Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Vol. 39, Nos.

5–6, 2003

RESEARCH, DESIGN, CALCULATIONS,

AND OPERATING EXPERIENCE

CHEMICAL PLANT

CALCULATION OF TIME REQUIRED TO FILL

TANKS WITH COMPRESSED GAS

V. I. Evenko

The filling of tanks with compressed gas is a very common process in the chemical, gas, and other branches of indus-
try (from the charging of various cylinders with gas to the injection of natural gas into underground storage depots).
The development of a procedure for analyzing the filling of a tank of constant volume with allowance for heat
exchange between the gas and the tank and ambient medium is therefore an urgent problem.
Let us examine the filling of a tank with compressed gas, which is delivered from a region of high pressure with con-
stant parameters – pressure pi and temperature Ti. In that case, the filling consists in the outflow of gas from a high-pressure
region into a tank with a given volume V.
The equation of the first law of thermodynamics for the filling of a tank assumes the form

hdM – δQ = dU + pdV, (1)

where h is the specific enthalpy of the incoming gas, M is the mass of the gas in the tank, δQ is the elementary heat that can
be extracted from the gas to the ambient medium during time ∆τ, U is the internal energy, and p is the pressure in the tank.
Let us assume that the compressed gas conforms to the laws of ideal gases; then,

h = cpTi ; δQ = αF∆Tdτ; dU = d(uM) = cVd(TM),

where cp and cV are the specific heat capacities of the gas for a constant pressure and volume, respectively, α is the coeffi-
cient of convective heat transfer from the gas to the inner surface of the tank, F is the area of the inner surface of the tank,
∆T is the difference in the temperatures of the gas in the tank T and on the inner surface of the tank Ts, and u is the specific
internal energy of the gas.
According to the equation of state of an ideal gas TM = pV/ R, therefore, d(TM) = (pdV + Vdp)/R, where R is the
gas constant.
After substituting the values of h, δQ, and dU in Eq. (1), we obtain (for dV = 0)

cpTi dM – αF∆Tdτ = cV(Vdp/ R).

Integrating this expression from τ1 = 0 to τ2 = ∆τ, we find cpTi (M2 – M1) – αF∆Tm∆τ = cV(V/R)(p2 – p1), where
∆Tm is the average value of the temperature difference ∆T in the time interval ∆τ, and the subscripts “1” and “2” denote the
initial and final values of the quantity in the segment being analyzed.

Bryansk State Technical University. Translated from Khimicheskoe i Neftegazovoe Mashinostroenie, No. 5, pp. 3–4,
May, 2003.

0009-2355/03/0506-0251$25.00 ©2003 Plenum Publishing Corporation 251

 Considering that M2 – M1 = (V/R)[(p2 /T2) – (p1 /T1)], cp /cV = k, and R/cV = k – 1, it is possible to write

p p  F
kTi  2 − 1  − α ( k − 1) ∆Tm∆τ = p2 − p1 . (2)
 T2 T1  V

As a result of simple transformations of Eq. (2), we obtain an expression for determination of the temperature T2 of
the gas in the tank:
T2 kTi / T1
= .
T1 p1  Ti  F ∆Tm (3)
1+  k − 1 + α ( k − 1) ∆τ
p2  T1  V P1

Let us point out that the ratio F/V is heavily dependent on the shape and volume of the tank.
It follows from the equation of state of an ideal gas that

M2 /M1 = (p2 /p1)(T1 /T2), (4)

and the mass of the gas entering the tank during time ∆τ is determined by the expression

∆M = M2 – M1 = M1[(p2 /p1)(T1 /T2) – 1]. (5)

According to the outflow equation, the mass ∆M of the gas is determined from the formula

∆M = µf pi / Vi ψ∆τ , (6)

where f is the area of the minimum cross section of the nozzle; µ is the discharge coefficient, which takes into account the
loss of velocity and constriction of the gas jet as it passes through the nozzle; pi and Vi are the pressure and specific volume
 2 k +1 
k  k
of the gas in the region from which the outflow occurs; ψ = 2 π − π k  is the average value of the outflow char-
k −1 
 
acteristic for the segment being analyzed; and π = (p1 + p2)/ 2pi is the average value of the pressure ratio.
If π is smaller than the critical pressure ratio
k
 2  k −1
βc =   ,
 k + 1

the average value of the characteristic ψ will be equal to the critical value ψc:

k
k  2  k −1
ψ = ψc = 2
k + 1  k + 1
.

Equating the right sides of Eqs. (5) and (6), we obtain

T2 p2 / p1
= . (7)
T1 µf pi
1+ ψ∆τ
M1 Vi

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 TABLE 1

Design parameter for filling Number of analytical segment

of tank with compressed gas 1 2 3 4 5

p1, Pa 1·105 6.65·105 9·105 10.8·105 11.8·105

T1, K 293 480 494 498 496
5 5 5 5
p2, Pa 6.65·10 9·10 10.8·10 11.8·10 12.6·105
M1, kg 1189 4826 6345 7552 8288
π 0.304 0.621 0.786 0.897 0.968
ψ 0.6847 0.6716 0.5734 0.4281 0.2486
∆τ, sec 3081 1312 1219 998 1908
T 2, K 480 494 498 496 482
M2, kg 4826 6345 7552 8288 9106

We can then determine ∆τ, equating the right sides of Eqs. (3) and (7):

p2
−1
p1
∆τ = . (8)
T µf pi F ∆Tm
k i ψ − α ( k − 1)
T1 M1 Vi V p1

In connection with the fact that the outflow characteristic ψ depends heavily on the pressure ratio π, filling of the
tank should be divided into several analytical segments. In the first segment, the pressure in the tank is increased from p1 < pc
to p2 = pc (pc = πc pi), and from pc to pi in the next three-four segments.
For each of the segments, the time required for filling is determined from Eq. (8).
Results of analysis of the filling of a spherical tank with compressed air are cited as an example (see Table 1).
The following were assumed for the calculation: V = 1000 m3, pi = 12.6⋅105 Pa, Ti = 468 K, p1 = 1·105 Pa, T1 = 293 K,
p2 = pi = 12.6⋅105, µƒ = 0.0005 m2, ∆Tm = 20 K, k = 1.4, α = 10 W/(m2⋅K), R = 287 J/(kg⋅K), and F/ V = 0.4836 m–1.
After this, the gas feed to the tank is curtailed as the pressure in the latter is compared with the pressure pi. The tem-
perature and pressure of the gas in the tank are reduced due to heat exchange with the ambient medium; this makes it possi-
ble to continue the filling, and increase the mass of gas in the tank.
On cooling, the mass of gas in the tank remains unchanged (M2 = M1); according to Eq. (2), therefore, the time
required to lower the temperature of the gas from T1 to T2 will be determined from the formula

p2
1−
p1
∆τlo =
F ∆Tm
α ( k − 1)
V p1

or, in conformity with Eq. (4), from the formula

T2
1−
T1
∆τlo = , (9)
F ∆Tm
α ( k − 1)
V p1

253
where ∆Tm is the temperature difference between the gas and the surface of the tank, which can be determined from the for-
mula ∆Tm = [(T1 + T2)/2] – [(T1s – T2s )/2].
As applies to results of the example under consideration for analysis of the filling process, we can assume that as
the gas cools, its temperature is lowered from T1 = 482 K to T2 = 315 K. We can then determine ∆τlo = 10647 sec from Eq. (9).
After cooling, the pressure in the tank p2 = 8.23⋅105 Pa.
With a subsequent feed of compressed gas and a pressure increase to pi = 12.6⋅105 Pa, the mass of gas in the tank is
increased from 9106 to 11542 kg (by 26.7%), the temperature of the gas is 356 K, and the duration of the additional gas feed
is 1690 sec.
Results of analysis of filling of the tank have a pronounced dependence on the values adopted for the coefficient of
convective heat transfer α and the temperature difference ∆Tm.
The temperature difference ∆Tm is the result of complex interdependent nonstationary processes involving changes
in the temperature T of the gas, the coefficient of convective heat transfer α, and the temperature Ts on the inner surface of
the tank.
The temperature Ts depends to a large degree on the inertial-thermal properties (thermal conductivity) of the mate-
rial and the thickness of the tank’s thermal insulation. When the wall thickness of a tank built of a heat-conducting material
is small, and there is no thermal insulation, removal of heat from the gas to the ambient medium with a temperature T0 can,
with a certain approximation, be described by the heat-transfer equation Q = kF(Tm – T0); here, ∆Tm = k (Tm – T0)/α, where
k is the heat-transfer coefficient.
When thermal insulation is applied to the wall, the role of heat transfer diminishes as the thickness of the insulation
increases, and removal of heat from the gas is accomplished preferentially by accumulation of heat by the insulation. In cases
when the wall thickness is large (an underground natural-gas storage depot), there is virtually no heat transfer.
In connection with significant complexity of the mathematical description of the heating and cooling of the wall of
a tank fitted with thermal insulation, or the walls of an underground gas-storage depot, experimental investigations of the fill-
ing of tanks may be useful in establishing generalized relationships for α and ∆Tm.
It follows from Eq. (3) that

Ti  p  T  T
k − 1 + 1  k i − 1  2
T1  p2  T1   T1
α= . (10)
F ∆Tm T2
( k − 1) ∆τ
V p1 T1

In conducting the tests, the entire range of pressure variation in the tank – from the initial p1 to the final pi pressures
– can also be divided into several segments, and the pressures p1 and p2, gas temperatures T1 and T2, surface temperatures
T1s and T2s , and time ∆τ measured for each of them. Using formula (10), it is then possible to determine the experimental
values of the coefficient of convective heat transfer α for each of the segments.
The values of α and ∆Tm obtained for the segments make it possible to establish characteristic features of the change
in these quantities over the entire range of the pressure increase of the gas within the tank.
Experimental values of the coefficient of convective heat transfer α during cooling of the gas are determined by sub-
stituting the measured temperatures T1, T2, T1s, and T2s, and the cooling time ∆τlo in Eq. (9).
It is expedient to present experimental values of α and ∆Tm, which are obtained for several tanks of different vol-
ume with different thicknesses of insulation in generalized (criterial) form. The analytical procedure that we have outlined
will then make it possible to optimize parameters of the thermal insulation, and to establish the most rational conditions for
the filling of different sizes of tanks intended for different purposes.

254