A Thermal Model for Concentric-Tube Overfire Air Ports

Abstract

A quasisteady multimode heat-transfer model for boiler concentric-tube overfire air ports has been developed that predicts the effect of geometry, furnace heat source and heat sink temperatures, axial injector wall conduction, and coolant flow rate on the tube wall temperature distributions. The model imposes a radiation boundary condition at the outlet tip of the ports, which acts as a heat source. The model was validated using field data and showed that both the airflow distribution in the ports and tube diameter can be used to control the maximum tube wall temperature. This helps avoid tube overheating and thermal degradation. For nominal operating conditions, highly nonlinear axial temperature distributions were observed in both tubes near the hot outlet end of the port.