Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D88/00—Large containers
  • B65D88/74—Large containers having means for heating, cooling, aerating or other conditioning of contents
  • B65D88/744—Large containers having means for heating, cooling, aerating or other conditioning of contents heating or cooling through the walls or internal parts of the container, e.g. circulation of fluid inside the walls
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60P—VEHICLES ADAPTED FOR LOAD TRANSPORTATION OR TO TRANSPORT, TO CARRY, OR TO COMPRISE SPECIAL LOADS OR OBJECTS
  • B60P3/00—Vehicles adapted to transport, to carry or to comprise special loads or objects
  • B60P3/22—Tank vehicles
  • B60P3/2295—Means for heating, cooling, or insulating tanks or equipments

Definitions

• Systems and means for electrically heating tanks especially those carried by motor vehicles, heat being diffused by radiation The invention concerns systems and means for transporting liquids.
• tank trucks In common use are vehicles such as tank trucks, tankers and tank wagons consisting respectively of road trucks or rail wagons that carry a tank for transporting liquids.
• a motor vehicle for this purpose generally consists of a truck, without a body, carrying a tank and its accessories that occupy the place of the truck's body.
• the tank and accessories comprise the tank itself, of an oval cross section with its longer axis laid horizontally, and of a base structure.
• the whole is fixed to the lateral frame members of the truck.
• a manhole permits access to the inside and is also used for loading.
• Tank trailers consist of a chassis complete with axles and of a tank with accessories as described above.
• the tank may be fixed to the chassis or be moveable. In all cases it is nearly always necessary to keep the liquid in the tank at a substantially constant temperature, ranging between 20° and 250°, not ⁇ withstanding heat losses and irregularity caused by the greatly varying speeds at which the vehicle travels and any sudden changes in atmosphe- ric temperatures.
• Subject of the invention are systems and means for electrically heating tanks, especially those carried on vehicles, by heat diffusion.
• the tank is clad with concave metal panels associated to a continuous two-dimensional electricity-conducting body whose thickness is measured in microns, of a constant section and having a very high ratio between extension and thickness, said body matching up against said metal panels.
• the ends of the continuous conductor are connected to a generator of electricity which, during its passage, is transformed into diffused heat this then being transmitted to the product contained in the tank.
• the continuous conducting body is laid on one metal sheet over which a second metal sheet is laid and fixed in place.
• the surfaces of said sheets matching with the conducting body are lined with a layer of electrically insulating material.
• the metal sheets are preferably of aluminium and the surfaces matching with the conducting body are anodized.
• the conducting body may be a band of copper.
• Electric current is supplied to the panels by a motor driven generator connected to an electronic control unit, in turn electrically connected to one and another of the panels.
• Each panel is fitted with a probe for measuring the temperature in the area around the liquid product where said probe is placed.
• a microprocessor switches the various panels on and off separately one from another, or regulates the electric power in accordance with data supplied, from one moment to the next, by the probes concerned, according to the temperature that has been set for the product in the tank, making checks and taking specific action in various parts of the product, In one advantageous form of execution there are five panels, electric current for the panels is at 24 Volt while installed power is 5-8 kW.
• the tank concerned is carried on a tank truck, on a tanker, on a railway wagon or on a tank trailer or on any other transport vehicle as the case may be.
• the invention offers evident advantages. In all process concerning transfer of heat, the lower the thermal delta between the heating element and the required temperature for that particular heating purpose (environment, warm air etc.) the greater will efficiency be. Compared with conventional electric generators of heat (electric elements at extremely high temperatures with very small heat exchanging surfaces) where concentrated heat has to produce diffused heat, the invented system here described operates by transforming electric current directly into diffused heat, efficiency of the installation being extremely high.
• the quanity of energy needed is calculated to one tenth of a degree, from one area to another in the tank containing the liquid product so as to keep the desired temperature constant, and this can be done throughout a possible range of temperature from 20° to 300°C. This is done by instant adaption to environmental temperature changes caused by climatic conditions and by movement of the vehicle.
• FIG. 1 Tank truck with the electric panels subject of the invention.
• Fig. 2 The same as Fig.1 with external insulation cladding.
• Fig. 3 Diagram to show electrical connections.
• Fig. 4 Detail of a panel.
• the tank truck 10 with tank 1 1 exhibits five concave electric panels 12 substantially the same; these clad the lower wall of the tank, semi-oval in section, with a short space between one panel and the next.
• the panels are formed of a first concave sheet of aluminium 20 clad with an anodized layer 21 , on which is laid a thin intermediate copper body 22, whose thickness is measured in microns, and on which is laid a second concave sheet 24 of aluminium on whose matching surface is an anodized layer 23.
• Each panel carries a temperature probe 27 connected by an electric wire 28 to the drive unit 30.
• the entire volume of liquid product contained in the tank is divided substantially into five zones each of which is kept under control by one of the above probes. Temperature values of the volume of liquid checked by each probe are sent from one moment to the next to the drive unit 30.
• the drive unit switches single panels on and off, electrically connecting them to the motor driven generator of electric current 31 through the electric wiring 32 restoring the set optimum temperature values should such values be found to have varied or be about to vary due to dispersion which may take place at various points in the tank as a consequence of the speed at which the vehicle travels or to external climatic conditions.
• the drive unit is operated by a microprocessor able to calculate to one tenth of a degree the amount of energy needed, zone by zone, to maintain the temperature at the desired level.
• Fig. 2 shows a tank truck 15, substantially the same as that in Fig. 1 , the only difference being that it has a coating of insulation 40 on the outside.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Public Health (AREA)
• Transportation (AREA)
• Filling Or Discharging Of Gas Storage Vessels (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11373505

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (6)

Cited By (7)

Citations (10)

• 1996
  • 1996-03-05 IT IT96MI000427A patent/IT1283190B1/it active IP Right Grant
  • 1996-04-15 EP EP96910175A patent/EP0883514B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1996-04-15 WO PCT/IT1996/000072 patent/WO1997032748A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1996-04-15 AT AT96910175T patent/ATE183149T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1996-04-15 AU AU53456/96A patent/AU5345696A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1996-04-15 DE DE69603754T patent/DE69603754D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (10)

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