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Steam Engineering Principles and Heat Transfer Heating with Coils and Jackets
Indirect heating of fluids is covered in this tutorial
including layouts, control and drainage of coils andjackets, and heat transfer calculations.
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Engineering Tutorials
Heating with Coils and Jackets
Vessels can be heated in a number of different ways. This tutorial will deal with indirect heating. In t
systems, the heat is transferred across a heat transfer surface. Options include:
Submerged steam coils - A widely used form of heat transfer involves the installation inside a
tank of a steam coil immersed in a process fluid.
Steam jackets - Steam circulates in the annular space between a jacket and the vessel walls, a
heat is transferred through the wall of the vessel.
Submerged steam coilsThe use of tank coils is particularly common in marine applications where cargoes of crude oil, e
oils, tallow and molasses are heated in deep tanks. Many of these liquids are difficult to hand
ambient temperatures due to their viscosity. Steam heated coils are used to raise the temperatu
these liquids, lowering their viscosity so that they become easier to pump.
Tank coils are also extensively used in electroplating and metal treatment. Electroplating inv
passing articles through several process tanks so that metallic coatings can be deposited on to
surfaces. One of the first stages in this process is known as pickling, where materials such as stee
copper are treated by dipping them in tanks of acid or caustic solution to remove any scale or oxiderust) which may have formed.
Steam coil sizingHaving determined the energy required (in Tutorial 2.9), and with knowledge of the s
pressure/temperature in the coil, the heat transfer surface may be determined using Equation 2.5.3:
Equation 2.5.3
The heat transfer area calculated is equivalent to the surface area of the coil, and will enab
appropriate size and layout to be specified.
Determining the 'U' value
To calculate the heat transfer area, a value for the overall heat transfer coefficient, U, must be choThis will vary considerably with the thermal and transport properties of both fluids and a range of
conditions.
On the product side of the coil a thermal boundary layer will exist in which there is a tempera
gradient between the surface and the bulk fluid. If this temperature difference is relatively large, the
natural convective currents will be significant and the heat transfer coefficient will be high.
Assisted circulation (such as stirring) that will induce forced convection, will also result in h
coefficients. As convection is partially dependent on the bulk motion of the fluid, the viscosity (w
varies with temperature) also has an important bearing on the thermal boundary layer.
Additional variations can also occur on the steam side of the coil, especially with long lengths of
The coil inlet may have a high steam velocity and may be relatively free from water. However, fu
along the length of the coil the steam velocity may be lower, and the coil may be running partially fwater. In very long coils, such as those sometimes found in seagoing tankers or in large bulk sto
eam Engineering
inciples and Heat
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hat is Steam?
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hermal Rating
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eating with Coils and
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eating Vats and Tanks by
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emsntropy - A Basic
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ntropy - Its Practical Use
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ank Coil Heating
rowse a drawing and
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team Tables
comprehensive set of
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etermine the size of
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eat your tank.
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tanks, a significant pressure drop occurs along the length of the coil. To acheive the mean
temperature, an average steam pressure of approximately 75% of the inlet pressure may be use
extreme cases the average pressure used may be as low as 40% of the inlet pressure.
Another variable is the coil material itself. The thermal conductivity of the coil material may
considerably. However, overall heat transfer is governed to a large extent by the heat resistant films
the thermal conductivity of the coil material is not as significant as their combined effect. Table 2
provides typical overall heat transfer coefficients for various conditions of submerged steam
application. 'U' values for steam pressures between 2 bar g and 6 bar g should be found by interpol
of the data in the table.
The range of figures shown in Table 2.10.1 demonstrates the difficulty in providing definitive 'U' va
Customary figures at the higher end of the scale will apply to installations that are supplied with c
dry steam, small coils and good condensate drainage. The lower end is more applicable to poor qusteam, long coils and poor condensate drainage.
The recommended overall heat transfer coefficients will apply to typical conditions and installat
These recommended rates are empirically derived, and will generally ensure that a generous s
margin applies to the coil sizing.
In the case of fluids other than water, the heat transfer coefficient will vary even more widely due t
way in which viscosity varies with temperature. However, the values shown in Table 2.10.2 will serve
guide for some commonly encountered substances, while Table 2.10.3 gives typical surface are
pipes per metre length.
Example 2.10.1Continuing from Example 2.9.1 determine:
Part 1. The average steam mass flowrate during start-up. (Mean heat load = 367 kW)
he Steam and
ondensate Loop Book
comprehensive best
actice guide to saving
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ant performance, this
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steam and condensate
ystems.
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Part 2. The heat transfer area required.
Part 3. A recommended coil surface area.
Part 4. The maximum steam mass flowrate with the recommended heat transfer area.
Part 5. A recommendation for installation, including coil diameter and layout.
The following additional information has been provided:
Steam pressure onto the control valve = 2.6 bar g (3.6 bar a).
A stainless steel steam coil provides heat.
Heat transfer coefficient from steam/coil/liquid, U = 650 W/mC
Part 1 Calculate the average steam mass flowrate during start-up
Steam pressure onto the control valve = 2.6 bar g (3.6 bar a)
Critical pressure drop (CPD) will occur across the control valve during start-up, therefore the mini
steam pressure in the heating coil should be taken as 58% of upstream absolute pressure
explanation of this is given in Block 5.
Part 2 Calculate the heat transfer area required.
Part 3 A recommendation for coil surface area
Because of the difficulties in providing accurate 'U' values, and to allow for future fouling of the
exchange surface, it is usual to add 10% to the calculated heat transfer area.
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Part 4 The maximum steam mass flowrate with the recommended heat transfer area
Maximum heat transfer (and hence steam demand) will occur when the temperature difference bet
the steam and the process fluid is at its maximum, and should take into consideration the extra pipe
allowed for fouling.
(a) Consider the maximum heating capacity of the coil(coil)
Using Equation 2.5.3: = UAT
(b) Steam flowrate to deliver 519 kW
Part 5 A recommendation for installation, including coil diameter and layout
(a) Determine coil diameter and length
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From Table 2.10.3, a 100 mm pipe has a surface area of 0.358 m/m run. This application will require:
It may be difficult to accommodate this length of large bore heating pipe to install in a 3 m 3 m tank
One solution would be to run a bank of parallel pipes between steam and condensate manifolds, s
different heights to encourage condensate to run to the lower (condensate) manifold. The drain line
fall from the bottom of the condensate manifold down to the steam trap (or pump-trap). See Figure 2
for a suggested layout.
Fig. 2.10.1
Possible layout of coils in a rectangular tank
Note the steam supply is situated at one end of its manifold, whilst the trap set is at the other end.
will help steam to flow and push condensate through the coils.
In the application, the steam and condensate headers would each be 2.8 m long. As the condenmanifold is holding condensate, the heat from it will be small compared to the steam manifold and
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can be ignored in the calculation.
The steam manifold should be 100 mm diameter as determined by the previous velocity calculation.
will provide a heating area of:
2.8 m x 0.358 m/m = 1.0 m
Consequently 7 m - 1 m = 6 m of heat transfer area is still required, and must be provided by
connecting pipes.
Arbitrarily selecting 32 mm pipe as a good compromise between robustness and workability:
The lengths of the connecting pipes are 2.5 m.
CHECK
It is necessary to confirm the steam velocity through the connecting tubes:
On the basis of proportionality of heat transfer area, the steam header will condense:
This leaves 86% of the 850 kg/h = 731 kg/h of steam which must pass through the 18 connecting p
and also into the lower (condensate) manifold.
Other steam coil layoutsThe design and layout of the steam coil will depend on the process fluid being heated. When the pro
fluid to be heated is a corrosive solution, it is normally recommended that the coil inlet and o
connections are taken over the lip of the tank, as it is not normally advisable to drill through
corrosion resistant linings of the tank side. This will ensure that there are no weak points in the
lining, where there is a risk of leakage of corrosive liquids. In these cases the coil itself may als
made of corrosion resistant material such as lead covered steel or copper, or alloys such as titanium
However, where there is no danger of corrosion, lifts over the tank structure should be avoided, an
steam inlet and outlet connections may be taken through the tank side. The presence of any lif
result in waterlogging of a proportion of the coil length, and possibly waterhammer, noise and lea
pipework.
Steam heating coils should generally have a gradual fall from the inlet to the outlet to ensure
condensate runs toward the outlet and does not collect in the bottom of the coil.
Where a lift is unavoidable, it should be designed to include a seal arrangement at the bottom of th
and a small bore dip pipe, as shown in Figure 2.10.2.
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Fig. 2.10.2
Tank with a rising discharge pipe
The seal arrangement allows a small amount of condensate to collect to act as a water seal, and prev
the occurrence of steam locking. Without this seal, steam can pass over any condensate collecting ibottom of the pipe, and close the steam trap at the top of the riser.
The condensate level would then rise and form a temporary water seal, locking the steam between
bottom of the riser and the steam trap. The steam trap remains closed until the locked steam conden
during which time the coil continues to waterlog.
When the locked steam condenses and the steam trap opens, a slug of water is discharged up the
As soon as the water seal is broken, steam will enter the rising pipe and close the trap, while the br
column of water falls back to lie at the bottom of the heating coil.
The small bore dip pipe will only allow a very small volume of steam to become locked in the ris
enables the water column to be easily maintained without steam bubbling through it, ensuring there
steady and continuous condensate flow to the outlet.
When the seal is ultimately broken, a smaller volume of water will return to the heating coil than wi
unrestricted large bore riser, but as the water seal arrangement requires a smaller volume of conden
to form a water seal, it will immediately re-form.
If the process involves articles being dipped into the liquid, it may not be convenient to install the c
the bottom of the tank - it may be damaged by the objects being immersed in the solution. Also, du
certain processes, heavy deposits will settle at the bottom of the tank and can quickly cover the he
surface, inhibiting heat transfer.
For these reasons side hung coils are often used in the electroplating industry. In such cases serpe
or plate-type coils are arranged down the side of a tank, as shown in Figure 2.10.3. These coils sh
also have a fall to the bottom with a water seal and a small bore dip-pipe. This arrangement has
advantage that it is often easier to install, and also easier to remove for periodic cleaning if required.
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Fig. 2.10.3
Side hung coils
If articles are to be dipped into the tank, it may not be possible to use any sort of agitator to in
forced convection and prevent temperature gradients occurring throughout the tank. Whether botto
side coils are used, it is essential that they are arranged with adequate coverage so that the hedistributed evenly throughout the bulk of the liquid.
The diameter of the coil should provide sufficient length of coil for good distribution. A short leng
coil with a large diameter may not provide adequate temperature distribution. However a very
continuous length of coil may experience a temperature gradient due to the pressure drop from e
end, resulting in uneven heating of the liquid.
Whilst the next two headings, 'Sizing the control valve' and 'The condensate removal device' are incl
in this Tutorial, the new reader should refer to later Tutorials for full and comprehensive informa
before attempting sizing and selection of equipment.
Control valve arrangementThe control valve set may be either one or two valves in parallel. A single control valve, large enou
cope with the maximum flowrate encountered at start-up, may be unable to control flow accurately aminimum expected flowrate. This could cause erratic temperature control. An alternative is to fit
temperature control valves in parallel:
One valve (running valve) sized to control at the lower flowrate.
A second valve (starting valve) to pass the difference between the capacity of the first valve, a
the maximum flowrate.
The starting valve would have a set-point slightly lower than the running valve, so it would close
leaving the running valve to control at low loads.
Sizing the control valveThe control valve set (either one valve or two valves in parallel).
The coil has been sized on mean heat transfer values. However, it may be better to size the control vto supply the maximum (start-up) load. With large coils in tanks, this will help to maintain a degre
steam pressure throughout the length of the coil when the steam is turned on, helping to
condensate through the coil to the steam trapping device. If the control valve were sized on mean va
steam pressure in the coil at start-up will tend to be lower and the coil may flood.
Using one valveContinuing with Example 2.10.1 the maximum steam load is 850 kg/h and the coil is designed to de
this at a pressure of 1.1 bar g. A steam valve sizing chart would show that a Kv
of about 20 is requir
pass 850 kg/h of steam with a pressure of 2.6 bar g at the inlet of the control valve, and Critical Pres
Drop (CPD) across the valve. (Tutorial 6.4 will show how the valve size can be determined by calcula
A DN40 control valve with a larger Kvs
of 25 would therefore need to be selected for the application.
If one valve is to be used, this valve must ensure the maximum heat load is catered for, while mainta
the required steam pressure in the coil to assist the drainage of condensate from it at start-up. How
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for reasons previously explained, two valves may be better.
The running load is 52 kW and with the coil running at 1.1 bar g, the running steam load:
The steam valve sizing chart shows a Kv
of 2 is required to pass 85 kg/h with 3.6 bar upstream, oper
at critical pressure drop.
A DN15 KE type valve (Kvs
= 4) and a DN25 piston actuated valve (Kvs
= 18.6) operating togethe
cater for the start-up load. When approaching the control temperature, the larger valve would be s
shut down, allowing the smaller valve to give good control.
The condensate removal deviceThe selection and sizing of the condensate removal device will be very much influenced by
condensate backpressure. For the purpose of this example, it is assumed the backpressu
atmospheric pressure. The device should be sized so it is able to satisfy both of the follo
conditions:
Pass 850 kg/h of condensate with 1.1 bar g in the coil, i.e. the full-load condition.
Pass the condensate load when steam pressure in the coil equals the condensate backpressu
i.e. the stall load condition.
If the steam trap is only sized on the first condition, it is possible that it may not pass the stall load
condition where the product approaches its required temperature and the control valve modulat
reduce steam pressure). The stall load may be considerable. With respect to non-flow type applica
such as tanks, this may not be too serious from a thermal viewpoint because the contents of the tan
almost be at the required temperature, and have a huge reservoir of heat.
Any reduction in heat transfer at this part of the heating process may therefore have little imme
effect on the tank contents.
However, condensate will back up into the coil and waterhammer will occur, along with its assoc
symptoms and mechanical stresses. Tank coils in large circular tanks tend to be of robust construc
and are often able to withstand such stresses. Problems can however occur in rectangular tanks (w
tend to be smaller), where vibration in the coil will have more of an effect on the tank structure. Here
energy dissipated by the waterhammer causes vibration, which can be detrimental to the life of the
the tank, and the steam trap, as well as creating unpleasant noise.
With respect to flow-type applications such as plate heat exchangers, a failure to consider the
condition will usually have serious implications. This is mainly due to the small volume in the
exchanger.
For heat exchangers, any unwanted reduction in the heating surface area, such as that cause
condensate backing up into the steam space, can affect the flow of heat through the heating sur
This can cause the control system to become erratic and unstable, and processes requiring stab
accurate control can suffer with poor performance.
If heat exchangers are oversized, sufficient heating surface may remain when condensate backs up
the steam space, and reduction of thermal performance may not always occur. However, with
exchangers not designed to cope with the effects of waterlogging, this can lead to corrosion o
heating surface, inevitably reducing the service life of the exchanger. Waterlogging can, in s
applications, be costly. Consider a waterlogging air heater frost coil. Cold air at 4C flowing at 3 m/s
soon freeze condensate locked in the coils, resulting in premature and unwarranted failure. P
drainage of condensate is essential to maintain the service life of any heat exchanger and air heater.
Steam traps are devices which modulate to allow varying amounts of condensate to drain
applications under varying conditions. Float traps are steam traps designed to modulate and rel
condensate close to steam temperature, offering maximum plant performance, maximum plant life
maximum return on plant investment.
When stall conditions occur, and a steam trap cannot be used, an automatic pump-trap or pump and
in combination will ensure correct condensate drainage at all times, thus maximising the thecapability and lifetime costs of the plant.
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The printable version of this page has now been replaced by
The Steam and Condensate Loop Book
View the complete collection ofSteam Engineering Tutorials
Steam jacketsThe most commonly used type of steam jacket consists simply of an outer cylinder surrounding
vessel, as shown in Figure 2.10.4. Steam circulates in the outer jacket, and condenses on the wall o
vessel. Jacketed vessels may also be lagged, or may contain an internal air space surrounding
jacket. This is to ensure that as little steam as possible condenses on the outer jacket wall, and tha
heat is transferred inwards to the vessel.
Fig. 2.10.4
A conventional jacketed vessel
The heat transfer area (the vessel wall surface area), can be calculated in the same manner as w
steam coil, using Equation 2.5.3 and the overall heat transfer coefficients provided in Table 2.10.4.
Although steam jackets may generally be less thermally efficient than submerged coils, due to radia
losses to the surroundings, they do allow space for the vessels to be agitated so that heat transf
promoted. The U values listed in Table 2.10.4. are for moderate non-proximity agitation.
Commonly the vessel walls are made from stainless steel or glass lined carbon steel. The glass l
will offer an additional corrosion resistant layer. The size of the steam jacket space will depend on
size of the vessel, but typically the width may be between 50 mm and 300 mm.
What do I do now?
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