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1T.
Ｇｾ >;

ＢＧＬＮｾＺｩ '1.
i, I;': ,
FE -

ｾ ＮＧ

Predict storage-tank
'-t

heat transfer precisely

Use this procedure to determine the rate of heat transfer from a
vertical storage tank when shortcut methods are inadequate.

JiT1I11!J! n. Kllmana alld Sami,. P. Kothari, HnmingIIJII. Durhalll and f{/chardwn, Inc.

o Hc.ating or cooling storage tanks can be a major above the liquid level may be expected to be lower than
energy expem.· at plants and tankfarms. Though many the liquid itself. Experience has shown that the average
procedures fCo' calculating such heat-transfer re'luire- bulk temperatures of the liquid and vapor spaee may be
ments have b"en published [1,3,5,7,8,10], the simplify- signirlcantly (i.e., more than 5°F) diH'erent, and they
ing assumptions that they use can lead to significant are treated accordingly in our procedure, Use of differ-
: I" errors in caml'tlled heat-transfer rates, This is of con- ent liquid and vapor tempf'ratures is an important de-
i
,
I
cern because f'ilicient sizing of tanks, insulation, heaters parture from the traditional approach, which assumes
i and coolers l.kpends on accurate cstinlates of heat t,-ans- the same value for both.
fer to and from lhe various tank surfaces. And the ulti- Our basic approach is 10 develop equatioos {(>r C<lleu-
mate value of being accurate increases as enel'gy costs bting the heat loss from each of the four categories of
continue to r'<e. surfaces, and then add the individual heat fosses to get
The procedure presented here determines the heat the total heat loss. Thus:
transfer to or from a vertical-cylindrical storage tank
seated on the R'round-like the one in Fig. 1. It includes
For dry sidewall qd = UdAd(Tv - 7'.t) (I)
the effects of lank eonfig-uration, liquid level, arr.bient For wet sidewall qw = U.,AIO(TL - -r:d (2)
temperature ,lnd wind ｾｰ｣･､Ｌ as well as temperature For tank bottom qb = UbA,,(TL - ＱｾＩ (3)
variations wilhin the tank and between air and ground,
A partialfY wc,rkcd example shows how to usc the tech-
For tank roof q, = U,A,(TI' - T t ) (4)

nique, dnd h"w to do the calculations on a computer,

Total Q = '1<1 + 'iUl + 'it + 'i, (5)
) \Yhen using these equations in design or rating prob-
The theory lems, we either assume the various temperatures for typ-
Storage t<ulks come in many different shapes and
sizes, Horizontal-cylindrical and spherical tanks are
uscd for stonll;e of liquids under pressure; atlllospheric
q,
tanks lend to be vertical-cylindrical, with flat bottoms
and conical n.nfs as shown in Fig. 1. The example pre-
sented here is for the latter configuration, but the proce- ,...-
O-_l

l
dure applies til any tank for which reliable hrat-transfer
correlations al'e available.
For the ｳ｡ｫｾ of simpliCIty. we assume that the lank
contents are lAarmer than the amhient air, and that we -
Qd

are concerned with heat loss from the tank rather than
heat gain. Rill the method may. ofeourse, be applied 10 L
-T
ＭｾＧ｟Ｎ

ei ther case.
Consider, Then, the categories of surfaces from which
heat may be transferred across the tank boundaries: wet
or dry sidew",lls, tank bottom, and roor. In L1le cunlext
used here, '\,'et" n:fers to the portion of Ihe wall sub-
.....qw ｾ
- L",

ｭ･ｲｾ･､ undt'l the liquid surface, whereas "dry" refers to I

the portion "I' the wall in the vapor space, aho\'e the
liquid surfacf. ｾ qh
In general, the heatillg coils would be located near
the bottom (,j the tank, in the fllnn of flat "pancake>:," Typical vertical·cylindrical tank Fig. 1
The,efun:, TlH: temperature of the air (or Yapor) space

ell! \114.:.\1. r'l;(.'\U-K):'\C \l\HCtl '::. ｉＧ Ｚｌｾ 127

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•
_ _--"-Sl:..:·O;:.:R"-'.\CE.l,\"" HEAT TR.\!'ISFER

ent. Data on the efTect of wind velocity and ｾ T have

Individual film heat-transfer coefficients Table I been ｰｲ･ｳｾｮｫ｣ｬ hy Stuhlbarg [/01 and Boyen [21. With
a little bit of manipulation, their data were replotted,
Type/surface Dry wall
yidding the "wind enhancement factor" (W,) in Fig. 2.
Wet wall Roof Bottom
--'- By definition:
I
Inside h Vw h
Lw h Vr h Lb WI = h.4u jh:4W = h-tr/k-tr (10)

Wall
conduCliul1
(t -+ -f'
M
kM Ie,
" (r
M
/eM ＫｾｲＧ 1<, (::r (::r
Therefore. once ｴｨｾ outside-air coefficient for still air
(h'4U') is known, the overall dry-sidewall ｣ｯｾｦ ｩ｣ ＬＮｮｴ
various wind velocities can be computed as:
;l[

I/Utl = I/h vw + tM/klf + t,/k, +

Outside ｉＯＨｗＡｬｾＢＬ + hR ,,) + l/h Fd (II)
Similarly, thc overall coefficients for the wet sidewall.
Fouling bottom and roof surfaces are;
lin", = l/h"u> + 'M/klf + t,/k, I
Nota: Tank roof and hottom lire uninsuJated.
ＯＨｗＬｨｾＡｏＱ + hRu.,) + I/h pon (12)
l/Ub = I/h,.b + 'J,/kl( + I/hr; + l/h Fb (13)
I/U, = I/h lT + f,lf/k.". +
ical conditions or determine them by measurement. ｉＯＨｗｦｨｾＬ + hRr ) + l/h pd (14)
The area valucs arc also easy to obtain:
Eq. 13 and I{ assume that the roofand bottom are not.
Ad = 'lTD (L - L",) (6) insulated, which is generally ｴｨｾ r;"" in temperate cli-
Aw = 'lTD Lw (7 ) mates. \Ve shall /lOW review correlations for the individ-
ual heat-transfer coefficients needed to obtain the over-
Ab = 7rD2/4 (8)
all coefficients.
Ar = ('lTD/2)(D2/4 + d 2 )lf2 (9)

The complications arise when we try to estimate the Individual film heat-transfer coefficients
overall heat-transfer coefficients Ud , U"" U b and Un for The film heat-transfer coefficients mav be divided
the fuur su,.faces of the tank. For the tank geomctry into four categories: convection from ｶｾｲｴｩ｣｡ｬ walls,
chosen, ｴｨｬＺｾ･ can fortunately be calculated from the convection from horizontal surfaces, pure conduction,
individual hIm heat-transfer coefficients in the com'cn- and radiative heat transfer. 'Within each category, cor-
tional manner, using published correlations. reia tions are prescn tcd fur several flow regimes:
Vertical-wall film coefficients. These applv to the in-
The overall coefficients side wall (\\"(:1 or dry) anJ tht' olltside wall (still air). Fur
Tahle 1 ｾｨｯｷｳ the com poncnt coefficients for each vertical plates and cyl inders, Kato et aI. [6J recommend
surface. Th.' overall heat-transfer coefficient for th,. dry the following for liquids and vapors;
sidewall of j he tank (Uti) is calculated as the sum of the Ns" = O.I:.lR ｭｲﾷｾｶＮＨｲｬ［ｾｶＮ - 0.55) (1:1)
resistances "f vapor film. fouling, metal wall, insulation
(if any), allll outside air (convection plus radiation). where 0.1 < ,'Il"r < 40 anJ
N Gr 10 9 . >
The ｯｵｴｾｬ､･Ｍ｡ｩｲ heat-transfer coefficient (h4W ) is a For isothermal venical plates, Ede [.,t] reported the
fUllction of wind velocity as well as temperature graJi- following for liquids:
NNu = ｏＮＱＹＵＨｎｇｲｰＩｯＲｾ (16)
where N pr > 100 and 10' < (NGrNpr ) < 10 9 , and for
gases;
Ｎｾ N vu = 0.0295 /v]·:o ＷＱ［ﾷｾｎ (I + 0.5 ＮｶｾＷｲＧｏａ (17)

ｾ <> where N pr ::::: 5 and (NGrNpr ) 10 > 9

:! For vertical plates laller than 3 ft, Stuhlbarg [101

E recommends;
Q>
E 4
Q> ｨ］ＰＮＴＵｫｌＭｯＮＷＵＨｎｇｲ ｰ ＩｏＮＲｾ (18)
<>
iii
.;;
c: 3 where 10 1
<
(NnrNpr ) 10 , < 9

'c:" Horizontal-surface heat·lramrrr coefficients. These

ｾ
" coefficients apply to the roof and inside-bottom surfaces
uf the tank. The bottom is assumed to be flat. For sur-
faces facing up 181:
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Wind speed, mph N v" = 0.14 (NGr ｬＮｾｏＩｲｰｎ (19)
Effect of wind velocity and For surfaces facing down:
6.T on heat transfer rate Fig. 2
"'xu = 0.27 ＨｎｇｲＧ｜ﾷｐｲＩｏｾＮ［ (20)

12R
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-.

Fouling coefficients. The coefficients h Fd , hp". and h Fb

Nomenclature
A Area of heat-transfer surface, ft 2 ; A b for bottom, Ad
for dl)' wall, A", for wet wall, .4, for roof
cp Specific heat at constant pressure, Btu/lb- OF
D Diameln of tank, ft
d Height of conical roof at center, ft
g Accdel HI ion Jue to gravity, 4.17 X 10 8 ｦｴＯｨｾ
h Individllal film coefficient of heat transfer,
ｂｴｵＡｦ ｾｨＭ OF; hAW for air outside the walls, hAT for
air abo\'c the roof, ＬＢｾＺｨ and ｨｾｲ for still air, hL ", for
liquid between the walls, hLb for liquid near the
bottom, hI'''' for vapor nea'f the walls, hft for vapor.
near t h r foof
hI' ｾｮｩｬｵｯｆ coefficient, Btu/ft 2 h-oF; hpw for liquid at
thc walls, hFTJ for liquid at the bottom, h/i'T. for
vaporH the walls or the roof
hG Heat-t";lnsfer coefficient for ground, Btu/ft 2h- o F
hi Heat-trAnsfer coefficient for insulation, Btu/ft 2h-
OF
hN Heat-V/\llsfer coefficient for metal, Btu/ft2h_ 0 F
hR Heat-transfer coefficient for radiation, Btu/ft 2h-
OF; hR', for bottom, h Rd for dry wall, h Rw for wet
wall, hl/' for roof
k Thnm.1 conduct ivity, Btu/ft-h- F; kG for gt"ound,
0
k l for i'lsulation, k M for metal wall
L Total Irngth for heat-transfcr surfaec, ft
ｾ
I L", Total J"ngth for wctted surface, fl
N Gr Grash,.f numbcr. [.3f12g{i.'!! 1'//12 . in. per fOOl; tank sidewalls are o/lG-in. carbon.steel; insu-
apply to the vapor and liquid at the wall, 'and the liquid
at rile bottom of the rank, respectively. These are em-
pirical, and depend on the type of fluid and other fac-
tors such as tank cleaning. Generally, h pd is the greatest
of the three, and hFb the least, indicating that the great-
est fouling resistance is at the bottom of the tank.
Equivalent coefficient for radiative heat transfer.
The coefllcient for sidewalls and roof depends on the
emissivity of these surfaces, and is given by [8]:
hR =
0.1713f [(7'",., + ＴＶＰＩｾ _ (T
4 + 460)4] (24)
(T,,,s - T 4 ) I 00 100
VVith these relationships, we now have the tools to cal-
culate heat transfer to or from the tank.
Example
ABC Chemical Corp. has a single manufacturing
plant in the U.S., and exports a high-viscosity specialty
at! product to Europe. The oil is ornuaded in Port City.
ami stun:d ill a llat-bottom, conical-roof lank ｲ･ｮｴｾ､
from XYZ Terminal Co. Ltd. The tank is located out-
doors and rcsts on the ground. It is equippeJ "itl! pall-
cake-type steam-heating coils because the oil must be
maintained above 50°F in order to preserve its Ouiditv.
Other pertinent data are: tank diameter is 20 ft; ｴ｡ｾｫ
height is.f8 ft (to the edge of the roof); roof-incline is :% ,.

--I ''''Nu Nusseh number, hD/k or hL/k lation is I %-in. fiberglass, on the sidewall only.
N pr Prand.] number, c"Jl/k XYZ 'jerminal Co. does not have metering' stations
Q Rate e,j heat transfer, Btu/h on the steam supply to individual tanks, and proposes
q Individual rate of heat transfer, Btu/h; qb for bot- to charge ABC Chemical for tank heating on the basis
tom, q I for dry wall, q", for wet wall, q, for roof of calculated heat losses, using the convent ional tables
T Tempt'lature, Of; Ｗｾ for ambient air, TL for bulk (I], and assuming a tank wall temperature of 50 u F. The
liquid, Tv fur vapor, TG for ground, Tw for inside projrct rnginrer from ABC Chemical decided to inves-
wall, 7;"., for outside wall tigate how XYZ's estimate would compare with the
;;. T Tempcl'"turc difference, OF more elaborate one describer! in this "rtir-le.
t Surface thickness, ft; II for insulation, til for metal First. the engineer collected basic data on storage and
U Overall heat-transfer coefficient, ｂｴｬｊＯｦｾｨＭｏｆ［ Ub dilllute. Oil shipments from the U.S. arrive at Port City
for bolt,)m, U d for dry wall, Uu' for wet wall, Ur for approximately once a month, in 100,OOO-gal Ｎｾ･ｨ｣ｴ｡｢
roof Dclin:rics to lucal custulll<:rs arc lIlaJc ill S,OOO-gal
IV, \Vind enhancement factor tankrrucks, three times a week on average. The typical
fi Volumdric coefficient for thermal expansion, of-I variation in tank level over a 30-da1' period is known
/l Viscos;ly of Allin, Ih;rl-h from experience.
p Demit" of flllid, ｬ｢Ｏｦｴｾ The ambient temperature goes through a more com-
Emissility plex eych:, of course. \Vithin the primary cycle of 365
days, there are daily temperature variations. But in the
seasonal cycle, heat supply is required only during thc
winter months, when temperatures fall well below SO°F.
Both equati"ns apply In the range 2 X 10 7 < \\lind conditions at the storage site arc not as well
(:VGrXpr ) <
:1 X 10 10 , defined, and therefore much harder to predict. How- i'i
,,
Equi\'alent coefficients for conductive heat transfer. ever, we can assume that the wind speed will hold con-
The ""all and inwlation coefficients are der'ived from st"nt for a short pl"riod of time, and calculate the heat :1·
!
the thermal .:onductivities: loss for this unit period under a fixed set of conditions. !

hI(:::; kif/1 M (:ll)

The wind spC'l'd to hc IISr-rl mllst hI" h"'I"'rl on the known 1
prohahility distribution of wind speeds at the site.
hi :::; k/I J (22) The procedure for determining the annual heat loss
consists of adding up rhe heat losses calculated for each
The coefficient for heat transfer to and from the ground
twit period (which could be an hour, 12 hours, 24
is the coeffiC1ent for heat conduction from a semi-
hours, or 30 days, as appropriate). This example dem-
infinite solid 19];
onstrates the calculation of heat loss for onl\' one unit
(23) period, of 12 hours, using an ambient temperature of

\29
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35°f, a wind velucity of 10 mph, and a liquid level of

Data for ABC: Chemical Co. example Table II .'iOS{,. The other data required are given in Table II.
Note that the liquid temperature is controlled at 55 u 1-'
Physical properties Air Vapor" to provide a 5°F margin of safety.
Oensi ty , Ib/ft 3 4.68 0.08 0.08 Since the Prandtl amI Grashof numbers occur repeat-
Specific ｨｾ｡｜Ｌ B\u/Ill." F 0.6 0.2!> 0.25 edly in the film Ｂ･｡ｴＭｬｲＢｮｾｦ･ｲ coefficient "'l"atinns. ancl
Viscosity. cP 40 0.007 0.007 remain relatively unchanged fur all the conditions of
Thermal conductivity, interest, let us first calculate their values. Thus, for lhe
Btu/ft·h·o F 0.12 0.0151 0.015 liquid phase:
ｃｵｴＺｦＨｩ｣ｾｮｌ ur \iUIIJlllelric
expansion per 0.- 1 X 10. 6 0.002 0.002 AT';r = ｌＳｰｾＯＡＮＨ J,TI/t 2 = 97.5 1. 1 J, T
Assumed fouling c08fficienu N pr = Cpllik = 484
Dry wall 1,000 Btu/ft 2 h-o F
Wet wall 800
Similarly, the vapor phase, N a , for 1.90 X =
Roof 1,000
10'L36.T, and N pr = 0.28. \Ve can now calculate the
Bottom 500 individual film heat-transfer coefficients, using the ap-
Thermal conductivities
propriate Land J,T values in the Grashof-number
Metal walls '0 Btu/ft·h· F
o "Llualiulls. This is an it", ative proctoSs thilt rcquit·cs ini·
Insulation 0.D28 tial estimales for wall and ground temperatures. plus
Ground 0.80 wall temperatures.
Surface emissivity Coefficient for vapor at wall (h ,·on ). As an initial ap-
Wall and roof 0.9 proximation, assume that the wall temperature is the
iemperatures average of the vapor and outside-air temperatures:
Vapor in tank 50 0 F Tw =
(50 + 33)/2 42.5°F. Then find the Crashof =
L.iquid in tank 55 number:
Outside air 35
Ground 40 NOr = 1.90 X 10'(L - L w )3(TI' - Tw )
·Since the liquid has lOIN volatility. the vapor space is assumed to 1.90 X 10 ' (24)1(7.5)
bo rnoo;tly air.
1.97 X I ＰＱｾ
Empl()\'ing Eq. 15, find the Nusselt number and then
the coefficient (k = 0.0 151, L 48 ft, LIe 2·1 ft): = =
Heat·transfer coefficients after first iteration Table III NNII = ＰＮＱＳｒＨｖｏｲＩｯﾷＺｬ［｜ｾｴＷＧ＾ - 0.55) = 921.1
h,.", = (9211 )(k)/( t - L u,) = 0.581 Btu/ft2h- OF
Coefficient Dry wall Wet wall Roof Bottom
----
CoelTicient for liquid at the wall (h tu,)' Here. neither
"Vw O.5fl 15
NT'r nor (VOr NT'r) falls within the range of the applica-
h Lw 1415 ble correlations (Eq. Iii, 18). Let us try both, again using
h Vr 0.1537 an average for ＷｾＬＺ
h Lb 1.105
"G 0.102
7'". = ＨＷｾＬ + 7:4 )/2 = 45 n F
0.6635 N Gr = 97.47L"Ui, - 7'",) = 1.35 X 10'
"Ar
"Ar
. 2.057 ｕｾｩｬ ｧ Eg. Hi and 13, we get twu ･ｾｴｩｭ｡ｴ･ｳ for the heat-
hAw
. 0.51 0.51 transfer coefTicient (k 0.12, Nl'r = = ＴＭＸﾷｾＩＺ
hAw 1.6WI 1.683
hL,,, = ＨｏＮＴＹＵｫ［ｌＬ･ＩｎｲｰＧｾｩ = 0.704 Btu/ft 2 h-oF
hM 640 640 640 640
h, 0.2H 0.224 h/"" = (OASk/ L?,:ｲｯｎＨＩｾＧ ｩＧＮｾ ｉｦＩｎ
hF 1.000 800 1,000 500 1.--115 Btu/ft 2 h- ° F
hR 0.7'i65 0.7594 0.7651
To be con,e,,·;)tivf'. WI" ｕｾｲＺ fhe highf'r ,-,alllf':
U· 0."i16 0.1828 0.1457 0.0933 hLtC = 1.415 Btll.·ft ｾｨＭ 0 F.
-For ＱＰｾｭｰｨ wind

Coefficient for vapor at roof (h"r)' \\'c consider this a

nat plate, with a diameter of 20 ft, ;-ond use Eg. 20,
again with an avcrage 7',,, of ﾷｾＲＮＵﾰｆ (k = 0.0151):
Second iteralion yields closer
temperature f>stimates Table IV Nr;r = 1.9 X 10 ' ｄｾＨｔｲ - 7',,,) = 1.1-1 X IO t2
h"r = ＨｏＮＧＲＷｫＯｄＩｎｔｲｓｉｊｾＢ = ｏＮｬｾ Rtu:fl 2 h-oF
Temperature I1Mation Dry wall Wet wall Roof Bottom
Coefficknt for liquid at tank Lottom (h tb ). Assume
T w (inside). ° F 2 46.0 52.7 35.75 53.7 that the ground temperature ＨＷｾＩ is 5 ° F abO\'e ambi-
1 42.5 45 42.5 47.5 ent, and lise an average of lieJltid and ground tempera-
T ws (outside), °F 2 35.9 36.5 35.75 tures as a first approximation for the tank-bottom tem-
1 38.75 40 42.5
perature:
1;,. = (71, + To )/2 = (TL + ｾｴ + 5)12 17.5'F
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Then, figure the (;"asl\()f number, and use Eq. 19 to get

the coefficient:
.Yr. r == ｾＱＨ ｄＷＱＮｦＹ - 1'.,.) == 5.85 X 10';
,Var Nt'r == :! 113 X 10!'
hl.h = 1 105 I3tu/ft h-oF 2

Coefllcient for outside air at roof (li./). A,,"me

1'.", =
T". since th .. roof is uninsubted. and get the coef-
ficient for st il1 ail frOllt Eq. 19:
Ncr == 1.9 X 10 7 /)\7;", - T 4 ) == 1.1-l X 10 12
=
h:4r 0.663 I\tu/ft 2 h-oF
Cocflleicnt for outside air at wall (h:4 /,). Assume that
lhe temperature thop across the film is one-fourth of the
drop from the in·;ide fluid to the outside air (averaged
for the: we:t and dry ",all,), and use: Eg. 15 to [Iud tile:
coefficiell t:
J.T = 1 7S/-l = 4.375°F ·For ＱＰｾｭｰｨ wind
SGr = ＱｾＩ X 10 L3 J.T = 9.19 X 7
ｉｏｬｾ [.
h:.llc == 0.',[ Blu:ft 2 h-oF

Conduction COl ffieients for ground. metal wall. and For drv \....all, the rn te of heat loss is given by all three
insulation (h o. h'ol and h j ). These are straightforward, of the fol1owing:
from Eq. 21-23:
gil = ['II AIl(T\. - T4 ) (25)
h\( = kit/til = G·lO I3tu/ft 2 h-oF == hV",Arl(T,. Til,) (26)
ht == kj.'l j = 0.22·1 Btu/ft 2 h- ｆｾ
.;
=(h nd + htu·)Ad(T,,, - (27)
ho == 8 I (Jr./) == 0.102 ｂｴｵＯｦ ｾｨＭｯｆ
Solving Eq. 25 and 27 for 7;"., yields:
Radiation coellit'ients for dry and wet sidewall, and
rouf (It RII , h RII " hl/r)' As for th; outside-air film coeffi-
T == II ' j (Uri /(h",1 + h 411 ,)( T, - T(4) + T.4 (28) )

cients, assume I hat T,vs == T.4 + 0.25 ＨＷｾＱｉ ｫ - T\), Similarly, solving Eq. 25 and 26 for 7;c yields: I
,t
ｷｨ･ｮｾ 7;,ulk is Ifl(' temp..r"lur/' of th .... \i'luid nr v"'por I
inside the tank, ir the surface is insulated. For lhe unin-
7;,. = Tr - (U/lih\,,)(T1 - TA ) (29)
sulated roof, aNIIllC that T,,,., == T.4 + O.5( T r - 7:,). Using the same approach, now calculate Til' and 7;/" for
Then T",., == 38.1'jOF for the (insulated) dry sidewal1,
T,r., =40"F for rlie wet sidewall, and 7;,." == ,],2.5"1' for
the wet wall, ,md 7;,. for the roof and bottom of the
tank.
I!',
the roof. Using F.C{. 2·L find the coefficient I'llI' each of
the three cases:
To find the correct wall temperatures. use the initial I
h" I == 0.75 7 ｂｴｵＯｦｾｨＭ °F
estimates of C and II values in Eq. 28 and 29 (and in the
parallel CqUd lio", fUf Ill(;' OdlL'l SlIl f<lcC''') IV gel nt'W 1;" 'I
111(,,,
"liT
= 0.759 ｒｬＱＯｦｴｾｨＭｯｆ
= O. 7(,5 ＭｨｾｴｦＯｵｂ 0 f
and 7;,..< values. Table IV shows these temperatures after
a second iteration. Using these new temperatures, re-
compute Grashof numbers, individual heat-lransfer
I'
I
coeflicients <Ind overall cociTicients, and then iterate ｾ ,

Closing in on results 'I

Table III sunlll1arizes the heat-transfer coefficients
just calculated, i"cludillg the corrections for wind-I/.,I>'
and h:.
r are multiplied by 3,3 and 3.1. respectively,
based on data 1'('1 IO-mph wind in Fig. 2. Substituting
these individual wemcicnts in Eq. 11-14, we obtain the
U values listed ill Table III.
.:.,
\\'hat remains 10 be ､ＨＩｮ･ｾ \\'hen we began the calcu-
Ｌｾ lations. we assufiled that the outside-wall temperatures
were related to (he bulk-fluid temperatures by:
TIC == T.'I + O.:li ｫｬＯｾＷ - T,) for uninsubted surfaces
Tor., = T + ｏＮＺＧﾷＬＨＷｾＱｉｫ
4 - ＷＮｾＩ
In order 10 calLul.,tt: aCCUr<iLe cuefficients fUI heal trans-
fer. we must no'., obtain better estimates of these wall
temperatures. This requires an itnative procedure that
can be programmed and run on a computer.
again to get a new Sci of '1;" and 7;". values. \Vhen the
current and previous ileratiun's tt"mperature estimates
are the S<lllle (wilhin a specified tuleranee), the iteration
is completed.
Table V lists the indlvidLLal and overall coefficients
after the second iteration. Although it is clear that addi-
tional iterations are needed, let us accept these values as
suflieiently <Iccurale for the present purpose. Then we
can obtain the total heat·lransftT rate (Q) b\- ｵｳｪｬ ｾ the
U v<llues in Eq. l-j and ｳｕｬ Ｑｭｩｮｾ Tahle VI ｳｨＨＩ｜ Ｇｾ the
calculated heat-transfer rat('s through each boundary,
and Ihe IOtal rate. Note that the roof and bottom of the
for insulated surfaces
tank account for only ｳｬｩｾｨｴ heat loss, despite being
uninsulal<:u.
This, of course, is for the unit period of time. when
wind speed is 10 mph, the tank is half full, and the air is
Xl' F. Table VII sho\\s ho\\' the results of unit-period

1:\1
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5T{)t{ ..,<;I·:-TANK fll'::AT TRi\;-.lSFt:K

The algebraic method of Hughes and Deumaga [5]

Rate of heat transfer during unit period Table VI resembles the one presented in this article in many
ways. But it does not recognize differences between liq-
Surface U, Btulft 2 h.oF Area, ft 2 6T, of q, Btuth uid and \'aror temperatures inside the tank, nor does it
------- account for the interaction between ｾ T and wind speed
Dry wall 01392 1,508 15 3,148.7 in calculating a wind-enhancement factor. Finally, even
Wet wall 01655 1,508 20 4,991.5 though their procedure requires iteration, the focus of
Roof 01636 315 15 773.0 the iterative etlorts is to get better estimates of Auid
Bottom 00875 -lli 15 412.1 properties, not tankwall temperatures.
Total ＳＬＶＴｾ 9,325.3
Note: Total for l:J·h period i. 1'1.904 Btu
Conclusions
Our engineer at ABC Chemical was able to negotiate
a significant reduction in the heating charges proposed
by the XYZ Terminal Co., which had used a shortcut
Summing ｉｾｳ･ for unit periods method for its estimate, because the procedure pre-
yields heat Inss for 30 days Table VII sented here is rational and defensible, A rigorous solu-
tion of the itcri1tions can easily iJe reached lJlI a digital
Period Liquid I"".i, % T , OF Wind speed, mph Heat loss, Btu
computer or even a programmable calculator, and the
A
effort pays ofT in better design or operation criteria.
1 50 35 10 111.904 i'lnrk Lipou;c:, Editor
2 50 27 5 392,407
3 43 42 0 42,591
References
1. ｟ｮｩｬ［ ｾａ F.. and Strcl'l, G .. "Applied Chemi("al Process Design:" Plenum
ＢＧｲＨ ｳｾ • .:'Jew York, ＱＹＷｾＬ p. 12 L.
2. Boyen.J. L.. "Thermal F.nr.-rgy Rt"'Covery," John \Viley & Sons.. New York.
42 93 55 30 0 1978, p. 285.
:1. Corduo. R .. ｾｨｔ cost ur
missing pipe insulation. Ch,m. ｾＨＬＢｅ Feb_ 14, lQ77.
p. 77.
4. Ｌ｣､ｾｆ A.J" ''-Advanc.es, in Heat ｔｲｾｮｳｲｬＢ Ｌ Vol. 4. Ar.adt"mic Pre-55. New York,
1967. p. I.
59 56 48 20 12,368 5. ｈｵｾｨＨＢＧｾＮ R,. and Dcumaga, V.. Insulation saves ＨＧｮ｣ｲｾｹＮ Chffll. Eng., ｹ｡Ｑｾ 27,
60 49 60 15 0 1914, p. %.
ｔｯｲｾＱ for 30.daV rwriod 8,389,050 6, Kato. ｎｩｳｨ ｜ｾ｡ｫｩＮ and Hirata. Inti. ./. o{ ｊＱｾＨｬ and .\lass ｔｲｴｬ ｾｦＷＮ \'01. II
(19681, p. 1117.
7. Kern. D. Q. --Process Heat Transfer:' ｜ｬ｣ｇｲ｡ｷｾｕｩｬ Ｎ New York, 19:;0, p.
:!I I,
R. Perry. R. H .. and Chilton. C. fl.. "Chemir.al Engineers' Handbook," 5th
ed., McGraw·Hill, New York. ＱｾＷｪＬ p. 10-17. .
heat losses (,In be tabulated and added to get the cumu- 9. Rohsrllow. \\", M., ｾｭ､ H:mnl"tt, J. P.• "Hanrlbonk or He3t ｔｲｾｮｳｦｴＢｲＬ
lative heat "ISS for a month or year. Of course, this re- McGraw· Hill, 'lew York, ＱＹＷｾＬ p. j.120
10. Stllhlbarg, D .. HllW \0 n.-sigll Tank Healing Coils, P,t. R,}intT. \·nl. 311, No.
quires climatic data and tank-level estimates for the 4 (19')91, p. 1\3.
overall tim/' period.

Comparison with other methods

The authors
Aerstin and Street [1] ofler a very simple method for (imm\' D. Kumana is Chief Process.
calcularing I,eat loss from tanks, For a tank with 1.5 in. tngineer al Henningsen, Durham and
Richardson, Inc.. P.O. Bu, 12744,
of sidewall I nsulation, and a wind speed of 10 mph, the PC::lIs;H.:nl.t. FL 32J 7J. wht'f(' he is
recommend('d overall U (based on k 0.019 for the = invol\'eO in all aspecls of t'ngint'ering
insulation) is 0.14 for :1T =
60°F and 0.14 for desiclO. He holds a 8. Tet:h. dt"grff from
the lndi::r.n ｉｮｳｴｩ ｵ ｾ of ｔｾｨｮｯｬ ｓＩＧＮ and
:1T =100°F Adjusting these values for k 0.028 and = an M.S. from Ihe Universilv of
Cincinnati, both in ｣ｨ･ｭｩ｣ｾＱ
J,. T = I r F. as in our examplc, yields an overall U of ｾｮｧｩ ･ＨＧｦｩｮｾＮ ;\·fr. Kumana is ､ｾｲＧｴｳｩＭＺｮｲ
0.206 Btu/fl ｾｨＭ OF. The total exposed surface is 3,331 ft 2 as a professional t"nginM"r in four statr-s,
and is active in AIChE as chairman of
(tank bottom not included), and thus the overall rate of his local section_ ｬｲｾ holdS a p:ltf'nt on
､ｪｾｲｩｬ ｴ｜ ｩｯｮ of furl-grade' ethanul.
heat transfer by their method is:
Q = 11206 X 3,331 X 17 = 11,666 Btu/h
Samir P. Kothari WAS a process engineer
This compares with a heat loss of 8,913 Blu/h (fur
rhe exposed mrfaee) calculated by the procedure of this ｾ ｬ ｊｳｾ Ｎｮｦ ｾ ｾ ｾ Ｑ｣ ･ was
written. He rf"ct'ntly joined ｈ｜ｬｲ ｭｾｮ ＭｉＮＳ
artide-seeTable VI. Thus their method yields a result Roche:'" ｾＮ ｣ｮｬ Ｎｹｫｬｵｾ NJ 071lO, ' I.' here he
ＳＱｾｩＮ ton high in this C:lSt:'. is ､･ｾ｡ｧｮＨ in ､｣ｳｩﾣｮ ｾ chr--mic;tl.procos
plants. Me. ｋｵ｜ｨｾｲｩ holds a B..s. d'grn:
Stuhlbarg r10] takes an approach similar to that pro- from ｾＱＮ S.:tyajirao ･ｮｩ｜Ｇｾ ｻｹ I. India)

posed here, hut his method differs in how the outside and an 1\1.S. fmm thl'" Unh'ersit\' of
Cincinn;ui, bach in chemical .
tankwalJ film coefficient is computed. Stuhlbarg recom- ･ｮＮｾｩｲｴＺＢ He ｢ｴＭｉｯｮｾｳ to AIChE and
ho.u W1'lltP.r'> ｾ ｶ ｔ ｡ ｬ technical nrtidC:i.
mends the use of a manufacturer's data table, and does
not explicitly distinguish between the bulk liquid tem-
perature and the outside-wall surface temperature in
calculating die proper heat-transfer coefficient.