THERMAL OIL BOILER: WHAT IS IT?
Fuel is burned in a chain-type combustion chamber in a thermal oil heater. The energy produced by the fuel combustion heats the heat transfer oil, which may reach temperatures of up to 400°C. The machinery used in industrial manufacturing that requires heat will get the heated oil. The thermal oil boiler is exclusively utilized in indirect heat exchange systems in industrial production, which means that the oil circulates in a closed cycle by passing through heat exchangers at the heaters and then returning to the oil heater to reheat. Up to 18 GCal may be heated by this industrial oil heater in one hour.
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The benefits and drawbacks of a chain-grate thermal oil heater.
1. Benefits:
Simple design, simple to use, inexpensive maintenance, and chemical-free operating.
With low pressure, working oil temperatures can reach up to 400 °C, making them ideal for high temperature systems. Low pressure equipment will also be less expensive.
The oil furnace’s heat exchanger pipe will last longer if it is not corroded.
Because thermal oil boilers can achieve high temperatures, they are frequently employed in industry to replace industrial boilers. In contrast, industrial steam boilers require extremely high pressure to heat the steam to that degree, which raises the cost.
Ideal for burning a variety of large-sized solid fuels, such as coal bran, chopped firewood, rice husks, wood pellets, and rice husks, with a particle size of up to 50 mm.
2. Negative aspects
Since oil boilers frequently run at high temperatures, system and operator safety must be guaranteed by equipment design and selection.
Samples must be taken every six months to determine whether heat transfer oil is still usable. The heat transfer oil will last a long time if it is made and used correctly.
Heat transfer oil is quite expensive.
Operating a thermal oil boiler has a higher risk, thus personnel need to be educated to fulfill the operation’s technical specifications.
We hope that this post has given you a better overview and increased comprehension of the benefits and working principle of the thermal oil furnace system. We shall study about the operation of the fluidized bed boiler system in the next subject.
The Operation of a Thermal Oil Boiler
The hot combustion products of an oil boiler provide energy when they fire through a helical coil. This is accomplished by using convection and radiation to heat the coil.
The fluid or thermal oil that is pushed through the thermal oil boiler is heated by the coil. Coils in different kinds of heat consumers are heated by the thermal oil. This heating technique does not subject the system to high pressure, in contrast to a water or steam boiler.
Water boiling systems are inferior than thermal oil systems.
Compared to water boilers, thermal oil boilers are almost always less expensive to run and maintain. Boilers that require high pressures to function, such as steam and water boilers, are significantly more dangerous than thermal oil boilers. The absence of corrosion, lime deposits, and scale that are typical of heated water or steam boilers, which significantly increases the running expenses of a water boiler, are other obvious benefits of thermal oil systems. Furthermore, efficient draining steam traps and makeup water are not needed for thermal oil boilers.
The user can operate at high temperatures (up to 600F for organic thermal oils and 800F for some synthetics) at relatively low pressures when using thermal oil systems. Due to the low working pressure and characteristics of thermal fluids, ASME Section VIII, Div. 1 construction is used in the majority of heaters. Generally, a boiler operator license is not needed.
There are several names for thermal oil systems.
Numerous individuals worldwide use various names to refer to these systems. Thermic fluid heater, hot oil heater, hot oil system, hot oil boiler, thermal oil heater, thermal oil boiler, thermal fluid heater, thermal fluid system, and thermal oil heater. They are all talking about the same kind of liquid phase heat transfer closed loop system. And even though the majority of systems don’t include any kind of vaporization, a lot of people still refer to them as thermal oil boilers or thermal fluid boilers.
Usually, heat transfer fluids are run through heaters made of wood, gas, oil, or electricity. Direct contact with the heater element heats the fluid, which is then piped to the process heat user and then returned to the heating system. Numerous factories run continually, and this is a continuous process. When used below their thermal stability limit (TSL) and without external substances contaminating them, organic heat transfer fluids are typically stable. Carbon insolubles are occasionally formed as a result of contamination and overheating, which clog heat transmission surfaces and deposit on system surfaces. Blockages in system pipes and valves can result from solids sedimentation. In addition to increasing the wear of dynamic seals and potentially leading to heater surface cracking or burnout, fouling lowers the overall efficiency of the heat transfer system.
This high-temperature filtering system was created by Liquid Process Systems with the goal of continuously removing these carbon particles from thermal oil or heat transfer fluid.