How to choose the right flanged immersion heater for your application
It’s not enough to have a good flanged immersion heater; you need the right flanged heater for your application. This ensures that it serves better and longer without any major issues and/or accidents.
What is a flanged immersion heater?
Flanged electric heaters are often employed for chemical, petroleum, and water applications. Commonly made up of an ANSI-rated flange with one or more hairpins or hairpin tubular elements extending from the front of the flange, this heater delivers direct heat to the liquid medium. Flanged immersion heaters come with various options for the sheath and flange of their heating elements, operating voltages, power (kilowatts) ratings, and temperature ranges.
Flanged heaters, which are made with terminal boxes, are available in various types, making them perfect for applications where there is a humidified heat or in a moist operating environment. Each type is made for specific applications. For process temperature control, Rama Corp creates thermowells with sensing bulbs near the heating elements bundle. A flange heater is mounted on a tank or vessel wall using a flange.
Rama Corporation is home to a wide selection of flanged heaters. To find the best flanged immersion heater for your application;
1. Choose the correct sheath material
It’s not difficult to choose the correct heater sheath material for a given fluid. Still, it does require some research. Fortunately, Rama Cooperation uses sheath selection tables to make this process easier.
Overall, suitable sheath materials should be corrosion resistant. This is determined by the velocity of the corrodent, the corroding substance’s temperature and the amount of aeration a corrodent is exposed to. Heater surfaces in contact with the substance being heated might be passivated or electro-polished to improve corrosion resistance.
2. Determine watt density
Select the optimum power output for your heater functions to minimize localized overheating of the heated liquid.
Several factors should be considered when selecting a proper watt density. These include;
- Many materials are heat sensitive, and if the element gets too hot, they might break down or be harmed.
- To prevent element overheating, weak conductors of heat such as air and other gases require watt densities that are suited to the velocity of the gas flow.
- Mineral deposits can form on the element’s sheath while heating hard water and cleaning solutions. These deposits serve as a heat insulator and elevate the element’s internal temperature.
If these deposits cannot be removed on a regular basis, a smaller watt density element should be used to extend the life of the heater.
3. Select based on wattage
Next, you should make sure your heater can actually produce enough heat to take your liquid to the correct temperature within the required time. And while determining the watt density and sheath material is straightforward, determining your wattage requires some serious arithmetic.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do any of that; there are wattage calculators to simplify the process. Yours is to enter the specifics of your application, i.e., tank volume and size, and liquid used, and the calculator will calculate the required watts.
4. Determine terminal housing
The terminal housing is essential. It features various connections to allow the usage of similar housing pieces with integral locking and strain relief.
For heaters with thermostat you can choose type 1T terminal box or type 2T terminal boxes while with heaters without thermostat you can choose type 1N terminal boxes. Choosing the right terminal housing enables the heater to function in optimum state.
Get your flanged heater today
Rama Corporation makes flanged heaters for all types of applications. Furthermore, we make it easy to spec out exactly what your application needs. One of our engineers will work with you to find the best Flanged heater solution.