Factors Affecting Equipment Freeze Protection and Heat Loss

Heat loss during the storage and transmission of process media is usually unavoidable, which means a reduction in the temperature of the media in equipment and pipelines. Electric trace heating is an essential choice as it can precisely regulate temperature, ensure uniform heat, and provide excellent insulation. Its insulation principle is to compensate for heat loss during the storage and transmission of process media through electric heating transfer. The total amount of electric trace heating is calculated based on the heat loss, and the type of trace heating is then determined. What factors affect the heat loss for antifreeze and insulation of equipment?

Changes in Ambient Temperature

The ambient temperature has a significant effect on the loss of medium heat. The lower the ambient temperature, the greater the heat loss. To be on the safe side, we often estimate conservatively, resulting in larger calculated heat losses and selecting higher power electric trace heating products. Therefore, it's essential to accurately confirm the lowest ambient temperature. Additionally, wind speed also affects heat loss; the higher the wind speed, the greater the heat dissipation.

Maintaining Temperature

This is a crucial parameter for calculating heat loss and must be determined reasonably. Choosing a maintenance temperature that is too low cannot meet the process requirements and fails to achieve the purpose of trace heating. On the other hand, selecting a too high maintenance temperature can lead to energy waste and increased costs. Hence, users need to determine a reasonable maintenance temperature.

Insulation Material and Thickness

The thickness of insulation materials significantly affects the insulation effect. The better the insulation material, the less the heat loss, and the more electricity is saved. Just like when you turn on the heater in your house, keeping the doors and windows tightly closed prevents heat loss.

Equipment or Pipeline Size

As is well-known, the larger the diameter and size of the pipeline, the greater the heat loss. Therefore, we need to design different electric trace heating insulation schemes based on the different pipeline diameters.