Numerical Analysis of the Spontaneous Combustion Accidents of Oil Storage Tanks Containing Sulfur

• Main Authors: Zijun Li, Rongzi Cai, Yu Xu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
• Series: Processes
• Subjects: tank spontaneous combustion; influencing factors; heat source intensity; air convection heat transfer coefficient; tank wall material
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/9/4/626

In order to study various influencing factors of spontaneous combustion accidents of sulfur-containing oil storage tanks, this paper constructed a two-dimensional model of the storage tank wall by COMSOL Multiphysics software. The proposed model takes temperature change trend as an observation index to explore the heat transfer process of the tank wall. By fitting the function curve of heat release with oxidation reaction temperature of sulfur corrosion products and comparing with constant heat sources, it is found that heat source intensity will affect the temperature growth trend of tank spontaneous combustion. In addition, the air convection heat transfer coefficient represents the interference degree of external environment to the spontaneous combustion heating process, and the wall heating rate decreases with the increase of air convection heat transfer coefficient. The different heat release rates in varying oxidation stages will lead to distinct temperature growth trends. The larger the air convection heat transfer coefficient, the greater the temperature difference between the inner and outer walls of the tank, which is not conducive to the detection of the abnormal temperature of the heat source. The difference of thermal insulation and thermal conductivity of tank materials also affects the wall heat transfer, so the material properties should be considered comprehensively in actual production. The research results can provide a research basis and a theoretical basis for monitoring, prevention, and control of spontaneous combustion of sour oil storage tanks.