Oil and viscous Oil products preheating and discharge units for rail tank cars

Existing technologies of unloading the product from the rail tank cars and other vessels do not offer full solution of transportation problem excluding significant time span and financial expenses. OGSB employs another discharge technology comprising the units that employ double flow circulating heating to provide controlled heat transfer process within the rail tank car following the controlled parameters of product pressure and temperature keeping the rated capacity of the circulating pump.

3D model of Oil Heating and Discharge Units with the main equipment description

Employs the division of heated product flow coming from the external heat exchanger into two:

• external circuit – part of the flow is diverted to the lowering pipes of the oil jet block in the area of elliptical heads of the rail tank car.
• internal circuit–part of the flow is diverted to the recovery zone from the rail tank car to the circulation system.

External circuit provides heated product input into the rail tank car and cold product recovery from the rail tank car to the circulation system.

Internal circuit provides only heated product input to the recovery zone of the cold product from the rail tank car in order to reduce the product viscosity.

Flow-ratio control within both internal and external circuit is maintained via control valves. Product flow set within the internal circuit is defined by physical condition of the product in rail tank car. The higher viscosity or setting point of the product in rail tank car the bigger flow of the heated product within the internal circulation is required. During the course of the circulating heating system operation cold product is constantly being recovered at the bottom of the rail tank car and the same amount of heated product is being fed into the rail tank car for jetting and diverted to the upper area of the rail tank car.

There is an interface between the hot and cold product being established within the rail tank car that is constantly decreasing during the course of cold product recovery. Constantly increasing upper layer of hot product melts the cold product on the tank walls entirely leaving them absolutely clean after the discharge.

The use of the oil jet block with lowering pipes allows to exclude so called “cleanup” stage that is employed by different open jetting technologies and violates fire safety regulations and contributes to significant environment contamination.

Oil heating and discharge units are designed for work with viscous and setting solid products such as viscous oil, residual fuel oil of all brands, vacuum gasoil, paraffine, tar.

If designed as equipment for food industry – for work with oils and fats of all brands, molasses.

Employed coolant – saturated or overheated water vapor, high-temperature organic coolant (thermal oil), hot water, low-temperature liquid coolants (antifreezes).

Circulating heating and discharge units can be supplied:

Three versions of discharge type:

• Bottom discharge unit;
• Overflow (emergency) discharge unit;
• Combined discharge unit.

Process control type:

• Manual control;
• Automated control

Main characteristics

Advantages over analogues:

• User friendly control system that allows to regulate the heating process to achieve maximum heat capacity;
• Simple heating principle that requires short-term practical experience after training and single operator for the maintenance of 5–6 units;
• Increased lifetime of equipment due to the employment of preventive measures aimed at pumping facilities protection from cavitation and product overheating.

  Main advantage of the units is that it provides estimated oil transfer volume and hence realization of profit avoiding railroad demurrage and contract penalties.