On the Tank Heating of Oil Tankers

Abstract

Heating coils installed in large tankers are of very long length, some being over 10,000 m in total length. However, due to many unknown factors about their heat transfer, it has been difficult to make their exact calculations; little consideration has been given to the design of these coils. The authors carried out a theoretical and experimental investigation on heat transfer by using a fuel oil tank of a large tanker. Results obtained are as follows: (1) The heat transfer coefficient of tank coils can be evaluated experimentally. (2) The influence of condensate in coil on heat transfer can be made clear by the measurement of the tube wall temperature. (3) Effective limit length of a heating coil can be determined. (4) Heat loss from cargo oil tank in heating can be evaluated. Thus, the reasonable design will result in a substantial reduction of heating coil length without heating effect decrease.