Electric Heater Design
“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.
Decarbonization efforts worldwide,led both by industry leaders and legislation, have increased efforts to shift fossil fuel use to renewables. One way many industrial o industrial organizations can embrace this- and already have- is by shifting process heaters systems from fuel-burning to electric.
Typical customer specifications for a direct electric heat exchanger (DEHE) in forced convection gas applications aim for efficiency and safety given the technology principles that have been in place for the last two decades. While the older specifications are conservative and safe, the design may be sub-optimal.
One of the most common failures in electric process heaters used in various industrial applications involves electrical terminations and not the heating elements. Engineers at Watlow® believe designers across the industry are underestimating the temperature profile from the heater flange to terminal enclosure in these thermal systems.