Square or rectangular duct uses more material per unit length. By the time you're finished reinforcing it, a _lot_ more material.
In a rectangular duct, it's slightly easier to fabricate a short radius bend ... not that a short radius is a good idea.
I wonder if anyone made flues rectangular before the appearance of baghouses, which tend to be rectangular for more defensible reasons.
Transitions, e.g. from rectangular baghouse apertures to round ducts, are a little harder to manufacture than simple joints. They're harder to draw, too, which may be the real reason rectangular flue ducts first appeared.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA