A stable process flow is required in any industry to compensate for the full or partial heat losses that keep occurring in the system. Any industry, whether a thermal power plant or a processing industry, needs to ensure optimization in its operation through its high- end designing systems that caters to any losses that may occur in the industry. In cases of process interruption, it becomes very necessary to maintain a minimum permissible temperature of the process fluid or the liquid flowing through a system pipeline. To ensure this, the pipes are required to be heated to a predetermined temperature and then restarting the process after interruption which is also known as cold start up. Every pipe or vessel, whose temperature is greater than the ambient temperature gets subjected to heat loss which may mar the process or create heavy losses for the company. Thermal insulation somewhat reduces the rate of heat loss but is not successful in eliminating it. At this juncture, the development of heat tracing has been quite helpful in balancing the heat lost with the heat supplied.

A close study of heat tracing engineering is required to ensure the design and installation of process heating systems in order to maintain a temperature balance in the process. Heat trace cables are the key to an effective trace heating in process industries. The main equipment in this category include Self-regulating electric heat cables, Constant Wattage cables and series resistance cables which are used to provide an electric heating system. Sometimes Silicon Rubber heating panels and Mica Metal strip heaters are also used in specialized cases of heat tracing. They are usually applied to tanks and vessels.

The most important criterion while employing trace heating to a process is to determine the most appropriate heat tracing design for the system. To decide on a low-cost and efficient design for a specific application, it is very necessary to determine the length of the pipeline, the temperature level to be maintained and the necessity to establish a power supply network for the same.

A heat tracing system is a reliable network to provide the required temperature balance to the system. Moreover they are very easy to install with very less maintenance hassles. The versatile components are quite compatible with the process equipment ensuring simplified stocking and less storage of the part. The control and monitoring heat tracing system reflect the customer needs by minimizing energy consumption, production cycle downtime and also the installation costs. These are the most advanced and cost-effective solutions used to sense simple ambient, advanced multi-circuit and integrated line-sensing systems. The heat tracing engineering offers a unique solution to exercise central monitoring through local control and thus provide a major benefit in controlling the operating costs.

About Author:

Rolando Teodoro is a regular freelance writer who had his reputation in the heat tracing industry. He had successfully written several articles on heat tracing engineering, heat tracing design and heat tracing drawing. For more information visit at : www.marubeniheattracing.com