tube. The SR100 burner has a larger overall decrease in ɛ than the HQ05 burner after the radiant tube is installed.