Electric Trace Heating: A Turn-Key Solution

Engineering Design – Electrical Heat Tracing Basics

As a leading manufacturer of Mineral Insulated cable we offer the full range of MI heating units: Stainless Steel, Inconel 600, Alloy 825, Cupro-Nickel and Copper sheathed cables. We also offer units such as power cabling, thermal insulation and electric distribution etc.

This means we have the entire range of heating units to choose from so we can use our experience and expertise to design the most efficient system. Furthermore, our in-house metallurgist will be able to confirm the most suitable sheath for the desired environment.

Designing a system can be a complex process depending on the size and need of the solution. There are countless ways to shape a system, however, you need to be able to trust the designer, and believe that they will be choosing a cable that will meet the needs of the specification in the most economic way to last the lifetime of the project.

We can design Trace Heating solutions to either Raise or Maintain the temperatures of materials. Below is the information we would need from you to design such a solution:

Common mistakes include

• Using the minimum amount of cables but powering them to their limit – reducing their useable lifespan
• Using a cable that is too powerful or using too many cables on one area (poor trace ratio) is uneconomical
• Using a metal sheath that is unnecessary for the environment and consequently an uneconomical choice
• Wrong cable choices on shorter circuits which are more likely to burn out quicker
• Using a cable that requires more accessories than necessary such as junction boxes, splice kits etc. ramps up total costs

As we have designed and managed projects across the world and across every possible Trace Heating application, we can evaluate your design specifications and offer a bespoke system which meets your requirement, will survive the manufacturing lifetime and is cost-effective.

Engineering – ‘Maintain’ Design Considerations

• Minimum ambient temperature
• Maintaining the temperature medium
• The cable exposure temperature
• Pipe diameter and length or diameter of the tank and height (surface area)
• Insulation Materials –type, thickness and thermal conductivity
• Operating Voltage
• Environment: Hazardous area? If hazardous T rating? Corrosive? Outside/Inside?
• Mechanical –valves, flanges, supports

Engineering – ‘Raise’ Design Considerations

• As for maintaining design but also must consider the following;
• Desired time in which to raise a temperature
• Starting temperature
• Desired process temperature
• The material in vessel/pipe, its density and specific heat capacity