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Integrated electric thermal systems designed for reliability, efficiency, and sustainability—trusted across the global energy sector
Reliable Thermal Solutions for Refining’s Toughest Challenges
Watlow is your partner to optimize heat transfer, reduce fouling, and increase uptime across your most critical refining applications.
Interactive Manufacturing Facility Diagram
OPTIMAX® preheater for furnace
Provides preheat to crude oil upstream of the main fired heater in a Crude Oil Distillation Unit (CDU).
Provides precise, stable preheating of vacuum tower feed—improving furnace inlet temperature control, reducing thermal stress, and offsetting fired heater duty for more efficient VDU operation.
OPTIMAX® preheater for furnace
High-efficiency heat to mid-distillate feed streams—enhancing thermal conditioning, stabilizing downstream separation, and reducing load on fired heaters for improved energy performance.
Delivers accurate, uniform heat for catalyst regeneration—ensuring stable bed temperatures, protecting catalyst integrity, and enabling efficient, low emission isomerization cycles.
Provides consistent, controlled heat to reforming reactors—enhancing catalyst performance, improving hydrogen yield, and reducing fired heater dependency in catalytic reforming processes.
Maintains optimal fluid temperature to prevent condensation and ensure reliable phase separation—supporting consistent downstream processing and protecting critical equipment from liquid carryover.
CDU Heater
OPTIMAX® preheater for furnace
Provides preheat to crude oil upstream of the main fired heater in a Crude Oil Distillation Unit (CDU).
VDU Heater
Provides precise, stable preheating of vacuum tower feed—improving furnace inlet temperature control, reducing thermal stress, and offsetting fired heater duty for more efficient VDU operation.Two-Phase Reboiler
Delivers precise, high-efficiency heat input for vacuum tower bottoms—enabling stable vaporization, improved separation efficiency, and reduced reliance on fired heating in VDU operations.Coker Heater
Delivers controlled, uniform heating to coker feed—enhancing thermal cracking efficiency, reducing coke buildup, and minimizing emissions by displacing conventional fired heating.Regeneration Heaters
Controlled, uniform heat to support catalyst reactivation in FCC units—ensuring optimal coke burn-off, maintaining catalyst activity, and improving unit throughput with lower emissions.Regeneration Heaters
Provides heat for catalyst drying and acid regeneration—supporting stable alkylation reactions, minimizing acid consumption, and enhancing overall unit efficiency.NAPHTHA Hydrotreating
Provides precise, steady heat to stripper and stabilizer columns—optimizing separation, improving hydrogen removal, and supporting cleaner, more energy-efficient Naphtha hydrotreating operations.Mid-Distillate Hydrotreating
OPTIMAX® preheater for furnace
High-efficiency heat to mid-distillate feed streams—enhancing thermal conditioning, stabilizing downstream separation, and reducing load on fired heaters for improved energy performance.
Regeneration Heaters
Delivers accurate, uniform heat for catalyst regeneration—ensuring stable bed temperatures, protecting catalyst integrity, and enabling efficient, low emission isomerization cycles.Reformer Heater
Provides stable, high-efficiency heat supporting precise separation of heavy and light fractions while reducing energy intensity and fired heater reliance.Regeneration Heaters
Provides consistent, controlled heat to reforming reactors—enhancing catalyst performance, improving hydrogen yield, and reducing fired heater dependency in catalytic reforming processes.Knock-Out Drum Heater
Maintains optimal fluid temperature to prevent condensation and ensure reliable phase separation—supporting consistent downstream processing and protecting critical equipment from liquid carryover.Complete Thermal Solutions for Refining Applications
From FEED to Field, Watlow delivers integrated electric heaters, controls and sensors that reduce emissions, boost efficiency, and ensure uptime in the world’s most demanding environments.
Regeneration Gas Heating
Catalytic reforming units require precise and uniform thermal management to regenerate catalyst beds without causing thermal stress or deactivation—Watlow provides high-reliability electric process heaters with advanced temperature controls that deliver consistent heat input, reducing coking, extending catalyst life, and minimizing unplanned downtime.
Air Heating
In catalytic reforming and other refinery processes, coke buildup on catalyst surfaces reduces reaction efficiency, increases pressure drop, and eventually forces costly shutdowns for regeneration. Watlow’s high-temperature air heaters deliver controlled, uniform heat to burn off coke effectively during regeneration cycles—without damaging the catalyst or surrounding equipment.
Process and Temperature Control
Watlow’s process and temperature controls add value to refinery operations by ensuring stable heat input, improving energy efficiency, reducing variability in thermal processes, and supporting safer, more consistent plant performance under demanding operating conditions
Reboiling
In applications like Distillation , Amine Regeneration and Hydrotreating, Watlow’s electric thermal solutions provide precise, uniform thermal input that eliminates temperature fluctuations, reduces fouling and scaling, and minimizes maintenance-related downtime, helping operators maintain product quality and throughput while improving energy efficiency and system reliability.Solutions for Your Process and Around the Plant
Electric Heaters, Sensors, and Controls—Designed to Fully Integrate to Optimize Thermal and Process Performance
Electric Heat Exchangers
Watlow's heat exchanger is engineered for precise, efficient heat transfer with reduced pressure drop, optimizing performance while lowering overall CAPEX. Designed for demanding applications, it combines advanced fluid dynamics and proprietary technologies for reliable, high efficiency operation.
POWERSAFE™ Medium Voltage Integrated Thermal System
Unlock your ability to electrify larger thermal loads. This smart, scalable system extends the life of heaters, reduces downtime and eliminates reliance on fossil fuels. With POWERSAFE™, more power can be delivered in a smaller footprint while aligning with the most stringent of sustainability and net-zero standards.
ASPYRE® DT SCR Power Controllers
ASPYRE® DT family of intelligent power controllers is flexible and scalable, and available with a variety of options allowing one platform to be re-used across a wide range of applications, which can help save time and money. ASPYRE DT models available include sizes from 35 to 2100 amps.
Control Panels
WATCONNECT large and extra-large control panels permit safe access to control compartments allowing users to troubleshoot without shutting down the process. In addition, the large and extra-large panels only utilize 50% of the space that competitive panels require, which frees up areas for other critical equipment needed in the process.
Engineered Control and Sensor Solutions for Refining Applications
PID Controllers
Ultra-fast ramp rates, high watt densities and low leakage current make this heater best suited for Medical and Clinical applications, where electrical safety, small size and cleanliness are critical
Modular Controllers
Compact, lightweight heaters offering optimized heat transfer and superior temperature uniformity. The FLUENT® heater delivers exceptional performance and rapid response times through its high watt density.
Sensors
Watlow’s silicone rubber heaters offer rigid durability and precise heat delivery, enhancing thermal efficiency and reducing energy use.
BROCHURE
Your Partner for Decarbonization and Electrification
The industrial sector is undergoing a significant shift towards electrification for heating, driven by the need to reduce carbon emissions and align with decarbonization targets. This shift, particularly in the next 10 years, will see increasing adoption of electric heating technologies to replace fossil fuel-based systems.
WHITE PAPER
Decarbonization, Electrification and the Case for Modern Electric Process Heaters
Companies in liquified natural gas (LNG) and other industries have been taking bold steps to reduce their carbon footprint. The overall strategy of these companies is to tackle carbon emissions not only through alternative energy investment and increased efficiency, but also through converting key industrial processes (like process heating) to electric(rather than fuel-fired). This paper explores pressures to electrify process heating, as well as the role that electric heat exchangers are playing, particularly in light of innovations in the design of these heaters.
Webinar: POWERSAFE: Revolutionizing Medium Voltage Process Heating for a Low-Carbon Future
The Value of Thermal Loop Solutions
Global Reach, Local Manufacturing
With world-class manufacturing, development, and service centers strategically located worldwide, Watlow ensures in-region supply, faster response, and reliable support for customers
Connect With Our Experts
Connect with Watlow to discuss your biopharma thermal control needs and explore how our solutions can support your process reliability and compliance