She says, "You can't repeat the past,"
I say "You can't? What do you mean you can't?
Of course you can."

("Summer Days," by Bob Dylan ...and a salute to F.S. Fitzgerald,  2001)

 

PTOA SEGMENT 79: GOLDILOCKS ATE THE WRONG BOWL OF PORRIDGE

The PTOA Heat Transfer Focus Study Area concluded by challenging PTOA Readers and Students to reason out why the Universe is not happy with the portrayal of heat transfer in the the fairy tale of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears."

To be more specific, Baby Bear's small bowl of porridge could not have been at "just the right temperature" if Daddy Bear's big bowl was "too hot" and Mama Bear's mid-sized bowl was "too cold."

Furthermore, PTOA Readers and Students were challenged to redesign the Bear Family bowls, porridge, and surrounding environment to force a theoretically accurate conclusion to Goldilocks's porridge-tasting experiments.

PTOA Readers and Students who completed these challenges in the privacy of their own dwelling have exhibited the personal initiative that is required to understand the theory and application of convection and conduction heat transfer.

Additionally, PTOA Readers and Students who completed the Goldilocks exercise in the privacy of their own dwelling have exhibited the mental aptitude necessary to become a modern Process Operator accountable for optimally operating multi-million dollar temperature-changing process industry equipment.

PTOA Readers who discovered an interest in sharing their heat transfer insights have mentally crossed the line from being a PTOA spectator into becoming a serious PTOA Student.

The next logical step for these PTOA Readers is to re-register as a PTOA Student (it's free!).

PTOA Students can share the PTOA learning experience with fellow PTOA Students via access to PTOA Student Forums.

Register as PTOA Student Here (FREE!)

This PTOA Segment also answered the questions prompted in PTOA Segment 59 concerning how heat transfer impacted one of Fred the Stickman's nine lives.

PTOA Readers and Students who contemplated Fred's experiences learned:

• Differences between hot and cold temperatures provide the driving force for heat transfer.
• The difference between hot and cold temperatures is called the "Delta T."
• Heat always flows from the hotter area into the colder area.
• When the cold area is vast compared to the hot area, the final temperature of the cold area will not change even after heat has been transferred.
• A vast cold area that has the same temperature after heat has been transferred is called a "heat sink."

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM YOUR MENTOR

Hey! The PTOA Heat Transfer Focus Study Area was hard work!

Brainwork was required!

Mathematical expressions that defined the components which contribute to heat transfer via radiation, convection, and conduction were emphasized over and over!

PTOA Readers and Students were introduced to The Transport Phenomena that rule the Universe.

PTOA Readers and Students learned the Heat Transport Phenomenon causes temperature changes.

After learning how the three modes of heat transfer worked together in normal daily life, PTOA Readers and Students learned how they work together in:

• Temperature-Increasing Equipment (fired heaters, package boilers, and reaction furnaces).
• Temperature-Decreasing Equipment (fin fans and cooling water towers).
• Temperature-Swapping Equipment (shell and tube heat exchangers).
• The industrial piping that connects industrial equipment.

In addition, PTOA Readers and Students learned the practices and procedures Process Operators use to proactively detect heat transfer problems so that desired target process temperatures can be attained and maintained.

Throughout the PTOA Heat Transfer Focus Study, several directly-related topics were integrated.

The focus on radiant heat generation included:

• an in depth study of how the combustion reaction is generated and extinguished.
• a delineation between the desired complete combustion products from the less desirable but unavoidable flue gas components
• the significant impact of fuel gas composition changes upon radiant heat generators (fired heaters, package boilers, reaction furnaces).

PTOA Readers and Students were introduced to the role and purpose of EPA's Clean Air Act, one of the federal regulations that guide process operations at every industrial complex. This topic emphasized the need for Process Operators to target and maintain optimal combustion air-to-fuel ratios.

The purpose and optimal use of the myriad injected chemicals used at a processing facility was introduced. The role Outside Process Operators play regarding adjusting chemical injection rates to optimal levels was featured.

PTOA Readers and Students learned how evaporative cooling is highly dependent upon relative humidity as well as how relative humidity is determined by wet bulb temperature, dry bulb temperature, and dew point of the ambient air.

PTOA Readers and Students should be very proud of themselves for maintaining the initiative to thoroughly understand the concepts and mechanics of radiant, conduction, and convection heat transfer.

Readers and Students who understand the principles of heat transfer are well on the way to making excellent Process Operators.

The jargon of heat transfer will be reviewed in the upcoming PTOA Segments.

Afterward, the PTOA Process Variable Temperature focus will wrap up with a PTOA Study dedicated to Temperature Detecting/Measuring Instruments.

Stay tuned!

Continue to learn Process Technology and Operations for free from an expert!

YOU CAN DO IT!

Namaste,

YM

©2015 PTOA Segment 00088
PTOA Deja Vu Review 3-9

 

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