Sizing Heating and Cooling Coils

By Richard Leopold, President

Northbrook, IL
Twisting, turning tubes in tanks of steamy, colorful liquids. It is no wonder many still consider
designing heat transfer equipment a type of sorcery. Most finishers work diligently at perfecting the
chemical, physical and production details required for consistent quality finishes, and they
understand that temperature control is critical. However, few fully understand how to specify heat
transfer equipment and how the design affects production and operating costs.
Specifying heating equipment does not need to be confusing. Factors that affect how you boil a pot
of water for spaghetti are the same as those influencing heat transfer equipment in the finishing
shop. How much water is in the pot? How long should it take to heat up? How hot will the water
get? How hot is the burner? How much of the pot is in contact with the burner?
These factors, along with the kind of material heated and how well it is mixed, are used to turn "a
little of this and a pinch of that" into precise measurements. Simple calculations determine the
proper size heating coil and can help solve a heat-transfer problem.
A few simple equations. Equation No. 1 combines all the factors that determine the surface area
of the heat transfer device.
A = Q/U T. A = area; Q = total heat input required; U = number describing the heat transfer
coefficient or degree of influence of materials, agitation, viscosity and other system details. The Ufactor is usually developed from past experience.
T is a difference in temperature. There are actually
two variations of T that will be used in calculations.
The first ( T1) is the difference in temperature of the
solution in the tank before and after heating.
For example, a solution is at 70F before heating and
must be elevated to 140F: T1 = 140 - 70 =70F. This
variation of T1 will be used in the equation MCpDT.
The second variation of temperature ( T2) is between
the heating medium (steam or hot water) and the
final temperature of the solution.

Fig 1. Typical heating/cooling coil style.

For example, suppose the final solution temperature is 140F and the temperature of the steam at
10 psi is 239F. T2 = 239 - 140 = 99F. The value of T2 variation will be used in the basic equation
A = Q/U T.
As you calculate the required surface area of the heat transfer device, you see where each T value
is used. To solve the basic equation (A = Q/U T), you must first determine the value of Q, or the
total heat input needed to elevate the solution temperature to a final temperature.
Q is usually measured in Btus, which is the amount of heat needed to heat one pound of water one
degree F. The amount of heat needed to heat a tank can be determined using equation two: Q =
MCp T. M= the weight of the solution to be heated; Cp = the specific heat or factor that describes

the relative amount of heat needed by different materials to be heated the same amount;
the difference in solution temperature before and after heating.

T1 =

To see how Q is determined, consider the following situation: a 3 10-ft, well-agitated finishing
tank contains 4 ft of water at 70F and the temperature needs to be raised to 140F.
Knowing there are 120 cu ft of water in the tank and that water weighs 62.4 lb/cu ft, the equation
(Q = MCp T) can be solved: M=120 cu ft 62.4 lb/cu ft = 7,488 lb
Referring to Table I
Cp = 1.00 (specific heat of water)
T1 = 140 - 70 = 70F
Completing the calculation
Q = MCp T
Q = 7,488 1.00 70 = 524,160 Btus.
This heat requirement measure does not indicate how quickly the tank will be heated, however. In
theory, if the tank were perfectly insulated and used 1 Btu/hr for heating, it would take 60 years to
heat one tank. In a finishing shop, heat up time is usually two to four hours.
524,160 Btus 4 = 131,040 Btus/hr

TABLE ISpecific Heat (Cp) of Commonly Used Materials

Material
Water (By Definition)
15 pct Sulfuric Acid
Oil
Steel
Aluminum
Zinc

Cp
1.00
0.88
0.42
0.11
0.23
0.09

Other factors affecting Q. In addition to Btus, other heat input is needed to make up for heat lost
to the environment as well as to materials in the tank such as parts and racks.
In most finishing systems, heat lost to the atmosphere is more important than heat lost to the
work; therefore, heat lost to work is usually ignored. However, if one were to pickle steel sheets
that had been outside in very cold weather, an extra heating factor would have to be considered.
Heat losses to the air can be calculated using information in Table II.

TABLE IIHeat Losses to the Air (up to 5 ft/sec air velocity)

Tank Temperature (F)
80
100
120
140
160
180

Maximum Heat Loss (Btu/hr/sq ft)

200
500
900
1600
2750
4900

The 3 10-ft tank surface loses 48,000 Btu/hr at 140F. This figure is derived from a heat loss
figure of 1,600 Btu/hr/sq ft (Table II, 140F) multiplied by the sq ft (1,600 30=48,000). This
means you would have to add an additional 48,000 Btu/hr to achieve the desired heat up.
If the heat-up time were four hours, the total Btus/hr needed would be 179,040 (131,010 +
48,000). The total Btus/hr required is the final value of Q in the basic equation A = Q/U T.
Determining the U factor. The next factor in calculating heat transfer surface area is the heat
transfer coefficient or U factor. This varies depending on how well the tank is mixed or agitated and
how viscous the solution is. For most watery finishing solutions Table III figures apply. For this
example, steam will be used to heat the well-agitated tank. Therefore, a U factor of 150 will be
used.
Work temperature vs. media temperature. The second DT needed to calculate heat transfer
surface area is the temperature difference between the material being heated and the media
providing the heat. In finishing plants, heat is usually provided by hot water or steam. For this
example, steam is used. Using the data in Table IV, T2 can be determined as shown.
Assuming a steam pressure of 10 psig, the temperature of the steam delivered to the finishing tank
would be 239F. Since the solution will be heated to 140F, the T2 = 239-140 = 99F.

TABLE III Typical Heat Transfer Coefficients"U"

Type Heating Medium
Steam
Hot Water

U-Value (Agitated Tank)

150
125

U-Value (Still Tank)

100
75

TABLE IV Steam Pressure vs. Steam Temp.

Steam Pressure (Psig)
5
10
25
50

Steam Temp. (F)

227
239
266
297

Completing the basic equation. Now that the basic values have been determined for all of the
variables in equation A = Q/U T, we can solve it. In order to heat the solution to 140F in four hours
you need the following:
Q = 179,040 Btu/hr
U = 150
T2 = 99F.
Completing the equation
A = 179,040/150 99 = 170,040/14,850 = 12.06 sq ft.
Surface area vs. heat transfer device configuration. When the surface area of a heat transfer
device has been calculated, the next consideration is the configuration of the device. In many
finishing plants in-tank heating/cooling coils are used. When a coil is to be immersed, there are
several major considerations.

Coils must be sized and installed so they do not interfere with material moving into or out of the
tank. The most common form of damage to an in-tank coil is mechanical. In tanks with currentcarrying racks, accidental contact between a rack and coil may cause an electrical arc, resulting in a
hole in the coil.
Coils should be installed to ensure the entire coil body is immersed. This assures that the rated heat
transfer surface is operating at maximum effectiveness.
There are many coil styles available. A typical style is shown in Fig. 1. In a typical heat transfer coil
a one-inch outside diameter tubing is used. Tubes are welded on 1.5 inch centers between two
manifolds, one of which includes an inlet and outlet riser for the heating medium.
Before determining the length and width of the coil, measure the length of the tank wall and the
solution depth. For this example, the tank walls are 3-ft wide and 10-ft long, and the solution is 4-ft
deep. Considering each possibility, the coil would need to be sized to fit within an area that is 3 4
ft or one that is 10 4 ft.
In sizing heat transfer coils it is important to TABLE VHeat-Transfer Coil Sizes vs. Surface
select the configuration with the smallest width Areas
and longest length compatible with tank size to Coil Dimensions
provide the best heat distribution. Using data
Width
Length
Tubes
found in Table V, you can determine that a coil Surface Area
(sq ft)
(Inches)
(Inches)
width of 18.5 inches and a length of 48 inches
4.6
12.5
24
8
provides 13.2 sq ft of surface area. Moving
5.6
12.5
30
8
6.7
12.5
36
8
further down the chart you find a coil of 13.7 sq
6.8
18.5
24
12
ft with a width of 12.5 inches and a length of 72
8.4
18.5
30
12
inches. It, too, has slightly more than the
8.8
12.5
48
8
required 12.06 sq ft.
9.4
24.5
24
16
10.0
10.9
11.5
11.5
13.2
13.6
13.7
13.7
14.2
15.1
15.8
16.3
16.8
16.8
17.2
17.8
18.0
19.2
19.5
19.5
20.0

Although both coils will fit,we selected the 13.7sq-ft coil which offers the best combination of
performance and economy. The coil would be
installed along the 10-ft wall of the tank. If the
installation had to be along the 3-ft wall, a coil
with 13.7 sq ft of surface area and dimensions
of 36.5 wide by 24 inches long (Table V) could
be used. Assuming that the solution depth
would never go below 4 feet, this coil would
function properly.

18.5
12.5
24.5
30.5
18.5
24.5
12.5
36.5
30.5
12.5
42.5
18.5
30.5
36.5
12.5
24.5
48.5
12.5
18.5
42.5
36.5

36
60
30
24
48
36
72
24
30
84
24
60
36
30
96
48
24
108
72
30
36

12
8
16
20
12
16
8
24
20
8
28
12
20
24
8
16
32
8
12
28
24

The right calculations save time and

money. Why is it important to calculate surface
area when determining the size of heating coils?
Heat
transfer
devices,
particularly
ones
fabricated from a costly material such as
titanium or stainless steel, can be expensive. Since most heat transfer devices are priced according
to size, it simply does not pay to purchase larger devices than are necessary to accomplish the task.
Using the information in this article will help determine how much area you will need after you
establish how long heat up should take and what temperature you must maintain.