When designing a shell and tube heat exchanger for viscous products, such as a whey application in the dairy industry or an asphalt application in the roofing industry, there are several options that can be considered to ensure efficient and effective heat transfer. Some of these options include:
Increase the Tube Diameter: By increasing the tube diameter, the fluid velocity will decrease, which reduces the pressure drop and allows for better heat transfer. This is particularly effective for viscous fluids, which require a lower fluid velocity to transfer heat effectively.
Use Baffles:Baffles are plates that are placed inside the shell of the heat exchanger to direct the flow of fluid. By using baffles, the fluid is forced to flow in a serpentine pattern, increasing the amount of time it spends in the heat exchanger and improving heat transfer.
Increase the Number of Tubes: Increasing the number of tubes in the heat exchanger increases the surface area available for heat transfer, which can improve efficiency.
Use Counter-Flow Design: A counter-current flow design can be used for a close temperature approach as it results in a larger temperature difference across the heat exchanger. In this design, the hot and cold fluids flow in opposite directions, which results in the highest temperature difference at the point of exit.
Use High Turbulence Flow: Viscous fluids require a high heat transfer. Therefore, by increasing the turbulence in the flow, the heat transfer efficiency can be improved. This can be achieved by using a fluid with a higher velocity.
Use Low Velocity Flow: Going back to the whey protein example, whey protein tends to foam and create a layer of protein on the surface of the heat exchanger. By using low velocity flow, the protein can be prevented from sticking to the surface, which can improve the heat transfer efficiency.
Enerquip Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers for Viscous Applications
Overall, the design options for a shell and tube heat exchanger for viscous products will depend on the specific characteristics of the fluid being used and the desired level of heat transfer efficiency. It is important to consult with a qualified engineer to ensure that the heat exchanger is designed to meet the specific requirements of the application.
Heat exchangers are important sanitary and industrial devices that enable heated fluids to be cooled for safe discharge or for cooled fluids to be heated, depending on the need. Learn more about why water heaters require heat exchangers and why they’re crucial across many operations.
Suction heaters are a type of industrial heat exchanger used in a variety of industrial contexts to heat viscous fluids, including asphalt and fuel oil, to a temperature at which they can be pumped.
Keeping entire tanks of these types of liquids at pumping temperatures can be prohibitively expensive. Suction heaters heat only the liquid being pumped through them instead of heating an entire storage tank of products. As a result, suction heaters are an economical, cost-effective option for plants and facilities in a variety of industries.
Many industries use tanks to store large quantities of material that require heating and temperature regulation. From the asphalt and chemical industries to refining and biofuel blending, effective thermal fluid heating systems are essential. Tank heating coils are one of the most effective methods of heating and regulating the temperature of stored materials.
Tank heating coils are designed to be durable and efficient in maintaining the stored materials’ temperature. If the heating coil is not functioning properly, it may not be able to effectively heat the tank and its contents, leading to temperature fluctuations and potential issues with the stored materials. Therefore, it is important to ensure that tank heating coils are well-maintained and in good working order.
How Does a Tank Heating Coil Work
Heating coils are placed inside a tank of contents. The coils are set up in banks and then distributed evenly throughout the bottom of a storage tank. They can be made from a variety of materials, but most commonly with carbon steel or stainless steel.
The fluid (such as hot oil or steam) is pumped through a series of pipes and into the heating coil by a hot oil heater, steam generator, or other external source. This fluid continues to circulate in a continuous loop which ensures the tank’s contents remain at a specified temperature.
Finned vs. Bare Pipe Coils
Helical coils and bare pipe coils are two commonly used types of tank heating coils, but which is better suited for your particular application?
Bare pipe coils are made of a single pipe or tube. In a smaller tank where only one or two coils may be needed, the bare pipe option may be a more cost-effective option. Bare pipe coils are also a better option when the contents stored are highly viscous.
Finned coils have thin fins welded to the bare pipe, either vertically (helically) or horizontally (longitudinally). The fins create 12x the heat transfer and efficiency over bare pipe tank heating coils.
As the tank gets larger and the heat load increases, finned coils become unmatched in efficiency when compared to the bare coil.
When comparing helically wound vs. longitudinal tank heating coils, helical coils offer even more surface area, faster heat transfer, and more even heating. With a longitudinal design, the fins are welded on horizontally which creates a shelf for the product to sit on. This increases the chance of coking and early wear.
Hot Oil vs. Steam Tank Heating Coils
Hot oil coils are designed to transfer heat to the contents of a tank using hot oil as the heating media. The hot oil flows through the coils in a continuous loop, typically flowing in a serpentine fashion through the banks of coils. An industrial hot oil heater heats the oil as it passes through the coils. The hot oil then transfers the thermal energy to the stored material and circulates back through the system.
Steam coils transfer heat using steam as the heating media. Steam from a steam generator makes its way through a header in the tank coil. Steam enters the coil and flows through the bends until it returns to the header and condenses into water. As the steam passes through the pipes, it transfers heat to the stored material in the tank.
Materials of Construction
Stainless steel: Stainless steel is a corrosion-resistant material with a high percentage of chromium and is ideal for use in applications that may be exposed to corrosive materials or environments such as biofuels, food, beverage, water, and pharmaceuticals. In addition to its corrosion resistance, it’s also chosen for its visual appeal.
Carbon steel. Carbon steel is a strong and durable material that is prone to corrosion and rust when exposed to moisture but is harder and stronger than stainless steel. It is often used in more industrial applications such as refining.
Custom Steam and Hot Oil Coils from Enerquip
Tank heating coils heat and regulate the temperature of tanks containing stored materials in various industries. They are an essential component of thermal fluid heating systems, which use fluid or steam to transfer heat to the tank and its contents.
In the past, plant operators chose to heat tanks of fluid through direct-fire burners flaming into tanks of flammable contents. If that sounds dangerous, you’re right. Many plants are now turning to tank heating coils – a much safer and efficient option. Tank heating coils offer a safer alternative for heating stored materials in tanks, as they do not involve the use of flames.
Enerquip offers high-quality industrial heating equipment for plants and facilities. We specialize in the design and manufacture of reliable thermal heating systems and hot oil heating system components for various industries.
Contact us to learn more about our tank coils and how they can benefit your facility. Get a quote for our high-quality tank heating coils today.
Thermal oxidizers and economizers are game-changers in the industrial world, offering a cost-effective solution to increase efficiency, reduce energy costs, and reduce emissions entering our atmosphere. But what exactly are they, and how do they work? Let’s break it down.
What is a Thermal Oxidizer?
A thermal oxidizer is an industrial process unit used to treat waste gases generated from various industrial processes. It is designed to remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from process gases before they are released into the atmosphere.
The thermal oxidizer works by heating the contaminated gases to a high temperature, typically in the range of 800-2000°F. The heat causes the VOCs and HAPs to break down into CO2 and water vapor, which are then safely released into the atmosphere. The process of breaking down the contaminants is known as thermal oxidation.
Thermal oxidizers are widely used in the chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries, among others, to meet environmental regulations and minimize their impact on the environment.
What is an Economizer?
An economizer is a device designed to recover waste heat from hot exhaust gases exiting a thermal oxidizer. In this way, it increases the efficiency of the unit by preheating incoming air with the recovered heat. By preheating incoming air, less fuel is required for combustion, resulting in lower operating costs and increased efficiency.
In addition to reducing fuel consumption, using an economizer also helps reduce emissions from thermal oxidizers by allowing them to operate more cleanly. This can lead to lower emissions regulations compliance costs as well as improved environmental performance.
Benefits of Pairing an Economizer and Thermal Oxidizer
The main benefit of using an economizer in a thermal oxidizer is improved efficiency and cost savings due to reduced fuel consumption. However, there are other benefits as well such as:
Increase efficiency and sustainability by utilizing wasted heat
Save money by recycle wasted heat back into the production process
Improved control over process temperatures
Better operation at higher temperatures
Decreased maintenance requirements due to fewer moving parts
Improved safety due to less risk of fire or explosion from higher temperatures.
Improve reliability by providing better temperature control during startup and shutdown operations
Waste Heat Economizers from Enerquip
Economizers are a great way to increase the efficiency of your thermal oxidizer while reducing energy costs and emissions output. They provide numerous benefits including lower fuel consumption, improved temperature control, higher operational temperatures, decreased maintenance needs, improved safety features, and increased reliability during startup/shutdown operations.
Investing in an economizer for your thermal oxidizer can be a great way for engineers to save money while improving their environmental performance simultaneously.
A steam bussel, or annular distributor, is an important component of a shell and tube heat exchanger when viscosity or too much direct steam heat is a concern.
In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits and function of a steam bussel and how it can help improve the performance of your shell and tube heat exchanger.
What is a Steam Bussel?
A steam bussel, or annular distributor, is an optional component of a shell and tube heat exchanger that is used to distribute fluid or steam evenly over the surface of the tube bundle. This helps to ensure that the fluid or steam is heated or cooled evenly and efficiently.
In a shell and tube heat exchanger, the fluid being processed flows through the tubes, while a second fluid, hot or cold, flows around the outside of the tubes in the shell. The annular distributor is typically located at the inlet of the shell, and its main function is to distribute the incoming fluid or steam evenly over the surface of the tube bundle.
The use of an annular distributor helps to reduce the risk of hot spots or cold spots within the heat exchanger, as it ensures that the fluid being processed is heated or cooled evenly as it flows through the tubes. This helps to improve the efficiency of the heat exchanger and can also help to extend the lifespan of the equipment by reducing the risk of damage due to thermal stress.
How a Steam Bussel Functions
The function of a steam bussel is fairly straightforward. It consists of multiple pipes arranged in a cylindrical casing, which allows steam to pass through them in order to be heated or cooled before being discharged into another part of the system. The number and diameter of these pipes will vary depending on the specific requirements for each application as well as on how efficient you want your system to be.
When installing a steam bussel into your shell and tube heat exchanger, you need to make sure that all connections are properly sealed in order to prevent any leaks from occurring during operation.
Benefits of Using Steam Bussels
Steam bussels provide the following benefits for your shell and tube heat exchanger:
Distributes heat evenly, minimizing the risk of damaging or altering sensitive products.
Keeps viscous products flowing.
Increases the overall heat transfer efficiency by providing more surface area for heat exchange.
Reduces pressure loss within the system, since they act as baffles that help control the flow rate of steam passing through the system.
Helps reduce costs associated with fuel consumption since it reduces the amount of energy required to achieve a certain temperature level.
Easier to maintain than other types of baffles because they do not require any mechanical parts or frequent cleaning and maintenance activities.
Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers from Enerquip
Adding a steam bussel, or annular distributor, to your shell and tube heat exchanger can have numerous advantages when it comes to improving efficiency and reducing fuel costs associated with operating your system.
They can significantly increase the overall performance level while also helping reduce pressure losses within your system.
Efficiency is always a priority for any process, plant, or organization. Creating maximum output while reducing overhead is a core business practice. With so many moving parts in tank terminal operations, there are many places revenue can fall through the cracks. Make sure your operation is sealed tight with these high-impact ways to increase efficiency.
Here are 5 ways to increase your terminal’s efficiency.
1. Replace boilers with thermal fluid heaters.
Thermal fluid heaters and boilers are essential to the day-to-day operations of facilities in the asphalt, refining, and tank terminal industries. Organizations in these, and other industries, rely heavily on these systems to keep their product warm and pliable for pumping.
While in the past, many plants have chosen steam boilers for their operations, thermal oil heating systems outperform them in a number of ways.
First, the equipment and operational costs of a thermal fluid system are significantly lower than that of a boiler operation. Unlike steam boilers, thermal fluid heaters don’t require a full-time boiler operator. This can save upwards of $80,000 a year. Also with a thermal fluid heater, there is no need for a pretreating skid ($40,000), or deaerator ($10,000), or chemical injection system ($15,000).
Next, thermal fluid is a more efficient and lower maintenance option for heating. Though water is often considered a free resource, there’s much more to it. With a steam boiler, the water pumped through the system will need continuous and expensive water treatment, a condensate collection system, and maintenance of steam traps. Don’t forget that water is highly corrosive, so if the water chemistry is slightly off, the system can corrode quickly. Additionally, water can freeze, so boiler systems require heated buildings (adding costs). If a boiler goes down and ice forms, an entire system can easily be destroyed.
A thermal fluid system (hot oil) eliminates all these headaches and high maintenance costs. There are no steam traps, condensation systems, chemical treatment systems, or blow-down requirements to deal with. Most importantly, oil is not corrosive like water and will not freeze in cold temperatures. It is simply the best way to heat equipment.
Thermal fluid heaters are significantly more consistent and efficient than their alternative heating system counterparts like steam boilers. In addition to decreased operational and energy costs, they are also more environmentally friendly, especially when using a low NOx burner.
While many traditional plant operations use a helical coil thermal fluid heater, operators can increase their efficiency even more with superior serpentine coil thermal fluid heaters. The coil is built serpentine, creating more space between the coils to allow for even heat distribution. With an integrated convection economizer, at 86% efficiency, serpentine coil thermal fluid heaters are some of the most highly efficient heaters on the market.
2. Replace tank fire tubes with bottom-mounted tank coils.
In older facilities, you’ll sometimes find dated and unsafe direct-fired heaters blasting directly into a tank sidewall. One small leak and you’ve got a major safety situation on your hands. In addition, the single flame creates hot spots and cold spots, reducing efficiency. Replacing fire tubes with tank coils also eliminates an emissions source, reducing your carbon footprint.
A much safer and more economical option are tank heating coils mounted to the bottom of a tank. These coils can either be heated with hot oil or steam and can be bare or finned pipes. In most cases, finned is the most efficient way to go as the fins create twelve times the surface area of their bare pipe counterpart. Unlike longitudinal finned pipes whose fins are mounted horizontally, helically wound or vertical fins reduce the risk of coking as any sediments can fall through the fins.
3. Repair or replace old equipment and technology.
Let’s face it, all equipment has a shelf life. No matter the quality, eventually, it will need to be replaced.
When heating equipment begins to break down, operations may experience problems like process fluid degradation, tube failures, high stack temperatures, high fuel costs, high maintenance costs, and inability to reach optimal fluid temperatures.
By replacing old equipment, often you can quickly pay for the equipment itself with the money saved on fuel, water, and other resources.
4. Go low NOx on your burners.
Over the last decade, low NOx has become more of a mainstream practice. NOx is an abbreviation used to describe Nitrogen Oxides, a family of greenhouse gases. When fuel is burned at high heat, nitrogen oxide gases are emitted.
While some operations choose low NOx for their sustainability consciousness, many states and countries now require it. Enerquip’s hot oil heaters can be built with low NOx burners utilizing flue gas recirculation or mesh head burners that can reduce NOx levels to less than 9PPM in total NOx.
5. Invest in tank insulation.
Especially in colder climates, it can be challenging to maintain the temperature of contents stored in tanks and running through pipes. Often, insulation is an afterthought, but it’s an important piece of this efficiency puzzle. Without proper insulation, valuable heat energy is lost, and it can take much more fuel to heat up the same contents to the desired temperature.
The proper insulation and surface protection will not only protect the thermal properties of the product in the tank, but it will help increase its lifespan. A properly insulated tank will ensure the product inside won’t freeze due to outside temperature or deteriorate due to heat caused by solar radiation.
High-Efficiency Industrial Heating Equipment from Enerquip
Enerquip (and the former American Heating Company) has been manufacturing quality heating equipment for decades. With robust building standards, much of our equipment is still working hard decades later. With continuous process improvement at our core, our equipment has grown with us.
Ready to start talking about strategic equipment planning? Bring us in on the conversation. Contact us or request a quote today.
CheeseCon is a gathering of more than 3,000 dairy industry leaders, suppliers, marketers, and more. CheeseCon features impactful seminars, events, and a networking trade show. Make sure to stop by for a visit at the Enerquip Booth #705.
Educational Opportunities at CheeseCon
CheeseCon offers a wide variety of seminars focusing on the hottest topics in the industry.
On Wednesday, April 5, attendees can attend one or more of the following concurrent sessions:
Optimizing Manufacture of Snack Cheese – Center for Dairy Research
Milk Pricing Reform in Federal Milk Marketing Orders – Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association Policy Panel
Artisan Cheesemaking at CDR – Center for Dairy Research
On Thursday, April 6, attendees can attend one or more of the following concurrent sessions:
New Generation of Cheesemaking Approaches – CDR
Pathogen Prevention, Training Resources and Traceability – Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and Center for Dairy Research
Advances in Whey Processing – Center for Dairy Research
Networking Opportunities at CheeseCon
In addition to terrific educational sessions, CheeseCon is offering many opportunities to network with other industry professionals. Don’t miss out!
We hope to see you at CheeseCon and its trade show. Make sure to stop by booth #705. Our Enerquip thermal solutions experts are happy to discuss the many ways a stainless steel shell and tube heat exchanger can benefit your operation.
For more information about CheeseCon 2023, visit CheeseCon.org.
Enerquip is excited to, once again, attend the International Operating Conference & Trade Show in Houston, TX. Taking place on May 23 – 24, 2023, the ILTA conference and trade show is the largest industry gathering, with over 4,500 liquid terminal industry professionals planning to attend.
This event proves to be a gathering ground for industry professionals worldwide.
2023 ILTA Conference Sessions
The International Operating Conference & Trade Show offers a wide variety of seminars focusing on the hottest topics in the industry. Conference session topics include environmental, operations and engineering, leadership, health and safety, and more.
Visit Enerquip at Booth #462
Enerquip will be exhibiting at booth #462 on May 23 from 1:30 – 6pm and on May 24 from 9am – Noon. We’d love for you to stop by and learn about Enerquip’s efficient tank heating solutions including thermal fluid heaters, tank heating coils, steam generators, waste heat economizers, and more.
Our Enerquip thermal experts, Ron Herman and Shailendra Seecharan, are happy to discuss the many ways our sanitary and industrial heating and cooling solutions can help in your production process.
Networking Opportunities
Reception at the Altitude Pool at the Marriot Marquis – May 22 at 5:30pm
Awards breakfast at the Marriot Marquis – May 23 from 7:45 – 8:30am
Trade Show reception at the GRB Convention Centers Halls A & B – May 23 from 6 – 7:30pm
Enerquip Thermal Solutions will be exhibiting at NISTM’s 25th Annual International Aboveground Storage Tank Conference & Trade Show at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando, FL.
The event is a terrific opportunity for those in the storage tank industry to learn and connect with others in the field.
NISTM’s 25th Annual International Aboveground Storage Tank Conference & Trade Show is one of the industry’s top events for connecting AST professionals with numerous exhibitors to learn about their new services, products, and technology. Conference attendees will listen in on the latest industry insights, news, and best practices.
Join Us at the Trade Show – Booth #111
At the NISTM trade show on April 12-13, you’ll have the opportunity to visit and network with trade show vendors and exhibitors.
Enerquip will be exhibiting at booth #111 on April 12 from 8:30am – 5pm and on April 13 from 8:30am – 1:00pm. We’d love for you to stop by and learn about Enerquip’s efficient tank heating solutions including thermal fluid heaters, tank heating coils, steam generators, waste heat economizers, and more.
NISTM Networking Opportunities
NISTM offers many opportunities to network with others in the industry, including:
Golf Tournament at Rosen Shingle Creek Golf Club – April 11 at 7:45am and 1:15pm
Welcome Reception in the Gatlin Ballroom – April 11 at 8:30pm
Network Mixer on the Trade Show Floor – April 12 at 5:00pm
You can find more information about these NISTM happenings on the NISTM website.
