Overview
Electric Immersion Heaters are typically electric heating elements that are immersed in a tank of liquid. Immersion heaters are found in glycol reboiler, caustic bath, water heaters (calorifier), and even the oil fryer in your favorite fast food restaurant.
The electric heater would heat up the liquid though natural convection and conduction. Since the heat transfer is limited, it is imperative to pair the proper heat flux with the particular application to avoid fouling. The following is a few examples of immersion heating.
Application
In a gas dehydration plant, an immersion type electric heater is commonly employed in a glycol reboiler. The electric heater is utilized to raise the temperature of the mixture to the boiling point of the water where the water can be removed from the glycol. We commonly find them on TEG reboiler on offshore platforms since the electric heater is inherently safe since they do not have a flame as compared to a fired heater. EML manufacturing also offers out line of indirect electric heaters for use in glycol reboiler. The heating elements in this type of heater can be replaced without draining the reboiler.
Immersion heater is also found in Knock Out Drum and Flare Drum in oil and gas processing. These knock out drum heater is used to vaporize lighter hydrocarbon from these drum.
Another application of immersion heating is in the melting of salts to a liquid state. Typically the salt is heated in a tank by the electric immersion heater. The proper selection of materials of construction and heater controls is crucial in this type of application.
Capabilities
Electric heaters have been used in the immersion or circulation service for quite a while. Even though these are very elementary applications, many of these heaters suffer from short heater life due to corrosion (oxidation, erosion, pitting), fouling, and moisture issues. EML’s hermetic seals prevent this type of failure. All EML electric process heaters are built to the highest industrial standards. Let us help you design and select a heater that would provide satisfactory service.