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 five, high-impact strategies to increase your terminal efficiency.
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 product warm and pliable for pumping.
In the past, many plants have chosen steam boilers for their operations; however, thermal oil heating systems outperform them in several 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 around $80,000 a year. Also, with a thermal fluid heater, there is no need for a pretreating skid ($40,000), deaerator ($10,000) or chemical injection system ($15,000).
Next, thermal fluid is a more efficient and lower maintenance option for heating. 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. 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, which adds cost. If a boiler goes down and ice forms, an entire system can easily be destroyed.
Replace tank fire tubes with bottom-mounted tank coils
Sometimes in older facilities you'll find dated and unsafe direct-fired heaters blasting directly into a tank sidewall, but one small leak can cause a major safety situation. In addition, the single flame creates hot spots and cold spots, reducing efficiency. Replacing fire tubes with tank coils eliminates an emissions source, reducing your carbon footprint.
A much safer and more economical option is mounting tank heating coils to the bottom of a tank. These coils can be heated with hot oil or steam and can be bare or finned pipes. In most cases, finned is the most efficient choice, as the fins create 12 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.
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 and inability to reach optimal fluid temperatures. By replacing old equipment, you can quickly pay for the equipment itself with the money saved on fuel, water and other resources.
Go low NOx on your burners
Over the last decade, low NOx has become more of a mainstream practice. 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.
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. Insulation is often 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 will help increase its lifespan.
For more information, visit enerquip.com or call (715) 748-5888.
