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PagesEnergyConsumptionofTanksandVats
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SteamEngineeringTutorials>SteamEngineeringPrinciples&HeatTransfer
Theheatingofliquidsintanksandvatsisanimportantrequirementinprocessindustries.Therearemanytypesoftankwithdifferentuses.
Determinationofheatrequirements,heattransferandheatlosscalculationsareallcoveredinthistutorial.

EnergyConsumptionofTanksandVats
Theheatingofliquidsintanksisanimportantrequirementinprocessindustriessuchasthedairy,metaltreatmentandtextileindustries.Watermayneedtobe
heatedtoprovideahotwaterutilityalternatively,aliquidmayneedtobeheatedaspartoftheproductionprocessitself,whetherornotachemicalreactionis
involved.Suchprocessesmayincludeboilerfeedtanks,washtanks,evaporators,boilingpans,coppers,calandriasandreboilers.
Tanksareoftenusedforheatingprocesses,ofwhichtherearetwomajorcategories:
Totallyenclosedtanks,suchasthoseusedforstoringfueloil,andwhereheatloadcalculationsaregenerallystraightforward.
Opentoppedtanks,whereheatloadcalculationsmaybecomplicatedbytheintroductionofarticlesandmaterials,orbyevaporativelosses.

Openandclosedtanksareusedforalargenumberofprocessapplications:
BoilerfeedtanksTheboilerfeedtankisattheheartofanysteamgenerationsystem.Itprovidesareservoirofreturnedcondensateandtreatedmakeup
water,forfeedingtheboiler.
Onereasonforheatingthewateristoreduceoxygenenteringtheboiler,with(theoretically)0ppmoxygenat100C.
Boilerfeedtanksarenormallyoperatedatbetween80Cand90C.
HotwatertanksHotwaterisrequiredforanumberofprocessesinindustry.Itisoftenheatedinsimple,openorclosedtankswhichusesteamasthe
heatingmedium.
Theoperatingtemperaturecanbeanywherebetween40Cand85Cdependingontheapplication.
DegreasingtanksDegreasingistheprocesswheredepositsofgreaseandcoolingoilareremovedfrommetalsurfaces,aftermachiningandpriortothefinal
assemblyoftheproduct.
Inadegreasingtank,thematerialisdippedintoasolution,whichisheatedbycoilstoatemperatureofbetween90Cand95C.
MetaltreatmenttanksMetaltreatmenttanks,whicharesometimescalledvats,areusedinanumberofdifferentprocesses:
Toremovescaleorrust.
Toapplyametalliccoatingtosurfaces.
Thetreatmenttemperaturestypicallyrangefrom70Cto85C.
OilstoragetanksStoragetanksarerequiredtoholdoilswhichcannotbepumpedatambienttemperatures,suchasheavyfueloilforboilers.Atambient
temperatures,heavyoilisverythickandmustbeheatedto30C40Cinordertoreduceitsviscosityandallowittobepumped.
Thismeansthatallheavyoilstoragetanksneedtobeprovidedwithheatingtofacilitatepumping.
HeatingtanksusedinprocessindustriesHeatingtanksareusedbyanumberofprocessindustries,seeTable2.9.1.

Insomeapplicationstheprocessfluidmayhaveachieveditsworkingtemperature,andtheonlyheatrequirementmaybeduetolossesfromthesolidsurfaceof
thewallsand/orthelossesfromtheliquidsurface.
ThisModulewilldealwiththecalculationswhichdeterminetheenergyrequirementsoftanks:thefollowingtwoModules(2.10and2.11)willdealwithhowthis

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energymaybeprovided.

Whendeterminingtheheatrequirementofatankorvatofprocessfluid,thetotalheatrequirementmayconsistof
someorallofanumberofkeycomponents:
1.Theheatrequiredtoraisetheprocessfluidtemperaturefromcoldtoitsoperatingtemperature.
2.Theheatrequiredtoraisethevesselmaterialfromcoldtoitsoperatingtemperature.
3.Theheatlostfromthesolidsurfaceofthevesseltotheatmosphere.
4.Theheatlostfromtheliquidsurfaceexposedtotheatmosphere.
5.Theheatabsorbedbyanycoldarticlesdippedintotheprocessfluid.
However,inmanyapplicationsonlysomeoftheabovecomponentswillbesignificant.Forexample,inthecaseofatotallyenclosedwellinsulatedbulkoil
storagetank,thetotalheatrequirementmaybemadeupalmostentirelyoftheheatrequiredtoraisethetemperatureofthefluid.
Items1and2,theenergyrequiredtoraisethetemperatureoftheliquidandthevesselmaterial,anditem5,theheatabsorbedbyanycoldarticlesdippedinto
theprocessfluid,canbefoundbyusingtheEquation2.6.1.Generally,datacanbeaccuratelydefined,andhencethecalculationoftheheatrequirementis
straightforwardandprecise.

Items3and4,theheatlossesfromthevesselandliquidsurfacescanbedeterminedbyusingEquation2.5.3.
However,heatlosscalculationsaremuchmorecomplex,andusuallyempiricaldata,ortablesbasedonseveralassumptionshavetobereliedupon.Itfollows
thatheatlosscalculationsarelessaccurate.

Heatlossfromthesolidsurfaceofthevesseltotheatmosphere
Heatwillonlybetransferredprovidedthereisadifferenceintemperaturebetweenthesurfaceandtheambientair.
Figure2.9.1providessometypicaloverallheattransfercoefficientsforheattransferfrombaresteelflatsurfacestoambientair.Ifthebottomofthetankisnot
exposedtoambientair,butispositionedflatontheground,itisusualtoconsiderthiscomponentoftheheatlosstobenegligible,anditmaysafelybeignored.
For25mmofinsulation,theUvalueshouldbemultipliedbyafactorof0.2
For50mmofinsulation,theUvalueshouldbemultipliedbyafactorof0.1
TheoverallheattransfercoefficientsprovidedinFigure2.9.1areforstillairconditionsonly.
Table2.9.2showsmultiplicationfactorswhichneedtobeappliedtothesevaluesifanairvelocityisbeingtakenintoaccount.However,ifthesurfaceiswell
insulated,theairvelocityisnotlikelytoincreasetheheatlossbymorethan10%eveninexposedconditions.

Velocitiesoflessthan1m/scanbeconsideredasshelteredconditions,whilst5m/smaybethoughtofasagentlebreeze(about3ontheBeaufortscale),10
m/safreshbreeze(Beaufort5),and16m/samoderategale(Beaufort7).
Forbulkoilstoragetanks,theoverallheattransfercoefficientsquotedinTable2.9.3maybeused.

Watertanks:heatlossfromthewatersurfacetotheatmosphere
Figure2.9.2relatesheatlossfromawatersurfacetoairvelocityandsurfacetemperature.Inthischartstillairisconsideredtohaveavelocityof1m/s,tanks
inshelteredpositionsoutdoorsconsidervelocitiesatabout4m/s,whilsttanksinexposedpositionsoutdoorsareconsideredwithvelocitiesatabout8m/s.
ThischartprovidestheheatlossinW/mratherthantheunitsoftheoverallheattransfercoefficientofW/mC.Thismeansthatthisvaluemustbemultiplied
bythesurfaceareatoprovidearateofheattransfer,asthewatertoairtemperaturedifferencehasalreadybeentakenintoaccount.
Heatlossesfromthewatersurface,asshowninFigure2.9.2arenotsignificantlyaffectedbythehumidityoftheair.Thefullrangeofhumiditieslikelytobe
encounteredinpracticeiscoveredbythethicknessofthecurve.However,thegraphconsidersheatlosseswithanairtemperatureof15.6Cand55%air
humidity.DifferentconditionstothesecanbecalculatedfromtheEngineeringSupportCentreontheSpiraxSarcowebsite.
Todeterminetheheatlossfromthechart,thewatersurfacetemperaturemustbeselectedfromthetopscale.Alineshouldthenbeprojectedvertically
downwardstothe(bold)heatlosscurve.Forindoortanksalineshouldbeprojectedhorizontallyfromtheintersectiontothelefthandscale.
Foroutdoortanksahorizontallineshouldbeprojectedeitherleftorrightuntilitintersectstherequiredlocation,eithershelteredorexposed.Aprojection
verticallydownwardswillthenrevealtheheatlossonthebottomscale.
Inmostcases,theheatlossfromtheliquidsurfaceislikelytobethemostsignificantheatlosselement.Wherepractical,heatlosscanbelimitedbycovering
theliquidsurfacewithalayerofpolystyrenesphereswhichprovideaninsulatingblanket.Anysolutiontoreduceheatlossesbecomesevenmoreimportant
whentanksarelocatedoutsideinexposedpositionsasportrayedbythegraphinFigure2.9.2

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Example2.9.1
ForthetankshowninFigure2.9.3,determine:
Part1.Themeanheattransferraterequiredduringstartup.
Part2.Themaximumheattransferraterequiredduringoperation.

Thetankisunlaggedandopentoppedandissituatedonaconcretefloorinsideafactory.
Itis3mlongby3mwideby2mhigh.
Tanktotalsurfacearea=24m(excludingbase).
Heattransfercoefficientfromtank/air,U1=11W/mC.
Thetankis2/3fullofaweakacidsolution(c p=3.9kJ/kgC)whichhasthesamedensityaswater(1000kg/m)
Thetankisfabricatedfrom15mmmildsteelplate.(Density=7850kg/m,c p=0.5kJ/kgC)
Thetankisusedonalternatedays,whenthesolutionneedstoberaisedfromthelowestconsideredambienttemperatureof8Cto60Cin2hours,and
remainatthattemperatureduringtheday.
Whenthetankisuptotemperature,a500kgsteelarticleistobedippedevery20minuteswithoutthetankoverflowing.(c p=0.5kJ/kgC)

Part1Determinethemeanheattransferraterequiredduring
startup M(startup)
Thisisthesumof:

Part1.2HeatingthetankmaterialM(tank)

Part1.3HeatlossesfromtanksidesM(sides)

Part1.4HeatlossesfromliquidsurfaceM(surface)

Part1.5TotalmeanheattransferrequirementM(startup)

Part2Determinetherunningload,thatisthemaximumheattransferrate
requiredduringoperation (operation)
Inoperatingconditions,theliquidandtank(A1andA2,page2.9.6)arealreadyuptooperatingtemperature,sotheheatingcomponents=0.
Inoperatingconditions,theheatlossesfromtheliquidandtank(A3andA4,page2.9.6)willbegreater.Thisisbecauseofthegreaterdifferencebetweenthe
liquidandtanktemperaturesandthesurroundings.
Immersingthearticleintheliquidisclearlytheobjectiveoftheprocess,sothisheatloadmustbecalculatedandaddedtotherunningloadheatlosses.

Part2.1Heatlossesfromtanksides

Part2.2Heatlossesfromliquidsurface(surface)
Part2.3Heatingthesteelarticlesimmersedinthetank(article)

Part2.4Totalmeanheattransferrequirements(surface)(Therunningload)
Notethattheoperationalenergyrequirement(59kW)issignificantlylessthanthestartupenergyrequirement(367kW).Thisistypical,and,wherepossible,the
startupperiodmaybeextended.Thiswillhavetheeffectofreducingthemaximumenergyflowrateandhasthebenefitsoflevellingdemandontheboiler,and

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makinglessdemandonthetemperaturecontrolsystem.
Fortanksthataretooperatecontinuously,itisoftenonlynecessarytocalculatetheoperatingrequirementsi.e.thePart2calculations.

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