Thermal Analysis of Above-Ground Liquid Distribution Systems (Utilidors) for Polar Application

摘要

In polar regions, service distribution pipes for water, sewage, and heating present special problems because they cannot be buried in the normal manner. One solution to this problem is to install an above-ground utilidor, which consists of a thermally insulated box-like structure through which the service lines run. One or more of the service lines provides the source of heat necessary to avoid freezing of all the other lines. A basic problem in utilidor design is that the system must provide sufficient thermal protection to avoid freezing during coldest weather, but the temperatures of the liquids being distributed must not become undesirably high during warm weather. Therefore, thermal performance must be analyzed at both extremes of ambient and operating conditions before the utilidor design for a particular site is finalized. The document presents a general analysis and resulting computer program suitable for prediction of the thermal performance of various multi-pipe utilidor designs over a wide range of boundary conditions. The computed results are shown to compare favorably with experimental data for a particular design. The computer program is described, and sample calculations are presented. (Author)