For decades, down-fired steam methane reformer furnaces have utilized flue gas tunnels (aka "coffins") along the radiant section floor to collect and improve flue gas flow uniformity. These tunnels range from 4 to 10 feet high, 2 to 3 feet wide, and 40 to 100 feet long, depending on the unit design capacity. However, the conventional refractory firebrick or tongue-and-groove firebrick construction has always constrained the flue gas to non-uniform flow which has been correlated to non-uniform catalyst-tube temperatures and accelerated tube aging. Due to tunnel size and refractory volume, traditional brick design uses only basic shapes. Typical brick and mortar installations require several physical features which severely limit tunnel effectiveness, making uniform flue gas flow unachievable. The ability to design and construct tunnels using new highly-engineered refractory shapes is new to this industry and could be the answer to improving flue gas tunnel effectiveness and improving catalyst tube reliability and longevity. BD Energy Systems and Blasch Precision Ceramics have co-developed an improved reformer tunnel system to achieve near-perfect flue gas flow uniformity among and along the tunnels. This system combines BD Energy's vast steam methane reforming experience and Blasch's customized-precision-refractory-shapes design and manufacturing expertise. The result is unparalleled flue gas flow control using the Blasch StaBlox~(TM) reformer tunnel system. Because of this new ability to fine-tune flue gas flow, these tunnels can be adapted to other applications and can open the door to previously unexplored SMR process possibilities. This paper compares conventional tunnel construction and design to the BD Energy Systems/Blasch Precision Ceramics construction and design, focusing on the benefits of improved flue gas flow uniformity and potential catalyst tube reliability improvements.
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