Thermal oil system
A thermal oil system , which is also referred to as a thermal oil system or heat transfer oil system, is a heat transfer system for the indirect temperature control of production processes with thermal oil as the heat transfer medium.
technology
With the help of thermal oil , which can be used as a heat transfer medium in addition to water or molten salt , it is possible to heat or cool objects and substances during a production process. Compared to water, common thermal oils have a significantly lower specific heat capacity , which leads to a higher temperature difference with otherwise the same volume flow through the consumer (machine, reactor, etc.) and the same heat transfer performance. On the other hand, however, the decisive advantages of heating / temperature control by means of heat transfer oils are u. a .: Virtually pressureless system operation up to a temperature of approx. 350 ° C (400 ° C can be achieved with a low pressure of approx. 12 bar), no corrosion , no risk of freezing when installed outdoors, no water treatment required.
DIN 4754 is decisive for the design and construction of heat transfer systems, for operation and maintenance this is the VDI 3033 guideline. In addition, the Pressure Equipment Directive 2014/68 EU, the Machinery Directive 2006/42 EG and the AD leaflets must be observed .
application areas
Thermal oil systems are now used in almost all manufacturing industries. Below are some examples of industrial processes and applications:
Chemical and petrochemical industry
In the chemical industry , the availability of process heat in the high temperature range plays an important role. Thermal oil systems are used here for heating polymerization systems , polycondensation systems , for spinning head heating and for polyester fiber production, but also in the field of plastic extrusion , the temperature control of kneaders, dryers, suction filters and reactors. Another field is the heating of tank farms for crude oil .
Printing / paper industry
In the field of printing and paper, there are usually two important areas of application for thermal oil systems: On the one hand, thermal oil systems with electric or fired heaters are used to heat flexographic printing machines, and on the other hand, thermal or regenerative afterburning of production waste air is recovered from the exhaust gas using waste heat systems and During heating processes fed back.
Wood / furniture industry
Thermal oil systems - mostly centrally heated and connected to the consumers via several secondary circuits - are mostly used in the wood-based materials and furniture industry to heat presses and coating systems, wax melting boilers or lamination systems .
food industry
In the food industry, electric or fired heaters with subsequent primary and secondary consumer circuits feed the central production processes such as baking, roasting, scalding or homogenization processes with thermal energy. Areas of application are large kitchens , industrial ovens, systems for milk powder production or the production of convenience food .
Renewable energies / solar energy
There are many fields of application for thermal oil systems in the energy industry. Areas of application are in particular gas processing in biogas plants and conventional gas power plants, the use of waste heat in ORC systems or the generation of electricity in solar thermal and hybrid power plants ( CSP technology ).
Plastic / textile industry
Process heat is required everywhere in plastics processing. Thermal oil systems with heaters and secondary circuits for distributing the thermal energy are used, for example, to control the temperature of flat film calenders and coating systems, to control the temperature of injection molding tools or to heat core melting technology.
marine
In the shipping industry, thermal oil systems are used for heating bitumen and heavy oil tanks and for heat recovery behind the main engines and gas turbines .
literature
- Walter Wagner: Heat transfer technology with organic fluids . Vogel Buchverlag, Würzburg 2005, ISBN 978-3-8343-3033-8 .
- VDI Gesellschaft (Ed.): VDI Heat Atlas . VDI-Verlag / Springer Verlag, Düsseldorf 1993, ISBN 978-3-540-77876-9 .
- Dr. Dietmar Hunold: Solar thermal power plants - the largest thermal oil plants in the world . Ed .: heat 11 GmbH & Co. KG. Bielefeld 2012 ( online [PDF] company publication).
- Dr. Edgar Puls: Thermal oil systems - technical safety information . Ed .: HDI Gerling. Hannover 2013 ( online [PDF] company publication).