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CN-122028973-A - Electric reactor furnace with element configuration to mitigate corner effects

CN122028973ACN 122028973 ACN122028973 ACN 122028973ACN-122028973-A

Abstract

The present disclosure includes radiant electric furnaces having heating element configurations that reduce corner effects and localized temperature peaks, for example, to extend the operational life of an electric heating element. More specifically, the furnace of the present invention includes electrical heating elements distributed along the interior of one or more (e.g., two opposing) furnace sidewalls, and by spacing such heating elements from the corners defined by the respective sidewalls and the respective furnace end walls, to reduce the localized temperature peaks otherwise experienced by the heating elements and increase the operating life of the heating elements. Such a configuration is particularly effective for industrial scale ovens, for example, where one or more electrical heating elements on each sidewall are configured to emit at least 30 kilowatts per square meter of inner surface (kW/m 2 ) for the respective sidewall.

Inventors

  • R. Blockhouse
  • A, J, M, Austria, Prince
  • HUCKAMN MICHAEL E.
  • H.Jian

Assignees

  • SABIC环球技术有限责任公司
  • 巴斯夫欧洲公司
  • 林德有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20241008
Priority Date
20231016

Claims (15)

  1. 1. A radiant electric furnace, which comprises A housing having a first side wall, a second side wall spaced apart from and opposite the first side wall, a first end wall extending between the first side wall and the second side wall at a first end of the housing, a second end wall opposite the first end wall and extending between the first side wall and the second side wall at a second end of the housing, wherein the housing defines a radiant heating chamber having a width extending between the first side wall and the second side wall, a length extending between the first end wall and the second end wall, and a height extending from a top end of the first side wall to a bottom end of the first side wall; One or more first electrical heating elements disposed on an interior side of the first sidewall; one or more second electric heating elements disposed on the inner side of the second sidewall, and A plurality of reactor tubes disposed between the first and second electrical heating elements and extending at least a majority of the height of the radiant heating chamber; Wherein a first minimum distance between the first heating element and the first end wall is equal to or greater than 0.1 meters (m), and Wherein a second minimum distance between the second heating element and the first end wall is equal to or greater than 0.1 m.
  2. 2. The radiant electric furnace of claim 1, wherein the first minimum distance is 0.1 meters (m) to 0.75 meters (m).
  3. 3. The radiant electric furnace of claim 1, wherein the first minimum distance is 0.25 meters (m) to 0.5 meters (m).
  4. 4. A radiant electric furnace according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein said second minimum distance is 0.1 to 0.75 meters (m).
  5. 5. The radiant electric furnace of claim 4, wherein the second minimum distance is 0.25 meters (m) to 0.5 meters (m).
  6. 6. The radiant electric furnace of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the first minimum distance is equal to the second minimum distance.
  7. 7. The radiant electric furnace according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein: The first heating element extends along a plurality of elongated first path segments, each of the elongated first path segments being offset from an adjacent one of the first path segments by a first offset distance, and The second heating element extends along a plurality of elongated second path sections, each of the elongated second path sections being offset from an adjacent one of the second path sections by a second offset distance.
  8. 8. The radiant electric furnace of claim 7, wherein the first minimum distance is greater than 150% of the first offset distance.
  9. 9. The radiant electric furnace of claim 8, wherein the first minimum distance is greater than 200% of the first offset distance.
  10. 10. The radiant electric furnace of claim 9, wherein the first minimum distance is greater than 400% of the first offset distance.
  11. 11. The radiant electric furnace of any one of claims 7-10, wherein the plurality of elongated first path sections comprises 16 or more elongated first path sections intersected by a line extending a shortest distance between the first end wall and the second end wall.
  12. 12. The radiant electric furnace of any one of claims 7-11, wherein the first path section and the second path section are each linear.
  13. 13. The radiant electric furnace of any one of claims 1-12, wherein the one or more electrical heating elements on each side wall are configured to emit at least 30 kilowatts per square meter of inner surface (kW/m 2 ) for the respective side wall.
  14. 14. The radiant electric furnace of claim 13, wherein the electrical heating element comprises iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl).
  15. 15. The radiant electric furnace of any one of claims 1-14, wherein the housing further comprises a tip end wall extending between the first and second end walls and respective tip ends of each of the first and second side walls, wherein a third minimum distance between the first heating element and the tip end wall is greater than the first offset distance, and wherein a fourth minimum distance between the second heating element and the tip end wall is greater than the first offset distance.

Description

Electric reactor furnace with element configuration to mitigate corner effects Technical Field The present disclosure relates generally to methods for producing chemicals, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to radiant electric furnaces for chemical reactions, and methods of steam cracking and steam methane reforming using such furnaces. Background Chemical synthesis devices are used to provide a variety of chemicals. Typically, a specialty fuel is burned or incinerated to provide heat of reaction for chemical synthesis, energy for heating one or more process streams, energy for evaporating liquids (e.g., boiling water to be used as a diluent), energy for doing work (e.g., driving a compressor or pump), or energy for other process operations in the overall chemical synthesis plant. Such combustion or incineration of fuel results in the production of flue gas containing CO 2, which may be harmful to the environment and also results in a loss of energy efficiency of the process. Likewise, steam is typically used as a device-wide heat and/or energy transfer fluid within chemical synthesis devices. Steam for heat and/or energy transfer is typically generated via combustion of a fuel, resulting in additional flue gas and additional energy efficiency losses during chemical synthesis. An alternative to avoiding heating in chemical synthesis apparatus using fuel combustion is to instead provide heating by electrical means, for example in a radiant electric furnace. However, electrification of certain components in chemical synthesis devices presents additional problems and challenges. For example, the electric furnace may present a different problem or consideration than the burner and/or may not necessarily present in the burner. Disclosure of Invention The present disclosure includes radiant electric furnaces having heating element configurations that reduce corner effects and localized temperature peaks, for example, to extend the operational life of the electric heating element. More specifically, the furnace of the present invention includes electrical heating elements distributed along the interior of one or more (e.g., two opposing) furnace sidewalls, and by spacing such heating elements from the corners defined by the respective sidewalls and the respective furnace end walls, to reduce localized temperature peaks that would otherwise be experienced by the heating elements and to increase the operating life of the heating elements. Some configurations of radiant electric furnaces of the present invention include a housing, one or more first electrical heating elements, one or more second electrical heating elements, and a plurality of reactor tubes. In some such constructions, the housing includes a first side wall, a second side wall spaced apart from and opposite the first side wall, a first end wall extending between the first side wall and the second side wall at a first end of the housing, a second end wall opposite the first end wall at a second end of the housing and extending between the first side wall and the second side wall, wherein the housing defines a radiant heating chamber having a width extending between the first side wall and the second side wall, a length extending between the first end wall and the second end wall, and a height extending from a top end of the first side wall to a bottom end of the first side wall. In some such configurations, one or more first electrical heating elements are disposed on the interior side of the first sidewall, one or more second electrical heating elements are disposed on the interior side of the second sidewall, and a plurality of reactor tubes are disposed between the first electrical heating elements and the second electrical heating elements and extend at least a majority of the height of the radiant heating chamber. In some such configurations, a first minimum distance between the first heating element and the first end wall is equal to or greater than 0.1 meters (m), and a second minimum distance between the second heating element and the first end wall is equal to or greater than 0.1 m. In some of the foregoing configurations of the radiant electric furnace of the present invention, the first minimum distance is 0.1 to 0.75 meters (m). In some such configurations, the first minimum distance is 0.25 to 0.5 meters (m). In some of the foregoing configurations of the radiant electric furnace of the present invention, the second minimum distance is 0.1 to 0.75 meters (m). In some such constructions, the second minimum distance is 0.25 to 0.5 meters (m). In some of the foregoing configurations of the radiant electric furnace of the present invention, the first minimum distance is equal to the second minimum distance. In some of the foregoing configurations of the radiant electric furnace of the present invention, the first heating element(s) extend along a plurality of elongated first path sections, each of the elongated first path sec