Abstract
Thermodynamic analyses of processes indicated low furnace efficiencies on certain hot oil furnaces. Further investigation, which included Infrared (IR) thermography testing of several furnaces, identified extremely hot surfaces on the outside of the convective sections. Consultation with the furnace manufacturer then revealed that furnaces made in the 1960's tended to not insulate the pipe bends in the convective section. When insulation was added within the covers of the pipe bends on one furnace, the energy efficiency improved by approximately 11%. The total savings are approximately 14,000 Million Btu/yr on one furnace. Insulation will be applied to several other furnaces at the site.
Haseltine, D. M.; Laffitte, R. D. (1999). Insulation of Pipe Bends Improves Efficiency of Hot Oil Furnaces. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu). Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /91124.