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Bath heaters using alternative heat transfer medium: a thermo-economic analysis

Amiri Delouei, Amin; Karimnejad, Sajjad; Gharajeh, Ayoub; Sajjadi, Hasan; Atashafrooz, Meysam; Xie,
Gongnan; Arabkoohsar, Ahmad

Published in:
Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering

Link to article, DOI:

10.1007/s40430-022-03989-8

Publication date:
2023

Document Version
Peer reviewed version

Link back to DTU Orbit

Citation (APA):
Amiri Delouei, A., Karimnejad, S., Gharajeh, A., Sajjadi, H., Atashafrooz, M., Xie, G., & Arabkoohsar, A. (2023).
Bath heaters using alternative heat transfer medium: a thermo-economic analysis. Journal of the Brazilian
Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, 45(2), Article 73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-022-03989-8

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Bath Heaters Using Alternative Heat Transfer Medium: A Thermo-economic
Analysis
Amin Amiri Delouei 1*, Sajjad Karimnejad2, Ayoub Gharajeh3, Hassan Sajjadi1, Meysam Atashafrooz4,
Gongnan Xie5, Ahmad Arabkoohsar6,7
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bojnord, Bojnord 945 3155111, Iran
2
Mechanical Engineering Department, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, 361 9995161, Iran
3
North Khorasan Gas Company (NKGC), Bojnord, Iran
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sirjan University of Technology, Sirjan, Iran

Department of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an,

5

710072, China
6
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
7
Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Denmark

Abstract

In this paper, the performance enhancement of a particular type of heater, i.e. Water Bath Heater, with a
wide range of industrial applications is proposed and assessed. The idea is centered around using an
alternative working fluid with better heat transfer characteristics (heat transfer oil – HTO) to quantify the
impacts not only from a technical point of view but also from an economic perspective. The indirect heater
of Arkan CGS (located in North Khorasan province of Iran) is selected as the case study, and its laboratory
model is constructed by dimensional analysis. The thermal analysis is done at different fluid flow rates in
the heating coil of the experimental setup. The results are verified by both numerical simulation and
available empirical correlation. The results show that using HTO as the heating medium leads to heater
efficiency improvement by up to 158%, and it will also lead to energy savings of up to 36.5%. A
comprehensive economic analysis is carried out based on the technical results. It is found that the internal
rate of return and dynamic payback period are in the ranges of 42%-67%, and 1.53-2.17 years, respectively.

Keywords: Passive Energy Enhancement; Energy Systems; Experimental Techniques; Heat and Mass
Transfer; Heat Exchangers.

* Corresponding Author, [email protected] ; [email protected]

1
 1. Introduction

Although the world is tending toward renewable and sustainable energy systems, natural gas is to stay the
primary source of energy for the next decade [1]. Industrial countries like the United States and China have
had (and will have) the most gas demand growth in recent years. The Asia Pacific is also projected to
account for approximately 60% of the total consumption in 2024 and China will be the main driver of gas
demand [2]. Iran is one of the main producers of natural gas in the world. However, due to the incorrect
consumption pattern of consumers and also energy waste in distribution networks, a large amount of natural
gas produced inside the country is wasted. Considering the increasing demand for natural gas resources, it
is very important to investigate the methods of reducing natural gas consumption.

From a holistic view, energy efficiency enhancement methods could be categorized as passive and active
techniques. The former keeps the system structure as it is and proposes a marginal modification of the
system framework or operation method which will normally not cost much and could result in marginal
improvements [3]. The latter refers to the cases with a major revision of the system configuration or
operating approach to get major modification [4]. Passive techniques are getting quite a lot of attention, as
a measure to make conventional energy systems compatible with future smart energy systems [5] via
increasing the efficiency and/or sustainability with minor or moderate revisions [6]. Sustainability here does
not only mean renewable energy supply but also a true and broader concept considering the efficiency of
supply, cost-effectiveness, social and environmental impacts [7]. Some examples of passive energy
enhancement techniques are using nanofluids or alternative working fluids in energy systems for better
efficiency, waste heat recovery, flue gas condensation, etc. [8].

One of the many energy technologies being widely used in the industry is water bath heaters, also called
line haters. These are, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, mostly used in gas stations, for preheating the
gas flows before being expanded. Gas pressure must be reduced to the desired level in several stages before
consumption by major users such as cities, power plants, gas-driven factories, etc. One of the pressure
reduction stations is the city gate station (CGS) [9, 10]. CGSs usually use throttling valves for the pressure
reduction process [11, 12]. The gas is preheated before expansion because pressure reduction will make a
significant temperature drop in it and as a result solid water crystals could be formed at certain temperature
levels, potentially blocking the gas pipeline [13]. The temperature and pressure drop relationship is a
function of the Joule-Thomson (JT) factor of the gas which may vary from one gas to another depending
on their compositions [14, 15]. The preheating process is carried out mostly using an indirect water bath
heater burning a portion of the main gas stream as fuel [16]. Like any other conventional energy system,
especially those using fossil fuels, the environmental issues and economic considerations have resulted in
efforts on the optimization and betterment of such heaters [17-19]. For example, Angelo et al. [20]

2
recommended designing heaters with the aid of a two-phase closed-loop thermosiphon leading to smaller
heaters offering the same heating capacity. A thermo-economic analysis on pressure reduction stations
using a system of integrated power generation was done by Li et al. [21] using a multi-objective
optimization approach to optimize both technical and economic performance criteria of the system. They
claimed that the energy cost is reduced by 42% using their proposal. Farzaneh-Gord et al. [22] suggested a
solar system to supply part of the heat demand in CGS. Akand CGS in Iran has been selected as a case
study. Simple Payback Ratio and Net Present Value methods are used to examine the economic feasibility
of the proposed approach. The payback ratio is reported to be 6.9 years. The cost analysis is a vital parameter
in determining the number of collector modules in this scheme. Also, Farzaneh-Gord et al. [23] used a
geothermal-driven heat exchanger to be combined with the gas heater and did a detailed thermo-economic
analysis on it. They found a promising IRR of about 0.16 for this arrangement.

Furthermore, Farzaneh-Gord et al. [24] investigated a new system to eliminate the gas consumption in
CGSs by utilizing a vertical ground-coupled heat pump scheme. the study was done for two different
climatic conditions in Iran. They claimed that the proposed method is practical and by considering the
energy consumption of heat pumps, the total fuel consumption reduction will be over 65%. Ghezelbash et
al. [25] introduced a new fuel reduction technique based on using a vortex tube and vertical ground heat
exchanger before the CGS heater. In this technique, the vortex tube is utilized to reduce the gas line
pressure, and the throttle valve is eliminated. The study found that the proposed method will reduce fuel
consumption by up to 88%. Arabkoohsar et al. [14] proposed a combination of a turbo expander and a solar
heating unit to optimize the CGS performance. They claimed that the proposed configuration has a payback
ratio of 3.5 years and it is suitable for CGSs located in Iran. Naderi et al. [26] proposed a plan to increase
the efficiency of the CGS heaters by recovering a part of the waste energy from the chimney of the heaters.
For this purpose, they designed a reheating system with the help of a gas-water heat exchanger. CGS located
in Shahrekord city in Iran was considered as the case study. They reported that the proposed plan will
reduce energy consumption by 45%.

The literature also brings up a number of research works that have taken a secondary approach, i.e. the
passive technique, to enhance the efficiency of the line heaters. Salari and Goudarzi [27] used turbulators
in such heaters with circular and elliptical tube cross-sections and they simulated the thermal behavior of
the heater in ANSYS CFX 14.5. They studied the Nusselt number, friction, and thermal performance factor
of the device. In another study, the arrangement of the gas and fire coils was discussed and the size of coil
pitches was investigated [28]. Arabkoohsar et al. [29] numerically studied the thermal and environmental
performance of heaters using different twisted-tape designs with various pitch lengths. It was revealed that
shorter pitches and a larger number of twists have a positive impact on the line heaters’ efficiency. Khosravi

3
et al. [30] also conducted a numerical simulation to investigate the thermal effect by using twisted flow
disturbers in the gas coil of CGS heaters. The results show that the flow disturber could increase the Nusselt
number by about 20%. Ref. [31] researched the efficiency enhancement of combustion reaction of line
heaters by taking advantage of barometric dampers and regulating burners. It was found that adjusting flame
length and controlling air/fuel ratio will increase the overall heating efficiency by 30%. A very thorough
study on the energy and exergy characteristics in a CGS, by considering seasonal parameters such as natural
gas inlet pressure, temperature, and relative humidity of the surrounding, was carried out by Olfati et al.
[32]. They emphasized the importance of seasonal variables and claimed the results can be applied to all
CGSs.

Efficiency improvement of
CGSs

Modification of existing Use of other heating Use of other pressure reduction

heaters systems methods

Twisted-tape designs Solar systems Turbo expander

Turbulators Geothermal heating Vortex tube

systems

Recycling chimney's waste

Thermosiphons
energy

Fig. 1. Suggested solutions to reduce energy waste by indirect heaters in CGSs.

The literature review shows that there are generally three approaches to reduce energy waste by CGS
heaters: (1) Modifying the existing heaters, (2) Use of other heating systems, and (3) Use of other pressure
reduction methods. Fig. 1 shows the proposed techniques for each of these three approaches. There are
several problems in using the proposed methods in Fig 1. (1) In many cases, one needs advanced
technologies, and also there is a need for a huge initial investment, which might not be justified considering
the low price of natural gas in countries like Iran. (2) Many proposed methods have been presented in theory
and their practical implementation has not been proven yet. In fact, they are applicable under certain specific
conditions (e.g. geothermal or solar systems). (3) Equipment maintenance in some methods, especially
those that require equipment with moving parts (such as turboexpander) is very expensive and time-

4
consuming. It will also reduce the reliability of the gas line. (4) Performance of some equipment (like vortex
tube and turboexpander) are so sensitive to the gas flow characterizes like temperature and flow rate. Due
to the changing conditions of the station at different times, the use of these technologies will reduce the
reliability of CGSs.

The current study proposes a feasible and effective proposal for tackling this issue. Most of the previous
works done on the heat transfer improvement in existing CGS heaters have been either numerical [29, 30,
33] or theoretical [22, 34, 35] studies. Such studies consider many simplifications and assumptions, while
a laboratory investigation can make more accurate and robust results. Here, a prototype of the heater using
dimensional analysis is constructed and technical tests are carried out experimentally. The study is done on
a real case study (Arkan CGS located in North Khorasan of Iran). The main idea is to use an alternative
medium (industrial oil) instead of water in the bath to improve heat transfer, which is categorized as a
passive heat transfer enhancement approach with a low initial investment requirement in comparison with
the other previously proposed approaches in Fig. 1 and no need to any changes in the configuration of the
existing heaters. Using HTO instead of water has also further positive benefits such as preventing algae
formation and evaporation in CGS heaters, reducing maintenance costs. Another Argument in favor of this
approach is the fact that the new intermediate liquid is rather eco-friendly.

To ensure the reliability of the results, proper validation tests are conducted. To do so, first, the data related
to the case with water as the intermediate flow is verified against both numerical simulations and the Dittus-
Boelter’s empirical correlation. For moving toward practicality, the feasibility of the proposed method is
also checked from an economic point of view by performing a series of comprehensive economic studies.
This includes Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Dynamic Payback Period (DPBP),
and Profitability Index (PI), which can provide researchers in this field with an accurate economic view. It
is revealed that using this method not only increases efficiency but also there is a considerable reduction in
fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. As for the economic perspective, most hired economic analyses
show fruitful results, and most importantly the DPBP is around two years.

2. Mathematical formulation

In this section, the governing equation and dimensionless numbers of this study are presented. Considering
Reynold–Averaged–Navier–Stokes (RANS), and the Boussinesq hypothesis, the flow motion can be stated
as follow [36].

5
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖
=0 (1)
𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖

𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖 𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖 𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗 1 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖 𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗 2 𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑙𝑙

+ =− + �ν � + − 𝛿𝛿 ��
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝜌𝜌 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 3 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑙𝑙

𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢�𝑖𝑖 𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢�𝑗𝑗 2
+ � ν𝑡𝑡 � + � − 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 �
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 3 (2)

where, ui, uj, and ul are the velocity terms. xi, xj and xl are the Cartesian coordinates in i, j, and l direction,
respectively. δij, υ, μ and p are the Kronecker delta function, kinematic viscosity, dynamic viscosity, and
pressure of the fluid, respectively. Furthermore, νt and ρ refer to turbulent viscosity and density,
respectively. The realizable k-ε model could be utilized for turbulence effect and this has been reported in
[37] or by Khosravi et al.[38]. Regarding this turbulent model, turbulent kinetic energy (k) and dissipation
of turbulence energy (ε) are solved by the following equations:

𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 ν𝑡𝑡 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕

+ = � (ν + ν𝑡𝑡 ) � + ν𝑡𝑡 𝑆𝑆 2 + β𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑖 −ε
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑡𝑡 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 (3)

𝜕𝜕ε 𝜕𝜕ε𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕 ν𝑡𝑡 𝜕𝜕ε 1.9 ε2

+ = � �ν + � � + 𝐶𝐶1 𝑆𝑆ε +
𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 1.2 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝑘𝑘 + √νε′ (4)

where gi, β, Prt, and T represent the gravity acceleration, thermal expansion coefficient, turbulence Prandtl
number, and temperature, respectively. The modulus of the mean rate-of-strain tensor (S) is achieved as
follows:

𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖
𝑆𝑆 ≡�2𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , 𝑆𝑆𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 0.5 � + �
𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 (5)

Furthermore, the constant C1 in Eq. 4 is obtained as follows:

η 𝑘𝑘
𝐶𝐶1 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 � 0.43, �, η = 𝑆𝑆
η+5 ε (6)

For the energy balance, the following equation is available [39]:

𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕𝐸𝐸 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 (7)

+ [𝑢𝑢𝑖𝑖 (𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 + 𝑝𝑝)] = �𝑘𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 �
𝜕𝜕𝑡𝑡 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑖𝑖 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗 𝜕𝜕𝑥𝑥𝑗𝑗

6
In this equation, E and keff are the total energy and the effective thermal conductivity, respectively. Nusselt
number is a critical dimensionless number used commonly to study the enhancement of convection. Here,
Nusselt number for the fluid flow in the heating coil is defined as:

hD
Nu = (8)
k

where h, D and k are the convection coefficient, the diameter of the circular heating coil, and thermal
conduction, respectively. The convection coefficient reads as:

𝑞𝑞
ℎ= (9)
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝑇𝑇𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏

here, A is the pipe’s surface area and q is the amount of heat transfer achieved via the energy balance

equation as:

𝑞𝑞 = 𝑚𝑚̇𝑐𝑐𝑝𝑝 (𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜 − 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 ) (10)

𝑚𝑚̇ and 𝑐𝑐𝑝𝑝 are mass flux and thermal capacity, respectively. Additionally, 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 and 𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜 are the heating coil’s

input and output temperature. 𝛥𝛥𝑇𝑇𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 is the temperature difference between the tank (Ttank) and the bulk

fluid flow running in the steel pipe ( 𝑇𝑇𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 ). There are two methods to obtain 𝛥𝛥𝑇𝑇𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 [40, 41]: mean

temperature and log mean temperature difference (LMTD) approach. As for the former, the mean

temperature between the input and output of the coil is calculated:

𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 + 𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜
𝛥𝛥𝑇𝑇𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 − � �. (11)
2

As for the latter, the following is used

𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜 − 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖
𝛥𝛥𝑇𝑇𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 =
𝑇𝑇 − 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 (12)
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 � 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 �
𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 − 𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜

In the current study, both of them are calculated but the difference is insignificant. So, the former is reported.

Reynolds number is defined as:

7
 𝑈𝑈𝑈𝑈 4𝑄𝑄
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 = = (13)
𝜈𝜈 п𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

where, U and ν are the velocity and the viscosity of the fluid. It should be noted that the dimensionless

parameters are defined for fluid flow inside the heating coil.

3. Experimentation

3.1. The experimental set-up

As mentioned earlier, line heaters are one of the most common devices to preheat NG in CGSs. They are
generally in the form of a cylindrical tank which is horizontal and allow the heating coil (designed as inlet-
outlet pipelines) to pass NG throw itself and heat the flowing gas. In the current investigation, the bath
heater of Arkan CGS in the North Khorasan province of Iran (Fig. 2) is selected as the case study.

Fig. 2. Bath heater of Arkan CGS, North Khorasan state, Iran.

These indirect heat exchangers as in Fig. 2 consist of a cylindrical shell, heating coil, heat-transmitting
intermediate fluid, fire tube, and data acquisition system. For carrying out the experiments and calculations,
an experimental model of a typical line heater is built by taking advantage of similarity rules and
dimensional study [42]. The physical properties of the device are noted in Table 1. Like the previous

8
research [43], in this study, water is used instead of gas for safety measures. Two temperature sensors 2 are
adjusted at the inlet and outlet of the heating coil.

Also, two same sensors are located inside the heater tank to capture the temperature variation of the
intermediate fluid. The heater body is well insulated to prevent energy loss. To supply water at a certain
temperature, a refrigerated circulator 3 is used, which is responsible for rotating the water and also cooling
it to a certain temperature. Also, a valve with a bypass pipe is used to achieve different amounts of fluid
flows. All the sensors are linked with a homemade data acquisition system. As seen in the schematic of Fig.
3, a semi-industrial cooling system equipped with a PID controller is installed in the room where the
equipment is located so that the ambient temperature is kept the same in different experiments. It is also
worth mentioning that conduction and convection are two mechanisms that play an important part in this
kind of heat exchanger [43].

Fig. 3. Schematic illustration of the under-study experimental line heater

3.2. Properties of the under-study heat-transmitting intermediate fluid

2
Maxim Integrated Co. USA) with the sensitivity of ±0.5 °C
3
LAUDA cooling thermostats Alpha RA, -25 to 100 °C, Temperature stability, ±0.05 K
9
As mentioned, the main focus of the study is to make a technical and economic comparison between HTO
and water as the intermediate fluid in CGSs’ indirect heaters. Accordingly, two types of liquids, namely
water and heat transfer oil, are used to deal with the problem. In Tables 2 and 3, the most important thermo-
physical properties of both fluids are stated.

Table 1. The geometry of the modeled indirect CGS heater

Diameter of the heating coil 18 mm
Diameter of U-shape fire tube 40 mm
Length of U-shape fire tube 120 cm
Shell diameter 20.32 cm
Shell length 70 cm
Tank capacity 20 lit

Table 2. Thermo-physical properties of water

Density 999 kg/m3
Viscosity 0.658 Cst
Heat transfer coefficient 0.588 W/m.K
Specific heat capacity 4190 J/kg.K
Prandtl number 4.495

Table 3. Thermo-physical properties of heat transfer oil

Density 869 kg/m3
Viscosity 32 Cst
Heat transfer coefficient 0.133 W/m.K
Specific heat capacity 1954 J/kg.K
Flash point 206°C
Pour point -12°C
Prandtl number 375

3.3. Uncertatinty analysis

Moffat’s [44] method is used to calculate the uncertainty of the results. Regarding the technique proposed
by Moffat’s [44], the uncertainty of the dependent variable (𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿) will be as follows:

10
 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 2 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 2 𝜕𝜕𝜕𝜕 2 (14)
𝛿𝛿𝛿𝛿 = ��𝜕𝜕𝑋𝑋 𝛿𝛿𝑋𝑋1 � + �𝜕𝜕𝑋𝑋 𝛿𝛿𝑋𝑋2 � + ⋯ + �𝜕𝜕𝑋𝑋 𝛿𝛿𝑋𝑋𝑛𝑛 � �,
1 2 𝑛𝑛

In this method, the result R of the experiment is considered as a function of the independent variables
(𝑋𝑋1 , 𝑋𝑋2 , … , 𝑋𝑋𝑛𝑛 ) as:

𝑅𝑅 = 𝑅𝑅( 𝑋𝑋1 , 𝑋𝑋2 , … , 𝑋𝑋𝑛𝑛 ), (15)

Also, 𝛿𝛿𝑋𝑋1 , 𝛿𝛿𝑋𝑋2 , ..., 𝛿𝛿𝑋𝑋𝑛𝑛 are the uncertainty of the independent variables which are used in function 𝑅𝑅.
Regarding this method, the maximum uncertainty in calculating heat transfer rate, Reynolds number, and
Nusselt number are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Uncertainty values.

Parameter Uncertainty
Reynolds number ±5.2%
Nusselt number ±3.6%
heat transfer rate ±2.9%

4. Results and discussion

In this section, the validity of the results is discussed first (subsection 4.1). Then, some technical tests
regarding the medium in the under-study experimental model are presented (subsection 4.2). In the next
part, an economic analysis is done on the case study line heater to show the practicality of the proposed
medium financially (subsection 4.3).

4.1. Validation

To ensure the accuracy of the results, the data from laboratory tests for water (as intermediate-fluid) are
compared with the results from numerical simulations and the well-known empirical correlation of Dittus
Boelter [45]. The Dittus Boelter equation in terms of Reynolds (Re) and Prandtl numbers (Pr) could be
written in the following form:

𝑛𝑛 = 0.4 (ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒) (16)

𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 0.023 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 0.8 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑛𝑛 , �
𝑛𝑛 = 0.3 (𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐)

This equation is presented for fully developed (hydrodynamically and thermally) turbulent flow in circular
tubes [46].

11
ANSYS FLUENT Software is hired for the numerical simulation of the problem. The purpose of this
numerical simulation is to calculate the tank temperature and compare that with the experimental results in
different conditions. The finite element method [47] is used to discretize the governing equation. In the
current numerical simulation, Least Squares Cell-Based method [48] is employed for calculating the
gradient terms. The QUICK scheme is used to discretize energy and momentum equations, and also First
Order Upwind method is applied to discretize turbulent kinetic energy and turbulent dissipation rate.
Pressure interpolation is done by PRESTO (PREssure STaggering Option) Scheme. Furthermore, the
pressure-velocity coupling is done by the SIMPLEC algorithm [49].

The mesh grid study is carried out for four different mesh sketches. The mesh sketches are categorized
based on the average elements' size as Very Coarse, Coarse, Normal, Fine, and Very Fine (Table 5). Tank
temperature (at Re=19000) is calculated using these four mesh sketches. The mesh sensitivity analysis
shows that the difference between the results obtained for the mesh sketches of "Fine", and "Very Fine" is
so small (about 1.5%). So, to reduce the computational cost, the "fine" mesh sketch is used for the numerical
simulation.

Fig. 4 shows the 3D model and the structure of the mesh grids in the numerical domain. Hexahedron
elements are employed to disassemble all the computational domain.

Fig. 4. 3D model of the under-study CGS heater and Structure of the mesh grids on the numerical domain.

Table 5. Mesh grid sizes

12
 Mesh Very Coarse Coarse Normal Fine Very Fine

Elements' size 0.01 m 0.0085 m 0.007 m 0.0055 m 0.004 m

Total grids' number 164055 220867 270707 408585 874005

Fig. 5 compares the results of the experiments with the values of the tank temperature, and Nusselt number
obtained by numerical simulation and Dittus-Boelter correlation [49], respectively. The difference between
the data obtained in both cases was less than 15% which is acceptable for an experimental study.

40 250
35
Tank Temperature (°C)

200
30

Nusselt Number
25 Tank Temperature, Experimental
Tank Temperature, Numumerical 150
20 Nusselt Number, Experimental
Nusselt Number, Dittus-Boelter
15 100

10
50
5
0 0
3000 7000 11000 15000 19000
Reynolds Number

Fig. 5. Comparison of the results from laboratory test with the values of tank temperature and Nusselt number
obtained by numerical simulations, and Dittus Boelter equation [49], respectively.

4.2. Thermal analysis

Here, the thermal analysis of the CGS heater in different Reynolds numbers of the fluid flow in the heating
coil will be discussed. First of all, For a better comparison of the results, the numerical values of the results
obtained from the sensors are shown in Table 6.

The variations in the temperature of the medium fluids and heat transfer rate with respect to different
Reynolds numbers are shown in Fig. 6. As illustrated, for the tank temperature, there is no considerable
difference in both cases.

13
 Table 6. The results of the experimental test at different Reynolds numbers.
Flow rate Reynolds Outlet temperature Tank temperature
(m3/s) number (°C) (°C)
Water HTO Water HTO
0.065 3881.55 17.44 20.25 30.82 61.84
0.18 10604.45 15.75 16.88 30.45 60.53
0.22 12861.74 15.44 16.31 28.82 55.85
0.31 18241.87 15.13 15.56 28.35 55.85
0.32 18994.41 15.09 15.49 28.13 55.63

The inlet temperature is fixed at 12.56 °C. The volume of the liquid inside the tank is large compared to the
volume of the fluid passing through the heating coil. So the flow rate variation of the fluid passing through
the coil does not have a great effect on the tank temperature. Indeed, the temperature level of HTO is higher
than water, which is caused by its lower heat capacity compared to water. For the heat transfer rate, there
is a wide disparity between the figures for water and HTO, with the latter ranking first in all tests. The
higher temperature of the tank is the main reason for the higher quantity of heat transferred to the fluid
flowing in the heating coil when using oil instead of water. Also, there is an upward trend for both cases
with a growth in Reynolds number. In fact, at higher Reynolds numbers, and consequently higher mass
flow rates in the heating coil, the energy transfer capability will increase.

250 45
Water 40

Heat Transfer Rate (kW)

Tank Temperature (°C)

200 Heat Transfer Oil 35

30
150
25
20
100
15

50 10
5
0 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Reynolds Number

Fig. 6. The variations of the tank temperature and heat transfer rate versus Reynolds number

14
 25 0.9
Water
Outlet Temperature (°C) 0.8
Heat Transfer Oil
20 0.7

Efficiency (%)
0.6
15
0.5
0.4
10
0.3

5 0.2
0.1
0 0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000
Reynolds Number

Fig. 7. Efficiency and outlet temperature versus Reynolds number

A comparison between two under-study mediums in terms of outlet temperature of the heating coil and
heater’s efficiency at different Reynolds numbers while inlet temperature is considered to be fixed
(12.56°C) for all tests is depicted in Fig. 7. It is seen that with an increase in Reynolds number, the
temperature enhancement is reduced for both cases. In the higher Reynolds numbers (with higher flow
rates in heating coil), the fluid flow does not have enough time to get energy from the heating medium.
Moreover, the outlet temperature of the heating coil for HTO is higher than that of water in all cases,
especially in lower Reynolds numbers. Again, higher temperature level of heating medium in the case of
using HTO is the main reason for this behavior. To calculate heater efficiency, the following relationship
is defined:

𝑚𝑚̇𝐶𝐶𝑝𝑝 (𝑇𝑇𝑜𝑜 − 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖 )

𝜂𝜂 = (17)
𝐸𝐸̇𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺

Eq. 17 shows the ratio of transmitted heat to fluid in terms of the total energy expended by gas consumption.
In the current study, the rate of gas consumption is fixed at 2.64×10-4 m3/s. Considering the heating value
of the consumed gas which is 3.59×107 j/m3, 𝐸𝐸̇𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 will be 9.49×103 j/s. Fig.7 displays the values of the
defined efficiency with respect to five different Reynolds numbers. As seen, the efficiency for the case of
using HTO instead of water is somewhat higher. Table 7 gives detailed information in this regard.
Accordingly, one can deduce that the efficiency when HTO is used can be up to 1.58 times as high as that
of water.
15
As seen in Fig. 6, using HTO increases the tank temperature which will increase the outlet temperature of
the fluid flowing in the heating coil. By considering a fixed fluid temperature at the inlet of the heating coil,
the increase of the outlet fluid temperature will lead to efficiency improvment of the bath heater (Eq.17).
On the other hand, in the higher Reynolds numbers, the temperature difference will be decreased and the
amount of efficieny improvment will be less.

The saved energy by using alternative heat transfer medium could be calculated as [15]:

𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥2 − 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥1
𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 (%) ≅ × 100 (18)
𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥2

where 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥1 and 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥2 respectively indicate the temperature difference between inlet and outlet temaperatures
of fluid flow in heating coil when using water and HTO as the heating medium, respectively. The values of
saved energy by using alternative heat transfer medium are also presented in Table 7. As for Table 7, the
energy saving values experience considerable changes from 13.65% to 36.54% by increasing the Reynolds
number. As the Reynolds number increases, the effect of using oil as a heating medium on the inlet fluid
temperature of the heating coil decreases, and therefore according to Eq.18, the amount of stored energy
will also be lower.

Table 7. Efficiency ratio and stored energy percentage by using alternative heat transfer medium in different Reynolds
numbers
Reynolds Flow rate Efficiency in case Efficiency in case Efficiency ratio for Energy saving
number (1/s) of using HTO (%) of using Water (%) using HTO to water (%)
3881.55 0.065 22.17 14.07 1.58 36.54
10604.45 0.175 34.03 25.13 1.35 26.16
12861.74 0.216 35.74 27.52 1.30 22.99
18241.86 0.307 40.66 34.83 1.17 14.33
18994.41 0.320 41.35 35.71 1.15 13.65

4.3. Economic analysis

In this section, an economic analysis is done on the line heater of Arkan CGS working in North Khorasan
(Iran). They are fed by natural gas pipelines of the national gas of the country. Using indirect water bath
heaters to preheat gas is a common practice in almost all the CGSs all over the country. These heaters need
a proportion of the inlet NG to warm up the gas before reducing pressure. It is officially reported that these
heaters burn 32980 m3 NG in a year. In order for making an initial economic analysis, key economic criteria
such as net present value, internal rate of return, dynamic payback period, and profitability index [50-52]
are taken into account. These economic indicators are obtained based on a five-year service life assumption.

16
Fig. 8 illustrates the reduction in fuel consumption per different energy storage percentages. As illustrated,
the amount of reduced gas consumption in the best case is over 11688 m3. Also, Table 8 is responsible to
show the other costs which are saved when removing water as the heat-transmitting intermediate fluid. It is
noteworthy to add that some potential costs like cost of inspection, replacing damaged parts (heating coil,
shell, fire tube) due to corrosion, and also costs for testing solutions for heaters or overhaul done by
contractors (that would be much lesser when using HTO instead of water) are neglected. It should be
considered that the amount of saved capital in each year is the sum of fixed costs (Table 8) along with
saved capital as a result of reduced fuel consumption (Fig. 8).

Table 8. Annual Costs for Water intermediate Fluids for the case study of Arkan CGS

Unite price Required volume (mass) Total price

DM water 4 ₵/l 5250 Liter 210 $
Ethylene glycol 133.3 ₵/l 2250 Liter 3,000 $
Nalco 233.3 ₵/kg 75 kg 175 $

4.3.1. Net present value

This index is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows over a period of time.
This is generally employed for capital budgeting to analyze the likelihood of a calculated investment or a
project [50, 53]. In the current NPV approach, primarily at the time of occurrence, all costs and revenues at
an appropriate interest rate are calculated as:

𝑡𝑡
𝐶𝐶𝑡𝑡
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = � − 𝐶𝐶0 (19)
(1 + 𝑖𝑖)𝑡𝑡
𝑡𝑡=1

here 𝐶𝐶𝑡𝑡 is the net cash flow during the period, and 𝐶𝐶0 is the total initial investment costs. Also, 𝑖𝑖 and 𝑡𝑡 are
respectively interest rate and the number of time periods. In this study, i=20% and t=5 years. Generally,
positive NPV is profitable and vice versa. Fig. 8 displays net present value versus different energy storage
percentages when using HTO rather than water as the medium. As can be seen from the figure, the
achievable NPV is more than 10000 $ for the most used amount of consumed energy in only one rather
small line heater of Arkan CGS.

17
 14 12
10.56 $
Fuel Consumption Reduction
12

Fuel Consumption Reduction

10
Net Present Value
8.09 $
10 7.25 $ 8

NPV (1000 USD)

8
(1000 m3) 4.94 $ 6
4.76 $
6
4
4

2 2

0 0
13.7 14.3 23.0 26.2 35.4
Energy Saving Percentage

Fig. 8. The comparison of the Fuel consumption reduction, and net present value (NPV) when using HTO instead of
water for different energy storage percentages

4.3.2. Internal rate of return

IRR is actually related to NPV and it is obtained when the net cash flow of a particular project equals zero.
To calculate IRR, the formula for NPV is used [53]. In most cases, IRR should be solved by means of try
and error and an analytical solution is not available. If this amount of IRR is more than the interest rate,
then the project can be called profitable and thus practical. On the other hand, if it is less than the real
interest rate, the project is fruitless. Fig. 9 indicates IRR when using HTO instead of water for different
energy storage percentages. As can be seen, IRR is in the range of 42% to 67% for the least and most
amount of saved energy, respectively.

4.3.3. Dynamic payback period

The payback period (PBP) is a standard economic analysis that is employed by many financial analysts
mainly due to its simplicity [53]. This index is defined as the time needed for the initial investment of a
project to equal its earnings [53]. The premise behind using this approach is the time length of the returned
capital. In other words, the lower the PBP, the better it is. This issue can be helpful when comparing various
schemes.

When calculating PBP, the time value of capital is not taken into account and cash flows are assumed to
have the same value in different years. Since considering the time value of capital will enhance the accuracy
and credibility of the calculations, instead of PBP, the dynamic payback period (DPBP) is defined. In this
index, cash flows are aggregated after discounting. Fig. 9 shows DPBP for using HTO instead of water for

18
different percentages of energy storage. As can be seen, it is estimated that this period ranges from 1.77 to
2.72 years.

4.3.4. Profitability index

PI is the rate that is derived from dividing the present value of cash inflows by the present value of the
investment costs. PI in fact expresses the connection between costs of investment and future revenue of the
project which is defined as [53]:

𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐ℎ 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓

𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 = (20)
𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼𝐼 𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

Fig. 9 illustrates PI when using HTO instead of water for different percentages of energy storage.
Accordingly, PI is in the range of 1.53 to 2.17 for different energy storage percentages.

Fig. 9. The comparison of the IRR, DPBP, and PI when using HTO instead of water for different energy
storage percentages

To better comparision of the current method with the other available thermo-economic analysis of CGSs,
Table 9 is presented. As it is clear in Table 9, the idea of using an the alternative heating medium (i.e.
HTO), despite the simplicity of operation and the low initial capital required has an acceptable level of
energy saving compared to other relatively complex methods. The payback period is also reasonable.

19
Table 9. Annual Costs for Water intermediate Fluids for the
Energy Saving or
Employing PBP or
Authors Year CGS Location fuel consumption IRR
Technology DPBP
Reduction
Farzaneh-Gord, et Sari, Solar heating
2012 11.3% 6.9 years -
al. [22] Iran system
Kermanshah, Optimization of
Ashouri et al. [28] 2013 5.27% - -
Iran tube arrangement
Mahshahr, Waste heat
Azizi et al. [54] 2014 - 1.2 years 14%
Iran recovery
Arabkoohsar et al. Birjand, Turbo expander,
2015 8%-62% 3.5 years -
[14] Iran and a solar system
Ghezelbash et al. Kuhdasht, Vertical ground-
2015 45.8% 5.87 years 23%
[34] Iran coupled heat pump
Farzaneh-Gord et Tabriz, Iran Vertical ground-
2016 65% - -
al. [24] Mashad, Iran coupled heat pump
Vortex Tube, and
Ghezelbash et al. Semnan, vertical ground
2016 88% 4.5 years 20%
[25] Iran heat
exchanger
Farzaneh-Gord et Gonbad Geothermal heat 15.5
2016 - -
al. [23] Kavoos, Iran exchanger %
Shahrekord, Waste heat
Naderi et al. [26] 2018 80% 1.3 years -
Iran recovery
Bojnord, HTO heating 1.77-2.72 42-
Current method 2022 13.65-36.54%
Iran medium years 67%

In the end, it should be noted that the fluid used as a heating medium must be tested at certain time period
and replaced if necessary. Paying attention to the environmental effects in this process is of particular
importance. Fortunately, regarding the replacement of oils in facilities related to the gas and oil industries,
there are usually contracts with production companies to refine and reuse oils which can greatly reduce
costs. In Iran (where the current tests are conducted), in cases where permanent disposal of these compounds
is required, waste management companies licensed by the department of environment are employed.

5. Conclusions

This study presents a thorough experimental test, and case study analysis of a passive energy enhancement
technique on conventional water bath heaters for the sake of better energy efficiency pushing the technology
towards more sustainability. The idea is mainly to use a more appropriate thermal energy transfer medium
in the bath bed, which is a special type of industrial oil here.

Compared to other existing approaches, the proposed idea has features such as low initial cost, no need to
change the current equipment, adaptability to different environmental conditions, and low maintenance
costs that make its use attractive. Since this type of heater is broadly used for natural gas pressure regulation
stations, Arkan CGS’s heater is considered as the case study. Unlike most of the previous work done on the

20
modification of CGS heaters which was done numerically, in the present work, laboratory modeling has
been used to ensure the reliability of the results. The results of the thermal investigations are also used for
the economic analysis of the proposed solution. The comprehensive economic study is enclosed Net Present
Value, Internal Rate of Return, Dynamic Payback Period, and Profitability index. The following bullet
points present the main findings of the project in a nutshell:

• Using HTO instead of water as the heat-transmitting intermediate fluid can enhance the efficiency
of the system and subsequently a considerable reduction in fuel consumption, i.e. from 13.6% to
35.4% in different conditions.
• The proposal leads to remarkable economic benefits based on all the different economic analysis
approaches taken here. Just as an example, the IRR varies between 42% and 67%, and the DPBP
will be in the range of 1.6-2.8 years, which are really impressive figures.
• The immediate impact of applying the proposed modification method on the design of line heaters
is reducing their environmental footprint wherever employed, especially CGSs.
• The presented technical and economic analysis can be useful for designing more efficient heaters
with little added costs giving them a broader range of applications in different industries with much
less concern about inefficiencies and emissions.

Declarations

Funding: This research is funded by North Khorasan Gas Company (Contract No. 9801).

Conflicts of interest: On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of
interest.

Acknowledgments

This research is funded by North Khorasan Gas Company, Iran (Contract No. 9801). The authors
appreciated their financial support.

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