Industrial heating elements convert electrical energy into heat energy and then transfer that heat energy to air, liquid or solids through convection, radiation or conduction. Industrial processes use heating elements in countless process heating applications. As a result, there are a wide range of industrial electric heaters in order to suit all the different applications.
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Examples of industrial heating elements are drawn from packaging, plastic fabricating, foam fabricating, metal fabricating and food processing industries, all of which use cartridge heaters that are inserted through a hole into the metal or material of equipment parts to ensure 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. Although industrial heating elements come in a variety of materials and configurations, the main purpose remains the same: using electrical energy to provide heat energy to other substances.
Industrial heating elements 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. In high 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. A disadvantage of industrial heating elements is that most manufacturers using heating elements for processing have made replacing heating elements part of regular equipment maintenance. However, manufacturers of industrial heaters fabricate standard replacement heating elements for easy equipment maintenance. Often sold as standard items, industrial heating elements can also be custom manufactured.
