Heat tracing: Steam or electric?

Journal Article · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Chemical Engineering Progress

OSTI ID:203845

Lonsdale, J T; Little, N J; Bradford, D L

Heat tracing is used to prevent pipes from cooling to ambient temperature when they are in the no-flow condition. This is usually accomplished by placing a source of heat on the pipe under thermal insulation. Preventing pipes containing water from freezing and preventing fuel oil pipes from dropping below the pour point of the fuel oil are two common applications for heat tracing. The two most common methods of heat tracing are steam tracing and electric tracing. In the 1960s, over 90% of industrial heat tracing was steam tracing. Today, the market share of electric tracing has increased to over 30% due to advances in electric tracing technology and increases in energy costs. Choosing the proper heat-tracing system requires an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the available systems and a method of estimating their relative installed and operating costs. This article provides some basic information about steam tracing and electric tracing, and presents some simple decision rules for choosing the most economic system for most types of chemical process industries (CPI) applications.

• OSTI ID: 203845
• Journal Information: Chemical Engineering Progress, Journal Name: Chemical Engineering Progress Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 91; ISSN 0360-7275; ISSN CEPRA8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ECONOMICS
ELECTRIC HEATING
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
HEATING SYSTEMS
OPERATING COST
PERFORMANCE
PIPES
RECOMMENDATIONS
RELIABILITY
SAFETY
STEAM SYSTEMS
TEMPERATURE CONTROL