Posted by gburns on January 08, 2000 at 08:02:22:
In Reply to: heavy fuel oil and natural gas?? posted by K. Aardal on January 07, 2000 at 13:59:19:
A couple things to be concerned about:
1. Heavy oil gives off alot of radiant heat when burned. As a result there is a lot of heat absorbed in the furnace. Not as much heat will be absorbed in the furnace when burning natural gas. This will increase the furnace exit gas temperature. You may need to upgrade your superheater tube material and/or add screen tubes to the superheater inlet. You definitely should have the original manufacturer review the changes you want. Paying for a study today could save you many headaches in the future.
2. If you have been burning a heavy oil with a high sulfur content you may want to consider a thorough wash of the back end of your boiler. Natural gas tends to generate more moisture in the flue gas which could increase cold end corrosion if the backend is loaded up with sulfur.