About Heating Elements and Heating Element Manufacturers
Including: Ceramic
Heating Elements, Dryer
Heating Elements, Electric
Heating Elements, Heating
Coils & Tubular
Heating Elements.
Heating elements are the core component of all electric heaters used in convection and conduction heating, or solid-to-gas/liquid heating and solid-to-solid heating.
Electric heating elements have critical applications within a broad category of electric heaters and devices used in residential, commercial and industrial process applications. Elements are manufactured in a variety of materials and configurations, but their function remains the same: to convert electrical energy into heat energy, then to transfer that heat energy to air, liquid or solids through convection or conduction.
Tubular heating elements are one of the most well-recognized elements, being used as oven heating elements and water heating elements in many residential and commercial settings.
Heating coils can be tubular, such as stovetop elements, or they may be wire, such as those that are used as clothes
dryer heating elements.
Ceramic heating elements are used for convectional heating, such as in space heaters, furnaces and semiconductors. Heating elements are capable of providing heat from room temperature up to over 1300°F.
Most appliances which require heat to perform their processes use a heating element of one kind or another. Ovens, clothes dryers, water heaters, electric furnaces and other appliances in residential and commercial industries use heating elements extensively. Industrial processes use heating elements in countless process heating applications in various types of industrial electric heaters. In packaging, plastic fabricating, foam fabricating, metal fabricating and food processing industries, cartridge heaters are inserted through a hole into the metal or material of equipment parts which require localized or high temperature heat. Extruding channels and hoppers use coil heaters, band heaters or strip heaters wrapped around or bolted to the channel to maintain the plasticity of the material being extruded. Radiating types of heaters such as duct heaters, immersion heaters and tubular heaters are used to heat liquid or air in industrial ovens, storage tank heating, pressure vessel heating, steam generation, boilers, water treatment facilities and many other applications.
Heating elements within electric heaters are mainly composed of three elements: an insulating core, a heat conductive coil wrapped around the insulation and an encasing sheath made from stainless steel, aluminum, nickel or iron. Insulating cores are necessary in most types of electric heaters to retain and absorb electrical energy so that it might be released as heat energy by surrounding coils or materials. Coiled wire heating elements, such as those used as household dryer heating elements, have no insulating core but transfer heat directly to the air through blown convection. In higher heat applications, cores are responsible for converting electrical energy into heat energy and are heating elements' major component. Heating element cores are generally made from either NiChrome, a high resistance 80% nickel 20% chromium compound, or from a Positive Thermal Coefficient ceramic, a highly heat resistant barium titanate/lead titanate composite. Ceramic and NiChrome are by far the most common insulation materials, although various heating elements may use mineral insulation such as magnesium oxide, mica or fiberglass, depending on the heater's application requirements.
Heating elements typically have a shorter lifespan than the item in which they are installed and therefore may need to be replaced from time to time. Replacement heating elements can be stock or custom made to fit the application by most heating element manufacturers and service providers. Most industrial equipment types using heating elements for processing have made replacing heating elements part of regular equipment maintenance. The heating elements used in industrial electric heaters are commonly sold stock or custom by heating element and electric heater manufacturers. When heating elements fail in consumer items such as hair dryers or toasters, it is typically easier to replace the whole unit rather than replace the heating element, as replacement heating elements for consumer items are rare and difficult to for non-manufacturers to install. Manufacturers of industrial heaters fabricate standard replacement heating elements for easy equipment maintenance.
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Types of Heating Elements
- are made of wire that is
wound on a fiberglass core and insulated by PVC or silicone rubber.
- are used in low and high temperature
ovens and furnaces. They can be found in rectangular, square, flat,
cylindrical, or partial cylinder shapes.
- are common in many products and provide heat
to a general area. The heating elements are shaped into coils based
on their intended purpose; they can be free radiating or enclosed.
- are metallic components that conduct heat in many products, including clothes dryers and hair dryers.
- are heating elements used inside devices
that use electricity to power themselves and create heat.
- are configured to have a large surface area without taking up much space.
- are used in infrared heaters,
which are used for many applications. The element heats a surface which
distributes
the heat.
- are often encapsulated in steel sheaths and have ribbon
or wire wound on mica sheet or tube and insulated by mica.
- heating elements are typically used in convection furnaces
and ovens with open coil heaters. Plug/Rack types are often an assembly
of heating elements together in a rack or plug.
- heating elements are used in high temperature procedures
and where higher watts are required. They are usually long tube-like
elements.
- are very common and sometimes have a casing
or protective component and can be formed according to the application.
Heating Element Terms
- A substance made of two or more metals or of
a metal and a non-metal usually being fused together and dissolving in
each other when molten.
- To heat and then cool a solid (usually steel or glass) for
softening, cooling slowly in a furnace to result in a less brittle material.
- The joining of metals through the use of heat and a filler
metal to form a strong joint, the filler metal is usually silver alloy.
- British Thermal Unit. The amount of heat required to raise
or lower the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
- To combine, often a metal, with carbon .
- The metric temperature scale in which water freezes at zero
degrees and boils at 100 degrees, designated by the symbol "C".
- Any product made essentially from a nonmetallic mineral (clay)
by firing at a high temperature, examples: porcelain or brick.
- Any coiled element that serves as the source of heat.
- In a heat pump system, the coil absorbs heat from the
outdoors.
- A pipe or conduit through which air is delivered. Ducts are
typically made of metal, fiberboard or a flexible material.
- Direct expansion; a system in which heat is transferred by the direct
expansion of refrigerant.
- The temperature scale on which water freezes at 32 degrees
and boils at 212 degrees; designated by the letter F.
- A brick that can withstand high temperatures and is used
specifically for lining furnaces or fireplaces .
- An element that has broken and is touching something
metal, like the cage that is suppose to hold the element or the element
metal housing.
- The component of the heater which is responsible for
conducting the heat.
- Invisible waves, sensed as heat, which has lengths longer
than red visible light and shorter than microwaves.
- Unit of measurement of energy 1000 watts.
- A mineral made of a shiny, transparent, flat chemical crystals. It
is often used as an electrical insulator.
- A space or ducting
used to distribute the air evenly in the process of cooling, heating,
or humidifying.
- Can
be determined by dividing the total bearing load by the bearing projected
area (inner diameter * width).
- A measurement of heat equal
to 100,000 btu.
- Measures the difference in potential created at the
junction of two different metal wires which feed from the measuring
instrument.
( http://www.iqsdirectory.com/thermocouples/ )
- An automated device for controlling temperature.
-The meter-kilogram-second unit of power equal to the power produced
by a current of one ampere across a potential difference of one volt,
1/746 horsepower.