Electric Heaters
Latest Posts
Selecting the Right Electric Heater for the Job
Selecting the appropriate industrial electric heater involves evaluating factors such as watt density, mechanical considerations, safety factors, and life cycle costs. This article provides guidance on how to assess these elements to ensure optimal performance and longevity of the heating system. It emphasizes the importance of proper installation, maintenance, and understanding the specific requirements of the application to make informed decisions.
How to Determine if an Electric Heater is Good or Bad Using an Ohmmeter
Determining how much heat your system needs is a critical first step in designing efficient industrial heating processes. This blog post walks through how to calculate heat energy for both start-up and steady-state conditions, including essenstial considerations such as temperature change, material properties, and heat losses. It explains formulas for specific heat, latent heat, and various types of heat loss (conduction, convection, and radiation). By following these steps, engineers and process designers can accurately size heaters, avoid energy waste, and improve system performance.
How Much Heat Do You Need? Heat Energy Calculations for Electric Heaters
Accurately calculating heat energy requirements is essential for designing efficient thermal systems. This blog post outlines a systematic approach to determine the necessary heat energy (in kWh or Btu) for both start-up and maintenance phases of heating processes. It emphasizes the importance of defining key parameters such as temperature ranges, material properties, and system dimensions. This article introduces formulas to compute absorbed energy for temperature changes, latent heat for phase transitions, and heat losses due to conduction, convection and radiation. By incorporating safety factors and evaluating power requirements, engineers can optimize heater selection and system performance.
A Guide to Determine Insulation Resistance in Electric Heaters
Insulation resistance is a key parameter for any electric heater to operate safely. All Watlow® heaters undergo insulation resistance testing before leaving the manufacturing facilities. However, during shipping and storage, the mineral insulation (magnesium oxide or MgO) material used in metal sheath heaters can absorb moisture rendering the heater unusable until the moisture is purged from the heater.
Thermal Loop: An Introduction to the Unifying Concept Behind Watlow’s Products and Processes
For Watlow, the core concept is the thermal loop, which drives every product and project. This paper, the first in a series, focuses on the three foundational components of the thermal loop: heaters, sensors, and controllers. Understanding this concept will clarify how Watlow’s products, projects, and expertise fit into the bigger picture.
Watlow Start-Up Guide Electric Heaters
A Watlow electric heater has been designed for optimal performance within industrial applications for many years. These key steps will ensure that installation is smooth and that your Watlow heater will maintain high performance.
Watlow´s Glossary for Comprehensive Industrial Decarbonization Terms
“Fossil fuels are a dead end,” according to U.N. Chief António Guterres, requesting an urgent transition to renewable energy. Industrial organizations can push decarbonization forward by shifting process heater systems from fossil fuel-burning to electric. A crucial step towards a carbon-neutral future is grasping the terminology, concepts and renewable energy solutions necessary to achieve it.
Why Did This Heater Fail and Troubleshooting Corrections
Even after following instructions correctly and checking and rechecking the Watlow® installation manual, sometimes the flip of a switch does not activate an electric heater. In these cases, troubleshooting the problem can often lead to the most straightforward solutions to properly start a heater. When trying to assess heater failure, take stock of these troubleshooting questions that can help determine the immediate cause of the problem.
Electric Heater Selection for an Existing Problem
Heating applications vary greatly in the industrial sector. But what happens when you are faced with finding the right heater for an existing challenge, or you need to replace a heater that was not an optimal fit for your current system?. The first step when considering a heater for an existing problem is a step back. Assess the big picture regarding your application and system needs, then you can begin to focus on a few crucial elements that will lead you to the ideal heating solution.
Electric Heating Systems for Industrial Applications: When to Replace or Retrofit
Deciding whether to replace or retrofit electric heating systems in industrial applications can significantly impact performance, energy efficiency, and compliance. This blog utilities key factors to consider, such as system age, operating goals, compliance standards, and space or temperature requirements, to help manufacturers, OEMs and engineers make informed decisions. It also guides readers through selecting the right type of heater based on applications needs, from material type to ambient conditions.
Retrofitting Your Electric Process Heater
Multiple methods are available to customers when replacing an electric process heater, whether it was produced by Watlow® or someone else. This article is meant to provide a general summary of the process of retrofitting an existing electric process heater that can be applied across industries.
How to Choose the Right Enclosure for Your Process Heater
There are several considerations to keep in mind when choosing an enclosure for your electric process heater. Whether your company is purchasing a process heater for the first time or trying to find a better enclosure for your current system.
WHITE PAPER: A Fresh Look at Accelerating Electrification and the Role that Thermal Plays
The goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement are now playing out, with companies and governments making drastic changes to hit its ambitious targets. Explore how innovative technologies have solved many challenges by implementing electric process heating.
WHITE PAPER: "Greening" Industry Through Innovative Process and Environmental Technologies
Explore how innovative technologies are solving specific problems that have barred progress to cleaner products and processes.
Watlow FLUENT Heaters – A Rapid Prototyping Dream
Any FLUENT heater you build in our VISUAL DESIGNER tool is available to ship in one to five business days after order placement under our Watlow® SELECT™ offering! Sound like a rapid prototyping dream?