Tank heating is crucial across various industries, making it a common application in industrial heating. Whether dealing with water, fuel, or corrosive substances, the process requires careful consideration. The method chosen depends on the specific goal, whether it’s heating a finished product in storage or materials during production. Accurate and efficient tank heating is essential for many industrial decision-makers to achieve their desired outcomes.
The key is finding the best approach. Ignoring even minor details can result in an inefficient, overly costly, or unsafe process. We first need to calculate how much energy is needed for the process:
Where:Qtot is the total energy requirement.
Qm is the energy absorbed by the process material including latent heat, the material in the tank, and the tank itself.
QLoss is the energy lost from the surfaces by conduction, convection, radiation, ventilation and evaporation.
The safety factor typically ranges from 10% to 25%.
This is just looking at the tip of the iceberg concerning this calculation. In order to solve this equation, you have to go through a number of other steps to calculate Qm and Qloss.
Once all of the equations have been calculated and we know the total energy required, we must look at whether we should go with a direct or indirect heating method. Is the material we’re trying to heat sensitive to contact? If so, a direct heating method may be out of the question. In these cases, an indirect approach may be optimal. If there aren’t any restrictions, direct heating will minimize energy loss.
Here are additional questions that need to be considered: Is the tank susceptible to corrosion? How many gallons of liquid are involved? How long is the process?
Finally, there is the question of control. How tight does it need to be? Do we need to strategize on utilizing a sensor? This is not so uncommon.
All of these questions need to be answered before a recommendation can be made on the best approach.
The main takeaway is that heating a tank for an industrial process can be a challenging task. I penned an
article for Process Heating magazine in the spring of 2023 on this topic. I encourage you to give it a read if you’d like to learn more.
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