Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
(OP)
Well, finally a question that has not been asked on the site that I need answering so here's my first post!
I am designing a small acetone storage tank (5m3 volume) which needs to be filled from a road tanker. I am having problems working out a maximum pumping velocity as some literature say static shuld be avoided by keeping velocities to 1m/s to 7m/s but other documentation says that due acetone being miscible with water it will not hold a static charge(NFPA Code77 8.3.3.2 (2007)) .
The client would prefer we pump as quickly as we can along with the transfer of acetone to the process which would be 12m/s along a 25mm diameter line.
Should I treat acetone as a non-conducting solvent or a conducting one?
Many thanks for any help.
I am designing a small acetone storage tank (5m3 volume) which needs to be filled from a road tanker. I am having problems working out a maximum pumping velocity as some literature say static shuld be avoided by keeping velocities to 1m/s to 7m/s but other documentation says that due acetone being miscible with water it will not hold a static charge(NFPA Code77 8.3.3.2 (2007)) .
The client would prefer we pump as quickly as we can along with the transfer of acetone to the process which would be 12m/s along a 25mm diameter line.
Should I treat acetone as a non-conducting solvent or a conducting one?
Many thanks for any help.





RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
A fire / explosion surely requires a flammable mixture with air (in the right proportions) and a source of ignition.
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Regards, HM
No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary - William of Occam
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
Thanks for the reply.
Even if a system is fully bonded and you are using a non-conducting solvent one still needs to keep the velocity low otherwise a charge will build up in the fluid itself.
Based on the NFPA information, I am assuming acetone will not build a static charge and I will be able to pump at higher speeds. Though based on pipe sizes this will be a maximum of 4m/s for tanker unloading so not too high at all.
The 12m/s flow is a small volume as well: ~20litres.
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
http://www.caledonlabs.com/upload/msds/1200-1e.pdf
which is Canadian, however that shouldn't affect the data bits. It states under the fire and explosion section that the liquid will not accumulate a static charge
hope this helps, HM
No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary - William of Occam
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
Many thanks.
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
I have a problem with the liquid velocity and the selected pipe size.
In English units, a velocity of 12 m/s and 25 mm pipe equates to about 40 ft/second velocity in a 1" NPS pipe ???
Isn't this a bit high ?
Any fill pipe that I have designed for a tank farm has always been 2"NPS or larger and velocities were under 12 FT/sec.
The same client that will complain bitterly about long tanker offload time will complain bitterly about piping vibration and erosion.
My opinion only
-MJC
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
When I worked around acetone we treated it as a nonpolar solvent and had adequate dip pipes and bonding. Why take the chance?
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
I agree with your dip pipe and bonding remark.
Considering all of the eventual system changes in a plant, it is well worth a few dollars more to bond everything and include dip tubes in all tanks.
Why take a chance and....prepare for the future !!
-MJC
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
Obviously no smoking, no cell phones, truck turned off, grounded and bonded to the rest of the system. Our unloading hoses are stainless so they conduct any charge back to the pump and the rest of the carbon steel piping.
Regards
StoneCold
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
This is helful for highly volatile flammables handling safety.
Best Regards
Qalander(Chem)
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
The 12m/s will 'only' be transferring about 20litres of fluid. It will also be via a system where the velocity can be reduced as well hence from a process design point of view it will not be an issue. The client will have to make their basis of safety for those transfer speeds.
The bulk will be along 2" line with the information given above the set-up I have designed will not give high velocities.
Regards,
Alf
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
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"Pumping accounts for 20% of the world's energy used by electric motors and 25-50% of the total electrical energy usage in certain industrial facilities."-DOE statistic (Note: Make that 99% for pipeline companies) http://virtualpipeline.spaces.live.com/
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
I fully agree with BigInch. Although the "static" relaxation time for pure acetone (a polar liquid) at 20oC is in the order of 10-4 s, the high flow velocity may result in an accumulated energy level beyond 0.1 mJ, considered a reasonable limit to avoid a spark igniting flammable acetone vapors.
I suggest reading chapter 7 of Crowl and Louvar's Chemical Process Safety: Fundamentals with Applications, Prentice Hall, in particular, example 7.4.
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
**********************
"Pumping accounts for 20% of the world's energy used by electric motors and 25-50% of the total electrical energy usage in certain industrial facilities."-DOE statistic (Note: Make that 99% for pipeline companies) http://virtualpipeline.spaces.live.com/
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
BigInch, thanks for the clarification. Anyway, I still surmise that static charge buildup at these high velocities is a subject to be taken into consideration.
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
**********************
"Pumping accounts for 20% of the world's energy used by electric motors and 25-50% of the total electrical energy usage in certain industrial facilities."-DOE statistic (Note: Make that 99% for pipeline companies) http://virtualpipeline.spaces.live.com/
RE: Acetone road tanker off-loading velocities
Many thanks for all the help and advice.