Abstract:The application prospects of the heating system of crude oil storage tanks based on solar energy and the heat transfer processes were analyzed, the numerical model of the heating system of crude oil storage tanks based on solar energy was established, the solar energy was simplified as the temperature distribution of the absorber plates, and then was analyzed by CFD software. The results show that: 1) because of the density differences caused by the heterogeneity of temperature distribution, it became the driving power of water flow form water tank to the water pipe inside the crude oil storage tank;2) after a long time of heating by solar energy, the temperature inside the crude oil storage tanks improves, but the temperature differences between daytime and night increase gradually; 3) there are vortexes inside the crude oil storage tank, which indicates convection heat transfer efficiency of solar heating system and the convection heat transfer effect between cold and hot crude oil are influenced by water delivery pipe and its layout.