spreadsheet program simplifies complex and tedious calculation maby; B.C., Canada ‘o perform the repetitive computations for selecting ‘and sizing steam tracers, a spreadsheet program can be a valuable tool. Therefore, we developed one ifis easy to use and can run in a windows environment, he spreadsheet selects the best-size steam tracer line ‘the right number of lines to install. It also decides her thermally conducting cement should be used. ound. The program’s concept is to maintain the pipe temperature during periods of no-flow. Dur- normal plant operation, heat transfer from the tracer the flowing fluid is extremely inefficient compared to ¢ntional heat transfer processes. Hence, the tracing gm should not be considered a way to raise the mate- temperature under dynamic conditions. pipes that require noncemented tubing, the bare tube tached by metal straps under the pipe and offset 45° better convective heat transfer. This also avoids mage to tubing from heavy objects resting on the pil 4). In pipes that require cemented tubing, the tube hed to the pipe’s top section, Time-saving, preformed filled with cement fit over the tube’s length. Metal ps secure the channel to the pipe (Fig. 2). o sizes of ASTM A269 (0.035-in. wall) stainless steel fare used: ¥-in, OD and %-in. OD, Except for instru- its and small pieces of equipment, %in. OD is not nor- is because it is susceptible to plugging by dirt or scale. 1-in. OD tubing is not used because it is gid to bend, And in. OD is not considered since itis icommonly used, but it can be added to the program ithe need arises. insulation materials widely in the industry are used in the SS [serie oe Care al PROCESS TECHNOLOGY Part 1 Size steam tracers quickly Fig. 1. Cross-sectional view of pipe with bare tracer. verify that the higher pipe temperature will not adversely affect any material in the pipe. Assumptions and limitations. Ten assumptions were used in building the spreadsheet program: 1. Pipe sizes range from 1-in, to 36-in. nominal pipe size (NPS). 2. Insulation types and conductivities are listed in Table 1, 3, Tracer tubing sizes: 4-in. and ¥-in. ASTM A269, 0.035-in, wall, 4, For pipes and tracers in contact with insulation, heat loss by conduction through the insulation is assumed negligible. 5. Radiation heat losses are considered negligible. 6, For bare tracers in direct eontact with pipe, the pipe wall temperature is assumed to equal the annulus space temperature. Heat by conduction to the pipe is considered fm lass orcllular goss, | wegaattominevatatingthehast_neigibe. Heat transfer is mainly by pvoo! and caleiuin silicate. {racing requirement for the piping air convection. i system ofa parochemical city 7. For tracers cemented to the pipe f selection. In principle, the under construction Problems wall, the major proportion of heat, qi. that heats the pipe closest to a _ Papeegs/utilties interface delsyed is assumed transmitted by conduction. holding temperature is the most fagmedium distnbution system that the pipe wall. The remaining heat is inery, Priate, Ifthe initial selection is needed an urgent determination. _ transmitted by convection to the annu- 6384. tracers, the program also Within afew days, we dentied no lus space. (See Table 2 for q, as function fone %-in, OD cement tracer and fewerthan 500 lines that required of NPS), For two tracers, 0.9 g, is used. esit as an alternative selection, Preferred since it costs more to two bare tubings than a single ith cement, However, ou must heat tracing, Once the relevant pipe information was available, our _ spreadsheet program: calculations in minutes. 8, The coment contact area with the pipe is assumed equivalent to two times the outside diameter ofthe tracer Fig. 2) 9. Preformed insulation pipe sizes ‘completed the HYDROCARHON PROCESSING /JANUARY 1904 93ee OO. RG Fig, 2. Cross-sectional view of pipe and tracer with thermal con- ducting coment (IPS) are in Table 3. 10, Wind velocity factors are in Table 4. Worksheet development. Three files make up this pro- ‘gram: Summary, Caleulations and InfoMacro. A descrip- tion of each of them follows. ‘Summary. A summary table (Table 5) represents the interface between the user input and the program output. ‘The data entry areas are the boxes and the unshaded sections. Shaded areas are for entries by the program. ‘The steam pressure levels, minimum ambient temper- ature and wind velocity must be entered in the appro- priate boxes. Other necessary data are NPS, insulation ‘material and thickness, holding temperature and steam level. Letter codes in the shaded boxes are meant for insulation material and steam level in the respective columns, Table 6 shows insulation materials and rec~ ‘ommended thicknesses for different temparature ranges. ‘The worksheet calculation mode is set to manual so data entry is unimpeded by background activities. The function key, F9, starts or revises the calculations, Calculations. Bare tracer (Fig. 1). An equilibrium heat balance shows the following: Qa = Qep + Qe a and Qia =n U, AST, ~ Tap) Qu =U Mo (Tap Te) and Qap= Usp Tap Tm) Abasic assumption is that Tyy = T,, therefore, Qqp = 0. (94 HYDROCARNON PROCESSING /JANUAKY 1994 Henc Qa = Pia Substituting for Qj, Qi. and Ty, in Eq. 5 and rea ranging in terms of Ty: nU, Dt Ty +Uy Do To Tm =, Dy +nU; De ‘The overall transfer coefficient for the insulation and. ambient air is ( ‘The overall transfer coefficient for the tracer and annul space is: a For condensing steam, the heat transfer coefficient, h, approximately 2,000 Biuhh-ft-"F and, therefore, the aba equation approximates to: (8 ~Tan)* 1 = hte =0.45 U, D In this case, h, is determined as the average of the zontal and vertical transfer film coefficient by conve in still air? Heat loss through the insulation to the ambient airisq culated from: Qin =Uo DE (tm ~Ta) ( ‘Tracer with thermally conducting cement (Fig. ‘Ahheat balance shows the following: Q@p=n dA T.-Tn) Qa = he lAy = Arg) (Thy Tap) Table 1. Thermal conductivity, k, of insulation at 100°F mean Table 2. qzvs NPS.*Qua = heAep (Ts- Top) (g) Table 3. 1PS schedule and Qian =Uy Ao Tap = Te) o Ap=RD,/12 (ao) According to Molloy:* Ag = 0.2357 D, ay Aq =2D,/12 «1) and A, = aD AZ (13) At equilibrium, heat loss through the insulation is the sum Tabi Se WineleIOcy ctor fe OTs APTS of the heat from pipe to annulus and from tracer to annu- Wind zee! ven Jus: $ 10 a= Qa + Qe a4) 18 20 ‘Also, heat supplied from tracer to pipe equals the heat loss, om from pipe to the annulus: Qy = Qe as) By substituting for each term in Eq. 14: U Ag (Tap ~ Ta) = he Ay — 1 Acg) (Tq ~ Tap) +h Ag (L,~Tap) 6) Eq, 15 becomes nqyAce(Ty-Tm) Solving for Ty in Eq. 17: ngs Ace (Ts ~ Tm) e(Ap— NAc) Tq ~Tp) (AT) en c Pron Thala aah) io Solving for T,, in Eq. 16 by substituting for Ty» from Eq, Ee rg etiag ate! sind ie eae eal coer leta=U,A, program is shown along with examples. All the cell ae a oo Sa ae ee eerie FES I hel seals eee ee sass wa ea sepals ma te tet eee mls 772 (2 |: a el:/} |= | | Beale le STE = |; HARE 96 HYDROCARHON PROCESSING JANUARY 1994eadshedh ll equal ‘Acc= cement contact area, it ‘Aj =coment channel superficial are, 2 Al = external superficial area of insulation, 2m ‘A, = superficial area of pipe, f2/e side diameter of insulation, in. D, = outside diameter of insulation, in 1D, = outside diameter of pipe, in 1, = outside diameter of tracer, in f,—wind velocity factor, Btuvhr-R2- i= convective heat transfer coefficient, Buulhr.2F ‘h,= steam, heat transfer coefficient, Blur f= thermal conductivity of insulation, Bahr i length of pipe, fe n= numberof tracers 4q.= overall heat transmittance from tracer through cement to process pipe, Bewh.ft."F Quy = heat transfer from annulus space to pipe, Btalheft pipe @QE= heat transfer from annulus space through insulation toa, @ Stwhe pipe heat transfer from process pipe to annulus space Stuhr pipe Qu = heat transfer from tracer to annulus space, Btulhrtt pipe heat transfer from tracer to process pipe, Bewhr/Rt pipe bient temperature, ‘F nus space temperature, “F desired holding temperature, F Pipe temperature, °F team temperature," oral outside heat transfer coefficient from insulation air, Bufhr-ft2F wera heat transfer coefficient from tracer to annulus space, Btwhe-N?F. i The author Kab Feo iso soir procent engine with Stotnor-Chrstonson Enginering Lid, Ho fe set invohed n NG process sutton and potrochomiea and refnery revamp studs. Mc Foo raced fis BS degre n comical eng raw tom tho Unverey of Sore gland 7909, Porto is present assignment ho was @ tenlor process specialist with Fluor Daniel nada. nc. Calgary, whore he partpated in gas plat and OCU ‘Sitiaon sides and pevocheme)consrucon engineering. Pr he was aprincpa process engineerin the LNG group ofthe MW. Ketoog Company Houston, Texas Relief Valve Software Belmar lala} Inspection & Testing aay, tent if eit ow eM Cred (Farris Rete aa eeu Renee aay ect tt Cor tena e tos ga ‘a famed Coron ce eee eos Me ec Prego! Z Mo uN complete sorting & rep oe a if ener] Circle 110