Working Principle Diagram of Fuel Oil Heater
Due to the high viscosity of fuel oil (especially heavy oil or oil residue), in order to meet the requirements of the boiler or main engine for fuel fluidity and atomization, the fuel oil must be heated to an appropriate temperature using fresh saturated steam in a heater for atomization.Layout
If the user is very close to the fuel oil pump house, the heater can be installed on the outlet pipe of the fuel oil pump outside the pump house for centralized heating and oil supply.If the user is far from the fuel oil pump house, it is more appropriate to install the heater near the user, because transporting high-temperature hot oil over long distances results in significant heat loss along the way, making it difficult to ensure the required oil temperature for the user.
Determination
When fuel oil heaters are centrally arranged, if installed on the main pipe supplying oil to each furnace in the workshop, the amount of oil to be heated is taken as the maximum consumption of the 1~2 furnaces with the highest oil consumption, plus the average consumption of the remaining furnaces. If a large return system is used and the returned oil passes through the heater, the return oil volume should be added.If fuel oil heaters are installed separately in front of each furnace, the amount of oil to be heated is taken as the maximum consumption of the furnace. If there is hot oil return, the return oil volume must also be added.
Heaters are generally not considered as standby; a bypass pipe is installed between the inlet and outlet. Cleaning and maintenance of the heater are carried out in coordination with the user's maintenance. When multiple groups of heaters are installed, group isolation measures should be considered to facilitate cleaning and maintenance.
Type
The heat source for fuel oil heaters can be steam or electricity. Steam is widely used to heat fuel oil, as this method is more economical and safe. However, for users with low oil consumption, if the required fuel heating temperature is high and the plant steam pressure is low, making it impossible to meet the heating requirements, electric heating may be considered, but it has high power consumption and high operating costs.Steam-heated fuel oil heaters include the following types:
Jacket-type heater
Jacket-type heaters are divided into single-jacket and multi-jacket types. Their structure is that the inner tube carries oil, and steam flows through the jacket between tubes.
Advantages: Simple to manufacture, easy to clean due to large tube diameter, no need for disassembly and cleaning for three years of operation, thus low maintenance costs.
Disadvantages: Large volume, high steel consumption.
Shell-and-tube heater
Shell-and-tube heaters are divided into U-tube type and straight tube bundle type. Due to the difficulty of cleaning the former, most adopt the straight tube bundle type, with oil flowing inside the tubes and steam outside.
Advantages: Compact structure, small volume, low steel consumption, suitable for heating large amounts of oil.
Disadvantages: Relatively complex structure, high manufacturing requirements, short cleaning cycle.
YJ type fuel oil heater
The YJ type fuel oil heater adds a spiral aluminum strip inside the oil tubes of the shell-and-tube heater, offering advantages such as small size, light weight, and high heat transfer efficiency. Due to the rotational flow of oil inside the tubes, the heat transfer coefficient is increased.
Jacket heating along the oil supply pipe
Jacket heating involves placing a steam pipe outside the oil pipe, with insulation wrapped around the steam pipe. The oil inside the oil pipe absorbs heat from the steam jacket, gradually increasing the oil temperature. Therefore, jacket heating is a heating method during fuel oil transportation. If the user is close to the fuel oil pump outlet, or for oil pipes with very small diameters, this method can be considered when it is economically and technically reasonable to use jacket heating for fuel oil.
