Steam Tracing of Pipe Lines
To maintain appropriate product temperature in process lines it may often be convenient to use a steam tracing system. This is a table that can be used to estimate the appropriate number of steam tracers
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The numbers of tracers depends on the size of the pipe and the product temperature in the process line. The surrounding temperature and the insulation efficiency also have influence.
Since the heat goes up its important to strip the steam tracers on the lower part of the process pipes. 1/2 inch (15 mm) pipes is quite common used as tracers.
For normal insulated pipes in normal surrounding conditions the table below can be used to determine the appropriate numbers of tracers.
| Number of 1/2" (15 mm) Steam Tracers | |||
| Product Line Size (inch) | Frost protection, the temperature in the process lines are below 75oF (25oC) | Keeping process media fluid, temperatures below 150oF (65oC) | Keeping process media fluid, temperatures below 300oF (150oC) |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 12 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 16 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 20 | 2 | 3 | 10 |
Example - Steam Tracing of Process Line
In a 4 inch transport system for vegetable oil with solidification temperature at 140 oF, two 1/2 inches steam tracing pipes should be appropriate.
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