×
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

Insulate the DA Tank?

Insulate the DA Tank?

Insulate the DA Tank?

(OP)
How common is it for DA tanks to be insulated and do you recommended we do so and why?

I'm working with our boiler vendor and installer on the final punchlist for a new 200 hp Miura Boiler and one item I had suggested they needed to do was to insulate the DA tank.  They've agreed to insulate the piping coming from the DA Tank for safety reasons and the blow down piping from the boiler to the separator, but didn't feel it was necessary to insulate the DA tank.

Photo of DA Tank attached.

Thanks in advance.  

RE: Insulate the DA Tank?

I have never seen a DA that wasn't insulated - and that included both the DA section & the storage tank.

Do the heat loss from this unit, and figure out how much more steam you'll have to feed it if it's left un-insulated.

The equipment vendor should know better. And if the contractor didn't know that insulation was required, then he simply shouldn't be bidding on jobs like this.



 

RE: Insulate the DA Tank?

I second what TBP said. Definitely insulate the DA, both for personnel protection and energy conservation. This is standard.

RE: Insulate the DA Tank?

There are DA tanks and then there are DA tanks.  Large boiler (speaking more of water tube boilers than fire tube type) DA's are typically insulated but they also operate at 15-50 PSIG.  I rarely saw the class of DA tank that you show insulated.  They were mostly associated with commercial grade fire tube boilers (laundries and light industrial plants) rather than heavy industrial applications.

Still all in all, TBP's answer has it right.  It is strictly a matter of heat loss and steam cost.  What by the way is the operating pressure of this tank?

rmw

RE: Insulate the DA Tank?

cannot download your picture!

RE: Insulate the DA Tank?

With no insulation you are losing heat and condensing steam (losing money to fuel), thus requiring more steam from system to keep DA full and hot (losing system capacity).  Treat it as any steam vessel or pipe.  Unless you want to lose heat and condense steam, insulate it.  Also, the boiler room will be that much hotter and you have a safety issue with a 240+ F surface.

RE: Insulate the DA Tank?

(OP)
To answer rmw, the DA tank is rated for 50 psi.
 

RE: Insulate the DA Tank?

It'll be rated for 50#, but I doubt that it will operate at that pressure. Probably more like 5 or so.

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