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Welding of steam tracing to tank cone

Welding of steam tracing to tank cone

Welding of steam tracing to tank cone

(OP)
Hi,

I have the following problem: The design of a new tank calls for steam tracing to be welded by continuous welding on both sides to the bottom cone of a tank which will need to ensure product inside the tank does not cool down if there is a failure.

The cone is 12mm think SA-516 Gr.60N, and the steam pipes are 1" Sch.160 SA-106 Gr.B.

The concern is that the heat input of continuous welding on both sides of the steam pipes to the cone will cause the cone to warp.

A proposal was made to use staggered welding and then fill the gaps between welding with a heat transfer compound to make up for the loss of transfer area that would be provided by continuous welding. Can anyone propose a compound to be used that can handle up to 181deg C, bonds sufficiently to steel but is still removable and has decent heat transfer properties?

Or perhaps another solution?

RE: Welding of steam tracing to tank cone

The best heat transfer coumpounds out there are terrible conductors...but they're better than air. When applying to pipe on a vessel, you will see a some improvement over nothing at all. Trouble is it may not last very long. You will want to capture the HTC somehow so it will be a longer term solution. QMax Industries, Inc. offers the HTC at the temperatures you need. They also may have a more permenant solution.

RE: Welding of steam tracing to tank cone

Would brazing be an option, with its potentially lower heat input, in comparison to welding? Can you talk weld the steam tracing pipe, and then fully bond with a braze, or even a solder? How hot must this get (hot enough for steam, I presume) and what are the other environmental concerns?



SceneryDriver

RE: Welding of steam tracing to tank cone

Why would you weld pipe to the cone? Wouldn't the correct method be to add a half pipe jacket to the outside of the cone? If that is too much stress, switch to a dimple jacket on the cone. Both of them seem like a better solution than heat transfer pastes.

Regards
StoneCold

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