Flow coupling analysis and evaluation of different working conditions for crude oil storage tanks under dynamic heating

Abstract During periods of sharp demand increase, there is a need for significant expansion in the fundamental requirements for crude oil storage. As demand rapidly escalates, the prerequisites for crude oil storage necessitate substantial expansion. To scientifically and effectively reduce energy waste associated with heating oil, it is essential to study the heating methods and efficiency of crude oil storage tanks. Considering environmental temperature, solar radiation, and the physical properties of the oil, we have proposed a new heating model to elucidate the dynamic heating process of large floating roof storage tanks equipped with coils. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software was used to analyze the impact of the dynamic heating model on the temperature and velocity fields within the floating roof tank, taking into account different initial oil temperatures, oil levels, wind speeds, and types of crude oil during the winter heating process. Additionally, the research suggests the optimal maintenance heating temperature and duration for crude oil storage tanks during the winter season, introducing heating efficiency and inhomogeneity of temperature field as two evaluation metrics to compare the advantages of the dynamic heating method over traditional heating methods. This study provides fresh insights into the coil heating domain in crude oil storage tanks.