Tweet

Nov 16, 2011 10:18 AM

Volcanic Heater Inc recently delivered and installed the  largest unit ever built at its Ohio facility: a customized heavy oil-fired  helical coil heating system for a NuStar terminal in St Eustatius, a small  island in the Dutch Caribbean.

  The unit has 2,500 square feet of heating surface, weighs  68,000 pounds, and is nearly 50 feet long and nine feet high.

  Volcanic designed the heating system to both offset  significant heat loss and to add temperature to heavy oil storage in a short  period of time. The multi-tank system includes a 30,000-gallon heavy oil  storage tank, with finned heating coils under normal operation, electric  immersion heaters for cold-startup, and mixers to enhance heat transfer.  Volcanic also furnished a ModSync control system from Synex Controls to operate  the heaters on a lead-lag system for maximum efficiency, and to enable  communication and control of the units from the terminal control room about a half-mile  away.

  Due to soot produced as a result of burning heavy oil,  Volcanic engineered a coil that could slide out of the unit to be cleaned and  inspected regularly. Redundant equipment, such as pumps and spare parts, was  recommended due to the long lead time in delivering equipment to the remote  island.

  NuStar is a growing master limited partnership that has  installed several Volcanic heaters.

  Volcanic worked closely with NuStar project engineers to  design the St Eustatius system, offering consultation on pipe sizing, control  valves, and operating procedures. The project was a joint effort from  conception through start-up. A Volcanic service technician, project engineer,  and a Synex Controls programmer were on-site for four weeks to commission the  system and observe the system operation while under load.

  For more information, visit www.volcanic-heater.com.