Abstract
Steam network operation stability and reliability is vital for any industrial branch. A combined steam network model comprising a balance and a coupled thermo-hydrodynamic model, including seasonal variations impact and system specificities, is presented. A balance model can readily be used by a refinery’s operators. The thermo-hydrodynamic model identifies system bottlenecks and cold spots and evaluates proposed operation and investment measures including heat loss reduction. A three-pressure levels refinery steam network served for model testing and validation. Balance model results reveal significant misbalance in steam production and consumption, reaching 30.5% in the low-pressure steam system, and heat balance differences in the range of 9.2% to 29.5% on individual pressure levels, attributable both to flow measurement accuracy issues and to heat losses. The thermo-hydrodynamic model results differ from the measured steam parameters by less than 5% (temperature) and by less than 4% (pressure), respectively, with the estimated operational insulation heat conductivity exceeding 0.08 W/m/K. Its comparison with that of 0.03 W/m/K for dry insulation material yields the need for pipelines re-insulation and a partial revamp of the steam network. The model is sufficiently general for any type of industry, pursuing the goal of cleaner and energy-efficient steam transport and consumption.
Highlights
Water steam belongs to the most extensively used energetic media
ThisThis means, that of amount means, this steam network is the least-dependent on the steam supply from the. The that this steam network is the least-dependent on the steam supply from the combined heatheat andand power (CHP) unit
The work deals with mathematical modeling as a tool for steam network optimization
Summary
Water steam belongs to the most extensively used energetic media. Already in 2006 the share of energy consumption in the form of water steam represented up to 40% of all energetic media used in industry. A simple mathematical model based only on mass and heat balance, which enabled switching between different production loads and switching between electro- and steam drive, was applied in a refinery It led to the realization of new projects within the steam network [9]. A mathematical model predicting the amount of condensate and considering condensate losses was proposed in the past and allows application on single pipes or whole steam networks [21,30] It consists of differential equations based on mass and energy conservation laws. A combined thermo-hydrodynamic model based on hydrodynamic and heat-transfer equations was created that allows comparing calculated values of steam temperature and pressure to the real field data This model, after validation, was used for assessment of proposed changes within the steam network
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