Hybrid furnace with fuel and/or electricity

Abstract

An apparatus for heating petroleum, petrochemical, chemical process fluids, and boiler feed water or steam generation with a combination, or individual operation, of electrical elements and fired burners. The apparatus includes a radiant heating section and a flue gas stack for exhausting a combustion gas to the atmosphere. The radiant section includes one or more process coils, one or more fuel-fired burners for combusting a fuel and producing the combustion gas, where the one or more fuel-fired burners are arranged to provide radiant energy to a first area of the one or more process coils, and one or more electrical heating elements arranged to provide radiant energy to a second area of the one or more process coils. The one or more electrical heating elements are configured to provide 5% or more of a combined maximum energy output of the fuel-fired burners and the electrical heating elements.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for heating petroleum, petrochemical, chemical process fluids, and boiler feed water or steam generation with a combination, or individual operation, of electrical elements and fired burners comprising:
 a radiant heating section and a flue gas stack for exhausting a combustion gas to the atmosphere;   one or more process coils disposed within the radiant heating section;   one or more fuel-fired burners disposed within the radiant heating section, the one or more fuel-fired burners configured for combusting a fuel and producing the combustion gas, wherein the one or more fuel-fired burners are arranged to provide a first radiant energy to a first area of the one or more process coils; and   one or more electrical heating elements disposed within the radiant heating section, the one or more electrical heating elements arranged to provide a second radiant energy to a second area of the one or more process coils;   wherein the one or more electrical heating elements are configured to provide 5% or more of a combined maximum energy output of the one or more fuel-fired burners and the one or more electrical heating elements.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more fuel-fired burners include one or more floor burners, one or more wall burners, or a combination of floor and wall burners. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more fuel-fired burners are wall burners disposed vertically above the one or more electrical heating elements. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a shielding wall disposed intermediate the one or more fuel-fired burners and the one or more electrical heating elements. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the shielding wall comprises one or more shielding walls disposed intermediate a section of one or more fuel-fired burners and a section of one or more electrical heating elements. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more shielding walls are disposed on one side of a radiant heating section and extend partially from an outer wall of the radiant heating section toward an interior of the radiant heating section. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more shielding walls are disposed on both sides of the radiant heating section and extend partially from an outer wall of the radiant heating section toward an interior of the radiant heating section. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more shielding walls are disposed on both sides of radiant heating section and extend from a first side of an outer wall of the radiant heating section to a second side of the outer wall of the radiant heating section, the one or more shield walls comprising a plurality of holes extending through the one or more shielding walls. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus for heating petroleum, petrochemical, chemical process fluids, and boiler feed water or steam generation with a combination, or individual operation, of electrical elements and fired burners comprising:
 a radiant heating section and a flue gas stack for exhausting a combustion gas to the atmosphere;   one or more process coils disposed within the radiant heating section;   one or more fuel-fired burners disposed within the radiant heating section, the one or more fuel-fired burners configured for combusting a fuel and producing the combustion gas, wherein the one or more fuel-fired burners are arranged to provide a first radiant energy to a first side of the one or more process coils; and   one or more electrical heating elements disposed within the radiant heating section, the one or more electrical heating elements arranged to provide a second radiant energy to a second side of the one or more process coils,   wherein the second side is opposite the first side, wherein the second radiant energy is 5% or more of a combined maximum energy output of the one or more fuel-fired burners and the one or more electrical heating elements.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more fuel-fired burners include one or more floor burners, one or more wall burners, or a combination of floor and wall burners. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more fuel-fired burners are wall burners disposed vertically above the one or more electrical heating elements. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising a shielding wall disposed intermediate the one or more fuel-fired burners and the one or more electrical heating elements. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more process coils are disposed in a circular arrangement in the radiant heating section, the one or more electrical heating elements are disposed between the one or more process coils and a refractory wall of the radiant heating section, and the one or more fuel-fired burners are disposed proximate a center of the radiant heating section. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more process coils are oriented vertically within the radiant heating section. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the one or more process coils are oriented horizontally within the radiant heating section. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising a partition wall disposed proximate a center of the radiant heating section and the one or more fuel-fired burners disposed circumferentially around the partition wall. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for heating petroleum, petrochemical, chemical process fluids, and boiler feed water or steam generation with a combination, or individual operation, of electrical elements and fired burners comprising:
 a radiant heating section and a flue gas stack for exhausting the combustion gas to the atmosphere;   one or more process coils disposed proximate a center of the radiant heating section;   one or more fuel-fired burners disposed within the radiant heating section and circumferentially around the one or more process coils, the one or more fuel-fired burners configured for combusting a fuel and producing the combustion gas, wherein the one or more fuel-fired burners are arranged to provide a first radiant energy to a first side of the one or more process coils; and   one or more electrical heating elements disposed within the radiant heating section and proximate a refractory material of a wall of the radiant heating section located horizontally between the one or more fuel-fired burners and the one or more electrical heating elements, the one or more electrical heating elements arranged to provide a second radiant energy to the first side of the one or more process coils, wherein the second side is opposite the first side;   wherein the one or more electrical heating elements are configured to provide 5% or more of a combined maximum energy output of the one or more fuel-fired burners and the one or more electrical heating elements.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , further comprising a shielding wall disposed intermediate the one or more fuel-fired burners and the one or more electrical heating elements. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more process coils are oriented vertically within the radiant heating section.