Heavy fuel oil physical properties

[poseilus]

Hi to all,

I am looking for physical properties of heavy fuel oil at various temperatures. Are there any websites that I can get this info from? Or any other reference that could help me.

I basically want to calculate heat losses from a storage tank. In order to do that I need to calculate overal heat transfer coefficient. Any references that can help me get good results?

I have already calculated for a 14m diameter and 10m height storage tank, carbon steel, heavy fuel oil maintain temp of 55 degrees celcius around 1MW heat loss. Does this value sound to you correct?

It is my first time around this topics and I am newbie as someone would say. Any ideas references can help me a lot.

Thank you in advance,

Poseilus.

 

[jmw]

You might search these web sites for suitable calculators.

http://www.cheresources.com/indexzz.shtml

http://www.euronet.nl/users/e_wesker/et.html

 

[25362]

How do you keep a constant 55^oC in the fuel proper? What kind of heavy fuel are you speaking about? Will it still be sufficiently liquid at this temperature? What is its pour point, viscosity, etc.?

In the abscence of weather and insulation data, one couldn't say whether your estimated 1 MW heat losses is in the ballpark, it may be off mark by more than +/-50%.

 

[TD2K]

Is this an existing plant or a new design you are doing? In either case, the customer should have a fuel oil spec that you can use to adjust the viscosity to your holding temperature.

The designation 'fuel oil' can cover a reasonably wide range of fluids and it's not a precisely determined mixture in any event.

You can check Chevron's fuel specification page, they have information on a lot of fuels but not sure how much precise information you'll be able to use directly.

http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/diesel/Diesel_Spec.shtm

 

[25362]

BTW, for a given oil a change of 20^oC up or down may bring about changes in the Pr number from a value of 10,000 down to 3,000 or up to 50,000, respectively. Thus the importance of defining the oil characteristics to evaluate heat transfer properties.