Abstract
Immersion burners are commonly used in industrial processes where there is a necessity to heat large quantities of liquids like molten zinc in galvanizing process. Despite being expensive, the immersion arrangement is preferred to common burners due to their ability to maintain accurate air/gas ratio, very high thermal efficiency etc. One critical issue that normally affects all industrial heating arrangements based on immersion heating is the premature failure of the burner tubes inside the molten metal baths. Literature review reveals that till date, no method is available on industrial scale to predict the life of the tube. No study has been done on industrial scale to increase the life of the immersion tubes. In the present study, we have developed a methodology based on the flue gas temperatures to identify the reasons for premature failure of immersion tubes. Furthermore, certain action points have been implemented to reduce the immersion tube breakages by more than 90%.
