Effectiveness analysis of external heating system of gauge tank of pumping unit using exhaust piping of the IC engine
Introduction. The heating efficiency or regulation of the operating temperature of the fluid located in the gauge tank of a mobile pumping unit (PU) using the exhaust system of the internal combustion engine (ICE) is studied. The paper objective is to improve the design process and to reduce costs of field experiments.Materials and Methods. To solve this problem, numerical analysis methods were used when calculating the heating systems of the gauge tank with the external location of the pipeline from the ICE exhaust system by the example of the widely used installations (TsA-320, UNB, AChF, etc.). Siemens STAR-CCM+, a non-stationary non-linear solver of gas-dynamic processes, was used, which evaluates the correctness of the problem statement and reduces significantly the costs of full-scale field tests.Research Results. The study was conducted for the operating conditions of the cementing unit on the Kamaz-43118 chassis with the SIN-32 pump and a drive from the power take-off attachment on the gearbox of the chassis engine. In the calculation model, a convection-type heat transfer was applied between the body of the gauge tank and the surrounding air; between the body of the gauge tank and the liquid; between the chassis exhaust system duct and ambient air; between the exhaust system duct and exhaust gases. The following study results were obtained: characteristic curves of the temperature variation of the gauge tank liquid at the watch points; the distribution of the temperature field of the liquid in the gauge tank; the distribution of the ambient air temperature field; lines of flows and ambient air speed field and of the ICE exhaust gases.Discussion and Conclusions. The study has revealed poor effectiveness of the considered structure. The data analysis allows us to offer an improved design of the gauge tank heating. The results obtained in the work can be used in the calculations of such devices used in the hydraulic fracturing units and grout machines.