×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

(OP)
Dear all,

we are designing a new process.  Our exiting units are inside this process will be outside.  For safety reasons we are not using a building - flammable materials etc.

Our materials freeze around 20deg C.  Normally in the process they are processed above 40deg C typically 90deg C and above and therefore no freezing issues are normally present.  All our lines will be electically traced and lagged for startup and maintenance.  But, what about vessels?

We have 8m3+ 15 m3  process vessels accumulators.  Should they have heating coils or just lagged and traced.  I want to avoid performing a complex heat transfer calculation taking into account startup conditions etc.

Is there any industry standards I could purchase or refer to?  I'm wary of taking with a supply of coils etc, it would only be in their intrest to recommend one..

RE: Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

Offhand, I think that is the last thing you should avoid.  Its much less complex than trying to start up flow of a solid.



http://virtualpipeline.spaces.msn.com

RE: Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

Would you buy a new car that was only half painted??

Finish the job and provide necessary heat (coils, injection, tracing etc) to the tanks

You didn't list your winter design conditions but apparently it is below 20 deg C

RE: Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

The most expensive incident on record (more than US$ 1,000,000,000) for my company was caused by a natural occurring event.  Was it a hurricane, tornado, tsunami, or flood?  No, it was cold weather on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Who said “plan for the worst, and hope for the best”?

Good luck,
Latexman

RE: Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

Consider hiring a professional engineer to (help) design the tanks.  Perhaps Perry's handbook of chemical engineering will help.
Perhaps your tank vendor has the staff on hand.

As our fellow commentators suggested, options appear to be heat tracing, heating coils, bayonette heater, or heat exchanger with recirculation pump back to tank, of course, all with insulation.
Good luck.

RE: Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

For Live help on Freeze Protection you should call the guys at JMH Heat Inc. I have their number if you want it. They specialize in Freeze Protection!

RE: Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

JMH Heat  1-800-331-2426. Ask for Jeff Jordan.

RE: Tank freeze protection for irregular operation

There are many ways to do this. You could have internal coils with heat trace fluid (heat medium). External electric or heat medium trace.  Or I've seen plants with small pumps that keep circulation of the process up at a low rate to keep all lines and vessels with process flow.  

I've seen plants in ND, USA completely inside buildings with Tioga heaters that keep the whole build warm and ventilated.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources