DEVELOPMENT OF RECUPERATORS FOR ROTARY FURNACES

Abstract

The design of a radiation-recuperator incorporated in rotary furnace has been undertaken in this study. It was observed that an appreciable percentage of the heat input into the furnace is being lost to the surrounding, most especially through the waste gases produced from the fuel combustion. The coefficient of heat utilization is greatly dependent on the temperature of the waste gases leaving the furnace. Therefore, the new design of recuperator, which is a heat exchanger, incorporated into the rotary furnace is done in such a way that it returns substantial part of the waste heat back into the furnace. A radiation type recuperator was designed to achieve this objective. It was established that the design results in 35% increase in the thermal efficiency of the furnace system and also leads to a 44% reduction in the fuel consumption.