Steam is a critical utility for Storage Terminals, Barge Terminals and Railcar Terminals when the viscosity of the product being transported requires heat to be moved or pumped.
In a typical Railcar Terminal, steam is applied to the arriving tank cars to heat the product inside to a temperature when it liquifies, so it can be pumped out safely and easily. There are many products that require heating for unloading, heavy oil, biofuels, vegetable oils, paraffins, and many more. Speed of unloading is important to increase the efficiency of the terminal, so steam is needed quickly, and on demand. After the railcar is unloaded, steam is used to clean the tank to rid it of the residual material so it can be loaded for the next haul.
Barge terminals in are very similar to tank car terminals when it comes to the use of steam. The barge arrives in the port with products that require heat to liquify to the point it can be easily pumped out of the barge. Barges can also need steam to clean the holding tanks to make the barge ready for its next load.
Most often, tank cars and barges unload their product into Storage Terminals. The various products are pumped into the appropriate storage tanks to await further transport by truck or pipeline. Storage terminals, sometimes referred to as tank farms, can need steam to heat the tanks to keep the viscous products in liquid form and for heat tracing the piping to and from the tanks.
Storage terminals may also need steam for pasteurization and sterilization. For example, much of the orange juice consumed in North American and Europe comes from South America. The juice is produced then concentrated in South America, shipped to special terminals for offloading, then pasteurized to kill any bacteria it picked up during the voyage and then stored in sterilized tanks. The pasteurization, sterilizing, and cleaning are done with steam.
Clayton Steam Generators are the preferred boiler for many rail, barge, storage terminal operators around the world. The Clayton boiler can go from cold to full output in less than 10 minutes, so a terminal operator can start the boiler when the train or barge arrives, rather than keeping a traditional boiler running on standby, preventing a tremendous waste of fuel.
The fast start capabilities of the Clayton steam generator will cut the energy cost and waste of any terminal. The high-quality steam from a Clayton boiler is also important to keep all the heating coils in these facilities working at their peak performance.