Analytical, Instrumentation and Mechanical Heat Tracing and Tube Bundles

A Tubing Bundle consists of a small diameter tube or group of tubes packaged in an insulated, weatherproofed jacket. It may be steam or electric traced to provide freeze protection or temperature maintenance. Tubing Bundles are used in Instrument hook-up and impulse lines, Analyser sample transport, Insulated Tubing and Jacketed Tubing. This page provides many relevant free technical references to Analytical, Instrumentation and Mechanical Heat Tracing and Tube Bundles. 

Go to Specific Subject: Heat Tracing and Tube Bundles | Tubing Bundles Applications | Heat Tracing and Tube Bundle Useful Links |

 

Heat Tracing and Tube Bundles

TRACEPAK Solves Problems for Analytical, Instrumentation and Mechanical Plant Utility Applications - Drop-out and viscosity control are major considerations in instrument impulse connections, small diameter process lines and analyzer sample transport. A properly designed and selected pre-traced tubing bundle offers an effective solution to these problems. This technical brochure also details the various temperature control options across a broad range of applications including both electrical and steam tracing. There are also options for pre-insulated weatherproof tubing bundles and a wide variety of connections.

Tubing Bundles and Heated Hose - A tubing bundle is a small diameter tube or group of tubes packaged in an insulated, weatherproofed jacket. It's steam or electric traced to provide freeze protection or temperature maintenance.

Heat Traced Tube Bundles for High Temperature Lines - Got a high temperature application? Extreme temperature applications such as high pressure drums, turbine inlets and main steam headers, are often part of design considerations. Temperatures up to 1200°F (650°C) are common and O’Brien buffered TRACEPAK® products offer the total solution to the most demanding applications.

Cut-To-Length Bulk Bundle for Field Installed Temperature Sensors - O’Brien TRACEPAK® - Stackpak tubing bundles can be configured to meet your design requirements. Standard design bundles with Sensor Tube are supplied in long continuous lengths. The advantage is that the expense and uncertainty of estimating an anticipated run length for factory installed sensors is eliminated.

Cost Comparision between Electrical Heat Tracing Solutions and Field Fabrication - This Simple Materials breakdown gives a good indication of the potential savings by utilising electrical heat tracing.

Heated Tubing: Prefabricated or Field Trace & Insulate? - Peter R. Baen and Rory R. Johnson - Heated instrument tubing is common throughout industry and is most often used for winterization. It is also common for tubing to be maintained at high temperatures for viscous processes or to keep gas samples above dew point and prevent condensation. In many cases the tubing is field routed, electrical heat tracing is then installed, followed by the insulation and weather barrier. Alternatively, pre-insulated and heat traced "tube bundles" are designed to expedite installation, minimize total installed cost, and ensure predictable and reliable operation. This paper addresses the advantages and limitations of both approaches.

Specifying and Designing Tubing Bundles for Analysers - As many as 50% of the process analysers installed today are either not in service or fail to provide reliable results - Improperly selected tubing bundles are one of the major contributors to this complaint.

LNG Processing and On Stream Analysis - When natural gas is cooled below -160 °C (-256 °F) at atmospheric pressure it condenses to a liquid and becomes liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG is stored as a boiling cryogenic liquid at relatively low pressure; the gases that boil off are vented and collected insuring that the liquid temperature remains constant. This paper discusses a typical LNG process and examine the critical measurements required.

Tube Selection for Analyzer Sample Systems - Selecting the right process tube for use in analyzer sample transport systems requires consideration of process and application conditions.

Best Practices: Right Way / Wrong Way - To ensure reliable analyser performance sample transport lines require thought and the implementation of some key practices.

Sample Transport Systems Present Tremendous Opportunities for Improved Analyser Accuracy - Chemical and petrochemical industries around the world have clearly identified that yield, scrap and compliance improvements can be directly attributed to the effectiveness of the sample transport system. Analyzers will function only as well as the transport system yet this same system is often the most overlooked and misunderstood component. This product bulletin details the potential sample transport system solutions.

Steam Distribution and Condensate Return - When you need a weatherproofed, preinsulated single tubing line for your steam supply and condensate return lines, think O'Brien S-LINE. Perfect for insulation for personal protection or to prevent heat loss from your lines, S-LINE provide an inexpensive alternative to field insulation and weatherproofing small lines.

Instrument Impulse Lines - Effective Freeze Protection and Temperature Maintenance - Details on how to keep your impulse lines from freezing, or maintaining a certain temperature.

Chloride Stress Corrosion in Tubing Bundles - Chloride stress corrosion cracking (CSCC) is certainly not a new problem nor is it specifically related to tubing bundles. In fact, controlling or eliminating this type of failure is much more attainable in a pre-manufactured tubing bundle than with field construction. 316SS and 304SS are particularly susceptible to this type of stress corrosion and 316SS is the most commonly used grade of SS tubing. A combination of factors must be present before CSCC is created.

An Investigation into the Sources of Background CO in Heated Flexible Sample Transport Hose - This technical paper details tests that were administered with the goal of determining the source of background CO present in flexible heated sample system hoses.

Winterising Best Practices - You’ve just spent $250 million on a plant project. How much will a freeze-up cost you in lost revenue and added expense? Most facilities are designed and constructed with very fast project time lines. Critical instrument and impulse line freeze protection details often fall to the bottom of a project priority list or pushed off to the field. Without careful considerations about each application the chances for plant freeze-ups become very likely. As with all new construction, there are “right ways” and “wrong ways” in dealing with winterization. These are detailed in this article.

TRACEPAK Installation Instructions - Installation instructions are provided to give the field engineer and installers the necessary information to install TRACEPAK in an efficient and effective manner.

Applications - A Wide Range of Process, Sample and Environmental Applications of Tubebundles - These links give good examples of various applications.

Value Added Solutions - This white paper outlines some of the traps and solutions for Tubing Bundles.

Innovations in Stainless Steel Tube Installation for Solar Applications - For years, Semiconductor, Biopharmaceutical and Solar facilities have used stick tubing for gas delivery systems. In addition to longer installation time, and multiple welds, other risks can occur with stick tubing: leaks, slugs, purity degradation, vapour and particle entrapment, and tube corrosion. This bulletin addresses this and gives solutions.

 

Tubing Bundles Applications

Analytical - Sample transport systems present tremendous opportunities for improved analyser accuracy. Chemical and petrochemical industries around the world have clearly identified that yield, scrap and compliance improvements can be directly attributed to the effectiveness of the sample transport system. Analysers will function only as well as the transport system yet this same system is often the most overlooked and misunderstood component. Additional Information can be found here.

Instrumentation - Inefficiencies can make your plant work harder, produce less, and cost millions in lost profit and opportunity. Recent studies show that plants producing $500 million in annual revenue give away an estimated $5 to $10 million because of poorly performing devices and systems. Instrument winterising is currently a combination of independent products, designs and crafts with little incentive to work together. There is a shortage of skilled and experienced instrument technicians and craftsmen in the field, which makes coordinating loose parts and pieces difficult and costly. O’Brien is the leader in complete solutions to guarantee a Warm Loop.

Monitoring (CEM) - These applications are unique in that stack gas is very wet and hot. You must maintain temperatures above the dew point during extraction at the sample probe and transport to the sample conditioning cabinet.

Piping, Mechanical & Utilities - Refineries and Chemical facilities generate enormous volumes of steam to heat their process raw materials and to provide freeze protection across the entire plant. Electric and steam traced tubing bundle is ideal for the static-leg impulse lines that are attached to the main steam header pipes.

Offshore - The offshore market presents the most demanding applications in the process controls industries. HSE issues surrounding corrosion and leak points as well as installation ease and speed are major considerations.

Oil Sands - Oil Sands are a large deposit of oil-rich bitumen located in northern Alberta, Canada. These oil sands consist of a mixture of crude bitumen (a semi-solid form of crude oil), silica sand, clay minerals, and water. The separation / upgrading process takes place outdoors, putting process samples and field instrumentation at risk. O'Brien Corporation has developed products that make it possible for the process monitoring and control instrumentation to function in the harsh Winter conditions where temperatures can reach -55C.

Power - The power industry has many unique winterisation applications not seen in any other industry. The power industry subjects tubing bundles to extreme temperatures and extreme pressures. Additional information can be found here.

Winterization Solutions for the Power Industry - In the power industry, winterization often presents a set of engineering, design and installation details that can fall to the bottom of a project priority list. Poor coordination of these details can result in a freeze up, which can cost millions in lost revenue and additional expense. High process temperatures combined with sub-freezing ambient conditions requires industry expertise in design and installation of winterizing systems.

Stack Gas Sample Systems - These applications are unique in that stack gas is very wet and hot. You must maintain temperatures above the dew point during extraction at the sample probe and transport to the sample conditioning cabinet.

Heat Tracing and Tube Bundle Useful Links

New Directions in Pipe Heat-Tracing Designs - Escalating energy costs drive the future - Knox Pitzer and Roy Barth - Heat-tracing systems are often overlooked when industrial energy reduction initiatives are considered, but these systems are large energy consumers that may be optimized for energy conservation. A large variety of heat-tracing methods are available today - From www.insulation.org.

Heat Tracing - Steam or Electric? - For decades, steam tracing has been an accepted practice in the heating of piping, vessels and equipment. Steam tracing has been used in industrial processing plants for over a century. Early on, steam jacketing and tubular tracing became the chosen means of keeping the contents of pipes at required temperatures. As refineries and chemical plants expanded in size and product diversity following World War II, electric-tracing methods were developed to provide thermostatic control for low-temperature and heat-sensitive materials. There are applications where one method may show to advantage over the other, but today steam tracing continues to be the most widely used method of heat tracing in industrial plants around the world from Steam Online.

The Benefits of Steam Tracing vs. Electric Tracing - Horst Thieme and James R. Risko - Many articles have been written concerning the advantages of steam over electricity (or vice versa) for- tracing applications. A valid case can probably be made for either, depending on the method being promoted by the particular author. These promotional articles have generally been based on strictly economical considerations which represent only part of the story. This article is intended to provide insights into inherent practical advantages of steam which may have been overlooked in the past. Here are some points and simplified piping schematics to consider. From the Fluid Controls Institute.

The Relative Merits and Limitations of Thermal Fluid, Electric and Steam Heat Tracing Systems - R. Knox Pitzer Sr- The cost of one heat tracing method versus another is of importance when selecting a heating system for plant pipes and equipment, given that each system has the capability to perform the required function. Today, however, long-term energy efficiency and the reduction of hydrocarbon pollutants may be the most important aspect in the selection of plant equipment including heat-tracing systems. Energy conservation and the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions go hand-in-hand. From thermon.com.

Steam Tracing with MS Excel - Andre de Lange - Steam Tracing with MS Excel is presented as a guide to understanding how the spreadsheet "steam_tracing.xls" works to perform various calculations associated with steam tracing - From cheresources.com.

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