Experimental Modeling ofthe Flow in the Furnace Top of an Ethane Cracker at EPEMSBPaka

This report consists of the final year project entitled Experimental Modeling of the
Flow in the Furnace Top of an Ethane Cracker at EPEMSB Paka. It was initialized to
study a breakdown which occurred at an ethane cracking plant. The failure caused
damage to the inducer fan used to induce flue gasses from the furnace to the ·
enviromnent. The problem was fixed but the root causes are to be determined so that
history would not repeat itself and preventive maintenance could be done. In order to
do so, experimental modeling using a smaller prototype is used for research work as it
is cost effective and reliable. Studies were made especially in the fluid dynamics and
thermodynamics properties including applications such as laminar and turbulence
flows, frictional drag, the continuity equation, the ideal gas equations, and flow
through non-circular conduits.
As for the modeling, certain factors have to be fulfilled to increase its reliability and
to make sure that the results achieved are acceptable. Studies on dimensional analysis
and the dimensional numbers that are feasible for the experiment are done particularly
on the Reynolds Number and Mach number. This will enhance the similarity of the
flow inside the model to the actual flow in the furnace, validating all the results
achieved while experimentation took place. Since this is a continuation of previous
project, some modification of the design has to be made and experimentation is
conducted after the fabrication of the newly approved design has finished
Results indicate that the flow visualization varies with the damper angles and at
several conditions discussed in chapter 4. However there are several limitations to
achieve precise results due to time constraint and size of prototype which is 1110
times smaller than the actual furnace top as well as experimental results that diverge
from actual conditions due to assumptions made during calculations. Apart from that,
through the flow visualization, induced turbulence can be detected when the flapper is
rotating loosely.