Perspectives of using microwave heating of petroleum products in the tank

The problem of optimizing the heating of petroleum products when draining from railway tanks using microwave heating is considered. It is established that microwave heating can significantly simplify the technological scheme, eliminating all processes and apparatuses associated with the preparation of the coolant. It is determined that currently existing patents and technical solutions proposed for the use of microwave heating for heating petroleum products assume that microwave energy falls on the free surface of the liquid. It is argued that the disadvantage of such schemes is a significant unevenness of heating due to the fact that microwave energy quickly fades out when moving deep into the tank. It is noted that when heated from the surface of the liquid in the tank, the distance from the source to the drain hole is quite large, as a result of which it is impossible to effectively use microwave heating. A method for solving this problem is proposed, which consists in installing a microwave device inside a hollow pipe, which is directly connected to the upper hatch in preparation for pumping and is immersed in the oil product to a depth that correlates with the depth of penetration of the microwave field in a particular product. The depth of penetration of microwave energy into the oil product under study - fuel oil-is estimated, on the basis of which it is recommended to set the distance from the emitter to the drain hole. It is argued that it is advisable to model microwave heating on the basis of the differential equation of thermal conductivity, taking into account internal heat sources. A mathematical model describing the heating of a volume of highly viscous petroleum products as a process of thermal conductivity in an unlimited array under the action of microwave radiation is presented. On the example of fuel oil, calculations were made using the finite difference method, which showed the temperature distribution in the array at different points in time.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MEiN, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2022-2023).