Let’s discuss whether this design for storing styrene is feasible
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As stated in the title: a 1000-cubic-meter styrene storage tank, along with related pipelines. The tank and these pipelines are made of polystyrene for insulation; forced circulation is used, along with external cooling. An ethylene glycol water solution at 0°C is used as the coolant to keep the temperature of the styrene inside the tank below 10°C. The circulation pump and the feeding pump share the same unit. A jet mixer is installed at the outlet of the storage tank and connected to the upper part of the tank, thereby facilitating the circulation and cooling of the liquid in that upper area. Feeding is done at the bottom of the storage tank; a short pipe with an upward-opening end is connected at the inlet to facilitate mixing of the liquid on the upper and lower sides of the tank. Let’s discuss whether there are any issues with this design approach
The operating costs of the cooling system are very high; whether it is necessary is debatable
Is there no one else who wants to talk about this process?
I am also quite interested in this aspect. In my opinion: 1. Placing the heat exchanger outside the storage tank and using a pump for external circulation results in high energy consumption and complex operation； 2. It is better to install coils inside the tank, but there is a risk of leakage from the internal coils, and they are also difficult to clean ； 3. Cooling tubes are wound around the outer wall of the tank, but the efficiency is low. I’d like to hear the opinions of my peers; thank you all for sharing your views!
We use the external circulation cooling method mentioned by the original poster; of course, if other processes require chilled water, it would be sensible to use that as well. 1. The operation is not complicated either; as long as the moving equipment is functioning properly, it’s sufficient to go and check it during each shift and collect some operational data. 2. The energy consumption is certainly a bit high.
As mentioned upstairs, how large are your storage tanks? 》 Is the circulation pump running continuously? 5# shanyee
Could considering removing the jet mixer be an option?
We have built styrene storage tanks, with one area containing four 3,000-cubic-meter styrene tanks. Four heat exchangers are used (one heat exchanger for each storage tank) to carry out an external circulation cooling process, ensuring that the storage temperature of styrene remains below 15 degrees Celsius. We also considered the coil method mentioned above at first, but it was rejected – mainly because of the difficulties involved in manufacturing and cleaning it, as well as the fact that energy consumption wouldn’t be significantly reduced. Moreover, the owner wanted to be able to add more types of products to store in future tanks. After taking all these factors into account, we decided to use an external cooling system instead. Judging from the owner’s business performance, the results are quite good!
For a storage tank with a capacity of 10,000 cubic meters, the circulation pump and the flow rate of the chilled water are adjusted according to the temperature. In winter, it operates for a few hours per week to ensure circulation, while in summer it remains running continuously.
There’s nothing wrong with the design concept. It’s very complete; excellent. Regarding the process control parameters, a value of 10 degrees for styrene is somewhat low; this will result in higher energy consumption. If stored for a period of one month at temperatures below 18 degrees, there will be no problems.
The 10# longwa storage tank should be equipped with a nitrogen blanket. Since the TBC anti-polymerization mechanism requires dissolved oxygen in the system, the storage time should not be too long; it is recommended to limit it to 10 days. The storage temperature should be between 5 and 20 degrees, with a recommendation of below 15 degrees. The system pipelines must be circular; there should be no dead corners.