Cargo Hold Heating Solution

Cargo heating bank fabricated from PLATECOIL panels.

PLATECOIL Banks Reduce Installation & Labor Costs
Marine cargo heating systems are known to be expensive to fabricate, energy-inefficient, and slow to respond. Factory engineered and fabricated PLATECOIL^® heat exchanger banks surpass field-fabricated linear pipecoil in initial cost economy and thermal performance. These integral, one-piece banked assemblies comprise a rugged, high-strength design. Yard installation involves one inlet and outlet connection per PLATECOIL bank. Available in carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium, and higher alloys, these engineered packages conform to ASME, U.S. Coast Guard, DNV, ABS, and Lloyds Register codes.

Cargo Hold Product Heating
PLATECOIL offers inherent design advantages when used to heat heavy, viscous products in preparation for efficient cargo unloading in cargo holds of tankers and barges. Initial cost economy is attractive, since these pre-assembled banks completely eliminate linear pipe heating components, significantly reducing onsite shipyard pipefitting labor costs.

Factory manufactured PLATECOIL systems offer superior mechanical integrity and quality assurance, along with reduced weight. Minimized yard installation virtually eliminates the possibility of damage to cargo hold coatings.

Shipboard Applications

• Fuel Oil Tankers
• Cargo Tankers
• Asphalt Barges
• ATBs

PLATECOIL Advantages
Performance—PLATECOIL banks reduce energy consumption through higher heat transfer efficiency and a chimney effect that induces more effective circulation. This effect promotes rapid, uniform heating through natural convection, reducing heating and cargo handling times significantly.

PLATECOIL based cargo heating system in articulated tug barges.  Please note the drawing is not to scale; banks and piping are enlarged for clarity.

Operation and Durability—PLATECOIL banks are not susceptible to flow-induced vibration, vibration-induced fatigue cracking, and waterhammer from condensate blocking. Although they constitute a more compact design, they offer superior baffling performance in active seaways.

Simple Installation—PLATECOIL banks are assembled into a rigid, integral unit comprised of:

• Manifold connections
• Support and stiffening structures
• Integral feet for elevating the PLATECOIL bank off the deck

Case Study: PLATECOIL vs. Pipecoil Installation
Consider a 155,000-barrel ABS Classed ocean going tank barge containing 10 cargo holds with a capacity of 651,000 U.S. gallons per hold:

Pipecoil installation would have required 23,349 linear feet of schedule 40 Pipecoil to properly heat the holds.

PLATECOIL installation required a total of 40 PLATECOIL banks, four banks per hold. Each bank consisting of two 304L stainless steel PLATECOILS measuring 22” x 143”.

The compact, efficient design of the PLATECOIL heat exchanger significantly reduced labor costs, decreased vessel weight, and reduced thermal oil volume. The overall efficiency improvement in these areas helped reduce the initial capital investment for the 155,000-barrel tank barge by $667,000.

R.W. Fernstrum is the exclusive North American marine dealer for Tranter, Inc. Contact our sales and engineering team or visit fernstrum.com to learn more about the PLATECOIL Prime Surface Heat Exchanger – the right technology for cargo heating.

fernstrum.com | 906.863.5553