Many products need to maintain a specified temperature in order to remain in a liquid state for processing. This temperature is usually far above the temperature of the surrounding air.
When pipework is subjected to low ambient temperatures or under no flow conditions, heat loss can cause the contents viscosity to increase. This may lead to the material solidifying or setting within the pipework, either slowing down the process or causing problems to pumping equipment.
Industrial applications for trace heating include:
- Food processing factories.
- Chemical industries.
- Oil refineries.
- Power stations.
Electric trace heating tapes are vital in ensuring that process temperatures of pipes and vessels are maintained to allow for smooth and efficient running of process plants equipment.
To minimise the effects of heat loss, trace heating is used in conjunction with thermal insulation to supply a heat source to replace this heat loss and therefore maintain the pipe temperature. Typically a pipe sensing trace heating thermostat is used to sense the pipe temperature and energise the heating system when required.
By utilising the correct type of temperature maintenance heating cable, thermal insulation and temperature control, process pipework will operate efficiently for many years.
Generally constant wattage heating cable systems lend themselves better to process temperature maintenance heat trace applications. However, low to medium temperature applications that do not require such precise temperature maintenance parameters can be maintained with self regulating heating tape systems.
Engineers and installers using process temperature maintenance trace heating will always have their own preferences as to the type of heating cable to use. this is why at ESH Trace Heating Ltd we offer a comprehensive range of both constant wattage and self regulating heating tapes to allow the end user to utilise the system that best suits their application and personal preference.
