CONTROL AND MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTATION

Where can a thermowell be installed? Practical

guide.
By WIKA ITALY January 26 2021  1901

When installing thermowells in a pipeline, the user must first answer several questions
regarding their location, quantity, bulb length, distance from each other, and effects on process
fluids.

I thermowells are highly effective devices for the protection of temperature probes, such as resistance
thermometers (RTD), from the process fluids present in a pipe. They are usually inserted
perpendicular to the flow, using a flanged connection. However, the placement and installation of the
thermowells is a real art. Here are some of the most common questions we usually get from
customers:

What is the ideal immersion length for a thermowell?

How far apart must the wells be?

Where should the thermowell be installed relative to the pipe elbow?

Here are some answers on the selection, placement and installation of the wells.

1. Immersion length of a well

The correct length of a thermowell largely depends on the diameter of the pipe or tube. A rule of
thumb is to insert a thermowell one-third to two-thirds of the inside diameter of the process pipeline.
Other guidelines recommend that the immersion length be 10 times the diameter of the thermowell
tip or a minimum of 50 mm (2 inches) in the process pipeline.
The twist tips of a thermowell break the vortices, making them too weak to cause mechanical fatigue.

The goal is to balance the potential mechanical failure and the potential measurement error. On the
one hand, the longer the immersion length, the greater the chances that the thermowell will bend or
suffer from mechanical fatigue due to the speed of the process fluid. On the other hand, the shorter
the immersion length, the greater the chances that users will get unreliable measurement results due
to poor heat transfer. In summary, there is no perfect bulb length for a thermowell, but a goal of
balancing results.

One way to reduce vibration and mechanical fatigue is to use a running thermowell Scruton Well®,
which uses twist drills to suppress vortex-induced vibrations. Rigorous endurance tests have proven
the effectiveness of ScrutonWell execution® as a whirlwind.

2 Multiple installations of manholes

Most of the time, a thermowell with a temperature probe is sufficient for a given section of pipe.
However, some processes require multiple wells in a given area. The main caution to consider when
installing multiple wells is to minimize their influence on each other while providing a constant flow
rate of the process fluid. There are two ways to do this:

Cockpit installed with offset angle

Offset angles - In this scenario, both wells are installed in the same position, but with offsets angled
to each other. Having them in the same location they are not affected upstream or downstream of an
inline installation. Manholes must be installed with a minimum angular offset to allow for easy
installation and removal. Also, the tips of the wells must be far enough away from each other so as not
to affect each other's readings.

Cockpit with inline installation

inline - To ensure laminar flow in the process, the distance between the wells can vary from 10 to 100
times the diameter of the tube, a really wide range! There are many factors that determine the
distance between the inline wells, but a conservative estimate is 25 times the diameter of the tube.
For example, in a pipeline with a diameter of 100 mm (4 in), the distance between the manhole
installations is approximately 2,5 m: 100 x 25 = 2.500 mm (2,5 m)

3. Elbow installation
The elbow installation allows the sensing area of ​the thermowell to be positioned in the center line of
the pipe, ensuring an optimal position for measuring the process temperature. The installation of the
thermowells in an elbow can be of two types:

Cockpit with elbow installation: A: facing upstream. B: facing downstream

Upstream - The tip of the sump (temperature sensing area) is upstream of any influence, such as
mixing or swirling, of the elbow. Many users prefer this elbow installation over the downstream one
(see next point), although bending moment calculations according to ASME PTC 19.3 TW-2016 are
outside the scope of this standard.

Facing downstream - The tip of the sump is downstream of the elbow, which means that it can be
affected by any mixing or swirling that the elbow causes. The advantage when doing the calculations
of the thermowell resonance frequency is that the downstream front takes a conservative approach
and assumes that it is a perpendicular installation.
Additional considerations for installing a sump
The length, distance and position of the pit are the primary considerations for installing these
protective devices, but they are not the only ones. These other factors also need to be considered:

Pipe diameter: - small (2 ″ to 4 ″) to large (> 60 ″)

Process fluids: both gas and liquid

Two-phase flow: as a gas and liquid, two different liquids, a liquid and solid particles, or a gas and
solid particles

Flow type - constant or pulsating

Distance from other measuring instruments or fittings

There are many factors that contribute to the choice of the correct type, size and position of a
thermowell. For more information on which fitting is the right one for your particular process and
requirements, or where a thermowell should be installed in a pipeline, contact our WIKA temperature
measurement specialists.