Discuss issues related to heat transfer oil furnaces
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I posted a thread earlier about a heat transfer oil furnace used for methanol-to-hydrogen production with a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters per hour; the required energy input is 3 million kcal. According to theoretical calculations, the main reactions are as follows: CH3OH → CO + 2H2 – 90.7 kJ/mol; CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 – 41.2 kJ/mol. The overall reaction is therefore CH3OH + H2O → CO2 + 3H2 – 49.5 kJ/mol. If the heat released in subsequent reactions is not taken into account, the total energy requirement comes out to 1.446 million kcal. If the heat generated in those subsequent reactions is also considered, this value is reduced by roughly half. Why is such a large heat transfer oil furnace needed?
If you feel there is still enough capacity, you can also install a heat transfer oil steam generator; a heat pipe steam generator can also be added at the rear of the boiler
I’m not entirely sure of the reason, but considering the configuration, the impacts of this analysis are as follows: 1) If the capacity is too large, it undoubtedly increases investment costs； 2) There is a surplus amount – will it be needed for Phase 2 or other installations in the future? Or to prevent incremental technological upgrades? 3) From the perspective of the heat transfer oil, this is advantageous – less heat is required, the heat flow intensity inside the furnace is reduced, and the service life of the heat transfer oil is extended.