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Storage Tanks:
Heating and Cooling
System Design
Various heating or cooling options are described here, along with the factors and design
parameters that need to be considered. A sample calculation regarding coils is included
Apurba Lal Das
and Siddhartha
Mukherjee
Air Liquide Global E&C
Solutions India
IN BRIEF
TC
DESIGNING THE SYSTEM FIGURE 1. Direct steam injection is the simplest method for heating. Shown here is steam injected through a sparger in an
open tank
SAMPLE CALCULATION
T
FOR COILS anks constitute important equip- tank heating and cooling systems for any
CONCLUDING REMARKS
ment in the chemical process in- given service to achieve the previously de-
dustries (CPI). Various types of liq- scribed objectives.
uids are stored in tanks and often
these liquids are difficult to handle due to Types of heating and cooling systems
their high viscosities. Generally, increasing Tank heating or cooling systems can be
the temperature lowers the viscosity, re- implemented in a number of ways. The vari-
sulting in ease of pumping. Therefore, tem- ous options include direct steam injection
peratures inside tanks sometimes need to or indirect heating. Indirect heating includes
be maintained at elevated levels. In some the following:
cases, low temperatures must be main- • Steam tracing
tained in order to avoid polymerization, un- • Heating or cooling with internal coils
desired reactions or product degradation. In • Steam jacketing
a nutshell, temperature control inside tanks • Electrical heating
may be required. • External heating or cooling by liquid
Designing a tank heating or cooling sys- circulation
tem involves two basic steps. The first • External cooling by vapor recompression
step is to determine the heat loss from the The above options have distinct differ-
tank to the surroundings (for hot liquids) ences and some even have limitations that
or the heat gain by the tank (for cold liq- make them suitable for certain applications,
uids). The second is to design the system but unsuitable for others. A combination of
to compensate for the heat loss or gain. the above methodologies is also possible.
The purpose of this article is to provide For example, steam heating coils and wall
an overview of the design procedure for steam tracing often come in pairs.
54 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2017
Hot product Tempered water
after final out, 18oC
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Cooling
water out
42oC
E-03 E-04 FC
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Cooling water
in 32oC FC
Tempered
water in Tempered Tempered
15oC water in 15oC water in 15oC
FC
FC
TI Product tank T-01 Product tank T-02
TI Product for
dispatch
FIGURE 2. This diagram shows an external cooling arrangement for a pair of storage tanks
Direct steam injection. Direct Heating with internal coils. With in- electrical heating systems is ven-
steam injection [1] is the simplest ternal coils, both the compensation dor specific. A typical application is
method and can be a very efficient for heat loss or gain and additional the compressor lube-oil reservoir-
way for heat transfer since both the heat duty required for intermittent ser- heating system, which is applicable
latent heat and the sensible heat are vices (such as startup heating after a in cold locations. The low ambient
used for heating (Figure 1). It is ap- prolonged shutdown) are possible to temperatures in these areas cause a
propriate only when dilution or an meet. Coils placed at the bottom of rise in the viscosity of the liquid as a
increase in liquid mass is acceptable the tank mainly target bulk heating. result of natural cooling during long
and the process fluid is not sensi- Coil assemblies placed close to the shutdowns, which renders pumping
tive to steam injection. Direct steam walls at different heights compen- of the fluid very difficult.
injection is the most widely used sate heat loss through the insulated External heating by liquid circu-
method for boiler-feed-tank heating. cylindrical wall. If the temperature of lation. There are instances where
Various types of tank spargers are the fluid entering the tank varies, then leaks may develop from corrosion
available for this purpose. However, agitation is needed to create a buff- of coils due to scaling by high con-
in such cases, because the steam ering effect and to limit temperature centration inside the tank. In such
mixes with the process fluid, steam fluctuations within the tank. cases, internal heating coils are
hammer and vibrations often occur, As a heating medium, normally not recommended [6], and heat-
leading to higher maintenance costs. low-pressure steam is recom- ing or cooling through external ex-
Steam tracing. To provide a good mended, since high temperatures in changers could be used (Figure 2).
heat distribution over the surface of the coils could cause severe corro- A pumping arrangement with an
the tank, steam tracing is carried out sion. Such heating or cooling sys- external heater or cooler facilitates
with 3/8- or 3/4-in. tubes that are tems could be designed for a wide good mixing in the tank with the
made of copper or aluminum. Direct range of heating loads, a feature not help of an eductor, thus promoting
contact with the tank wall produces associated with the other tank heat- forced circulation. The heat gener-
good heat transfer, but it is difficult ing options. ated by the circulating pump some-
to predict the performance since it Steam jacketing. Jacketing is often times also adds to the heat input.
is strongly dependent on the degree used for tanks needing frequent However, for a cooling systems,
of contact. The tubes are wrapped cleaning and for glass-lined vessels this could be counterproductive.
around the tank manually, and that are difficult to be equipped with External cooling by vapor recom-
hence the degree of contact with internal coils. A storage tank for liq- pression. Vapor recompression with
the tank wall is not very effective. uid sulfur is a typical application that an external heat exchanger is often
As a result, the overall heat-trans- involves jacketing. The heat-transfer used for refrigerated and semi-re-
fer coefficients exhibited by steam coefficients on the steam side are frigerated liquids like ammonia, pro-
tracing could be as low as 5–6 W/ normally high. The process side pylene, propane and so on. In such
m2.°C. The use of heat-transfer ce- heat-transfer coefficient can be in- systems, the heat gain from the tank
ment improves the performance, creased by agitation [2]. In terms of wall results in the generation of boil-
however with an added cost. As a thermal efficiency, steam jacketing off vapors (Figure 3). These boil-off
rough estimate, the installed cost of lies in between the submerged coil vapors are recompressed, cooled to
tracer with cement is approximately and steam tracing. liquefy the vapors, and returned to
double that of tracer alone. Electrical heating. The design of the storage tank.
QuestIntegrity.com
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CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2017 59
Therefore, the steam consumption
rate (normal value) = 110,000/509.5
= 215.9 kg/h
Temperature difference between
the coil inside fluid and outside fluid
= (143.63 – 85)°C = 58.63°C.
Coil surface area required =
110,000 kcal/h/(58.63°C 112
kcal/h.m2.°C) = 16.75 m2.
With a coil formed by a pipe of
Z-type U-type
25-mm nominal diameter (outside di-
ameter of 33.4 mm), the surface area
for a 1-m long coil works out to 3.142
0.0334 m 1 m = 0.106 m2/m.
Therefore, length of the coil re-
quired = 16.75/0.106 m = 160 m
(approximately).
With a tank diameter of 12 m, from
Table 2, one layer of coil can accom-
modate a coil length of 12 10.5 m
= 126 m.
This is lower than the required
160-m length as calculated above.
One-pass Two-pass Four-pass
This means two layers of coil need to
FIGURE 4. Coil arrangements can be Z-type (top left) or U-type (top right). The coils can be arranged to be considered.
be one-, two- or four-pass (bottom, left to right)
Two layers of coil will have a surface
with steam is 112 kcal/h.m2.°C. 143.63°C). area of 126 m 2 layers 0.106
Assume saturated steam is avail- Latent heat of condensation of satu- m2/m = 27 m2 (approximately).
able at 4 bars(a) (temperature of rated steam at 4 bars(a) = 509.5 kcal/kg Maximum duty of the coil = 27 m2
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