What Is Direct Heating?

The U-tube nozzle burner used for heating production vessels has been virtually unchanged for over 75 years. Although this mainstay is simple and relatively effective, it has various design features which are problematic. The high intensity heat release of a typical nozzle burner results in a hot and cold end which yields non-uniform heating. The hot end will eventually suffer from coating and gasket failures. The uneven heating of the tube generates stress concentrations which often lead to weld failures. Large settling surfaces are prone to the formation of insulating layers of sediments which further exasperates all the issues.