Thermal stresses in radiant tubes: A comparison between recuperative and regenerative systems

A comparison was made between thermal stresses occurring in radiant tubes used in regenerative and recuperative systems. It was found that higher temperatures close to the annealing temperatures lead to stress relieving. The only stresses occurring were due to the non-linear axial temperature gradients along the length of the radiant tube in a recuperative system, whereas the radiant tube in a regenerative system remained essentially stress free due to a comparatively linear axial temperature gradient.