Uses of immersion heaters in the refineries

26-05-2022

We explain the different uses of immersion resistors in refineries

Refineries are a billion dollar industry. With the costs of the equipments and the raw materials already high, heating solutions for the operations should be cost efficient,  This brings in the choice of the immersion heaters for a variety of purposes.

Distilled Fuel Storage 

Distilled fuel cannot be stored at room temperature. To avoid contamination, the fuel must be stored under high, controlled temperature through immersion heaters. The flange immersion heater is usually an excellent choice for storing fuel.

Oil Transport Facilitation

In an oil refinery, the crude oil needs to be heated before it can undergo the process of fractional distillation. For the crude oil to flow to the furnace smoothly and rapidly, the oil needs to be made less viscous. This is done using immersion heaters. The immersion heaters heat up the oil to the optimum temperature, to make it move rapidly to the furnace. If this were not done, the time taken for the oil to move along units would cost a whole lot than necessary.

Oil Travelling Pipelines 

Across the globe, oil is transferred through the pipelines.. For ease the transportation, to maintain smooth and rapid flow from oil sands, the oil needs to be heated. Circulation immersion heaters can be used for heating the oil and transporting it through pipelines.

Glycol Dehydration Of The Natural Gas

Natural gas is an excellent fuel for a variety of reasons. For easy transportation and storage of the natural gas, it needs to undergo a range of procedures. One of these is the glycol dehydration process, where water is removed by evaporation from the natural gas, both in the liquid and gas form. The flange immersion heater is used to heat up the gas to the boiling point of the water to evaporate and separate it into required components.

De-ionized Water For Sterilization 

Many refineries require heated de-ionized water for sterilizing their equipments. The de-ionized water is extremely corrosive; therefore, not all heating methods are suitable. For such corrosive substances, the flanged immersion heaters, covered with different alloy sheaths, are used. This prevents the heater from erosion and heats up the desired liquid rapidly. Other corrosive substances that can be heated up using immersion heaters include processed water and detergent solutions.

Heating Chemicals 

There are number of chemicals that require heating to carry out various chemical engineering procedures.  Immersion heaters are excellent medium to heat chemicals like acetone, barium hydroxide, formaldehyde, magnesium chloride, sodium phosphate and methyl chloride. The ability to heat such chemicals makes immersion heaters an ideal heating solution for petroleum and pharmaceutical industries.

Heating Machine Lubrication Oils 

For refineries to operate smoothly, maintenance of heavy machineries is essential.

To carry out the lubrication process effectively, lubricant oils are needed. For machine lubrications and gearboxes, lube oil needs to be stored under specific temperature. Hence, the immersion heater is installed in the lube oil reservoir. The heated oil helps to maintain the lubrication application procedures for refineries.

Food Oil And Sugar Refinery

Both the refineries use immersion heaters for a variety of procedures including distillation and evaporation of the unrefined cooking oil and liquid sugar.

Degreasing Tanks

All the refineries put the immersion heaters over the top, for degreasing the tanks .These portable immersion heaters are excellent to maintain uniform temperature across the tank. The heaters can be easily installed and removed, as they are not required to be kept in the tank essentially, for the process to take place.

Refineries, with multiple chemical processes going on, require considerable finances and extreme precisions for successful delivery of the results. One of the essential elements of all these procedures is the heating capacity of the materials. Immersion heaters are excellent solutions for heating activities, as they are cost- efficient, easy to use and very effective. Various types of immersion heaters can be used for different purposes, according to the specific needs and requirements, from preventing erosion of the corrosive materials to making heavy oils less viscous.

Thus, immersion heaters are highly significant for use in the industries. They offer variant functions with maximum benefits.