Effect of Periodic Change of Ambient Temperature on the Temperature Field in the Single Disc Floating Roof Oil Tank

ABSTRACT In this paper, it is more practical to use periodic ambient temperature in the simulation of cooling. Additional specific heat capacity and momentum source terms methods are employed to simulate the changing physical properties of waxy crude oil related to the paraffin crystallization. The changes of temperature field of tanks especially for heat dissipation and the cooling rate of top wall and sidewall were compared with 6m and 8m diameter under three different periodic temperatures. Our outcomes reveal that the heat dissipation and the temperature drop rate at the top wall and sidewall fluctuated in accordance with the periodic change of ambient temperature. For storage tanks of different sizes, the heat dissipation of large tanks is larger especially on the top wall, but smaller tanks have a faster rate of temperature drop especially on the sidewall. Meanwhile, the average ambient temperature affects the overall size of heat dissipation and temperature drop rate, the lower the average ambient temperature is, the higher the temperature drop rate and heat dissipation will be. And the fluctuation of ambient temperature affects the fluctuation rule of heat dissipation and temperature drop rate, the larger the fluctuation of ambient temperature, the larger the fluctuation of heat dissipation and temperature drop rate.