Maintaining Close Temperature Control of a Fluid Process Flow

Temperature control is a common operation in the industrial arena. Its application can range across solids, liquids, and gases. The dynamics of a particular operation will influence the selection of instruments and equipment to meet the project requirements. In addition to general performance requirements, safety should always be a consideration in the design of a temperature control system involving enough energy to damage the system or create a hazardous condition.

Let's narrow the application range to non-flammable flowing fluids that require elevated temperatures. In the interest of clarity, this illustration is presented without any complicating factors that may be encountered in actual practice. Much of what is presented here, however, will apply universally to other scenarios.

What are the considerations for specifying the right equipment?

Know your flow. 

First and foremost, you must have complete understanding of certain characteristics of the fluid.

• Specific Heat - The amount of heat input required to increase the temperature of a mass unit of the media by one degree.
• Minimum Inlet Temperature - The lowest media temperature entering the process and requiring heating to a setpoint. Use the worst (coldest) case anticipated.
• Mass Flow Rate - An element in the calculation for total heat requirement. If the flow rate will vary, use the maximum anticipated flow.
• Maximum Required Outlet Temperature - Used with minimum inlet temperature in the calculation of the maximum heat input required.

Select system components with performance to match the project.

• Heat Source - If temperature control with little deviation from a setpoint is your goal, electric heat will likely be your heating source of choice. It responds quickly to changes in a control signal and the output can be adjusted in very small increments to achieve a close balance between process heat requirement and actual heat input. 
• Sensor - Sensor selection is critical to attaining close temperature control. There are many factors to consider, well beyond the scope of this article, but the ability of the sensor to rapidly detect small changes in media temperature is a key element of a successful project. Attention should be given to the sensor containment, or sheath, the mass of the materials surrounding the sensor that are part of the assembly, along with the accuracy of the sensor.
  
  The location of the temperature sensor will be a key factor in control system performance. The sensing element should be placed where it will be exposed to the genuine process condition, avoiding effects of recently heated fluid that may have not completely mixed with the balance of the media. Locate too close to the heater and there may be anomalies caused by the heater. A sensor installed too distant from the heater may respond too slowly. Remember that the heating assembly, in whatever form it may take, is a source of disturbance to the process. It is important to detect the impact of the disturbance as early and accurately as possible.
• Controller - The controller should provide an output that is compatible with the heater power controller and have the capability to provide a continuously varying signal or one that can be very rapidly cycled. There are many other features that can be incorporated into the controller for alarms, display, and other useful functions. These have little bearing on the actual control of the process, but can provide useful information to the opeartor. 
• Power Controller - A great advantage of electric heaters is their compatibility with very rapid cycling or other adjustments to their input power. A power controller that varies the total power to the heater in very small increments will allow for fine tuning the heat input to the process.
• Performance Monitoring - Depending upon the critical nature of the heating activity to overall process performance, it may be useful to monitor not only the media temperature, but aspects of heater or controller performance that indicate the devices are working. Knowing something is not working sooner, rather than later, is generally beneficial. Controllers usually have some sort of sensor failure notification built in. Heater operation can be monitored my measurement of the circuit current. 

Safety Considerations

Any industrial heater assembly is capable of producing surface temperatures hot enough to cause trouble. Monitoring process and heater performance and operation, providing backup safety controls, is necessary to reduce the probability of damage or catastrophe.

• High Fluid Temperature - An independent sensor can monitor process fluid temperature, with instrumentation providing an alert and limit controllers taking action if unexpected limits are reached.
• Heater Temperature - Monitoring the heater sheath temperature can provide warning of a number of failure conditions, such as low fluid flow, no fluid present, or power controller failure. A proper response activity should be automatically executed when unsafe or unanticipated conditions occur.
• Media Present - There are a number of ways to directly or indirectly determine whether media is present. The media, whether gaseous or liquid, is necessary to maintain an operational connection between the heater assembly and the sensor. 
• Flow Present - Whether gaseous or liquid media, flow is necessary to keep most industrial heaters from burning out. Understand the limitations and operating requirements of the heating assembly employed and make sure those conditions are maintained. 
• Heater Immersion - Heaters intended for immersion in liquid may have watt density ratings that will produce excessive or damaging element temperatures if operated in air. Strategic location of a temperature sensor may be sufficient to detect whether a portion of the heater assembly is operating in air. An automatic protective response should be provided in the control scheme for this condition.

Each of the items mentioned above is due careful consideration for an industrial fluid heating application. Your particular process will present its own set of specific challenges with respect to performance and safety. Share your requirements with process heat experts, combining your process knowledge with their expertise to develop safe and effective solutions.

(Re) Introduction to BCE (Belilove Company-Engineers)

Heat Transfer 101 for Industrial and OEM Applications

Heat transfer
shown by
melting ice.

When you need to apply heat in industrial applications, or for OEM part heating, everyone works under the same Laws of Thermodynamics. Whether your using electric heating elements or heating by steam, its imperative to understand the basics of heat and heat transfer.

Heat transfer is the movement of heat from one body or substance to another by radiation, conduction, convection or a combination of these processes. When heating a pan of water over a gas flame for example, all three forms of heat transfer are taking place. Heat from the flame radiates in all directions. Conduction takes place with the transfer of heat from the burner to the metal pan. This heat transfer is also responsible for making the handle hot after a period of time. The water is heated by the process up convection which is a circular movement caused by heated water rising and cold water falling.

The process of heat transfer also occurs when an object cools. If a mug of hot coffee is left standing on a cold kitchen countertop its temperature will gradually decrease as heat is lost. The heat energy dissipates by conduction through the mug to the table top, by convection as the liquid rises cools, and sinks, and by the radiation of heat into the surrounding air.

One way to conserve the heat of a liquid and prevent heat transfer is to place it in a thermos. The use use of a vacuum chamber with silvered surfaces along with low conductive materials can greatly improve the amount of heat or cold that is lost to the surrounding environment.

In between the silver glass walls of a thermos lies a vacuum. In the case of a hot liquid, heat transfer by convection through the vacuum is greatly restricted due to the absence have air molecules necessary to facilitate the transfer of heat. The lack of physical contact between the inside and outside walls of the thermos due to this airless space also greatly inhibits the movement of heat by conduction.

Heat loss by radiation is prevented by the silvered walls reflecting radiant energy back into the thermos. Some conduction of heat through the stopper and glass can be expected, but this too is limited because they are made of materials with very low conductivity. Thus the temperatures of both hot and cold liquids can be maintained by a properly designed thermos that limits the transfer energy through radiation, convection, and conduction.

Heat capacity is the amount of heat required to change the temperature of an object or substance by one degree Celsius. The heat capacity of water varies depending on its phase. As solid ice, the heat capacity of water is .5 calories per gram for every one degree Celsius, which means it takes half a calorie to raise the temperature of one gram of ice one degree Celsius. As a liquid, waters heat capacity is one calorie per gram for every one degree Celsius. So it takes one calorie of heat energy to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius.

The processes a phase change between solid liquid and gas also require a specific amount of heat energy. The amount of energy required to change a liquid into a solid or a solid into a liquid is known as heat of fusion. The amount of heat required to change one gram of ice to water is 80 calories. Similarly, the heat of vaporization is the energy required to transform a liquid into a gas. It requires 540 calories to change one gram of liquid water into a gas. With these values its easy to calculate exactly how many calories of heat energy are required to transform one gram of ice, at absolute zero, to steam.

To warm 1 gram a ice from -273 degrees Celsius, to 0 degrees celsius, would be 273 times .5 gram per calorie, or about 140 calories. The phase change of one gram a ice to liquid water requires 80 calories. Then to heat the water from zero degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius with the heat capacity at one calorie per gram, would require 100 calories. The final phase change of one gram of boiling water to steam would require an additional 540 calories. Adding all of these values together yields 860 calories, the amount of heat energy it takes to transform one gram of ice, at absolute zero, to steam.

Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC)

Typical Modular PLC

Programmable logic controls, or PLC's, are used for plant automation and control. The PLC is a specialized, industrial computer which includes onboard random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM). As with any other computer, the PLC has a central processor unit (CPU) for data processing. A single PLC has the switching and logic capability to replace thousands of control relays. PLC's are ubiquitous and are used in many different applications in all industries including semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, chemical processing, food production, primary metals, and HVAC. Because of their wide industry use, they are manufactured in many shapes and sizes.

Flow, Pressure, Pneumatics, and Process Control Basics Tutorials Videos

If you're interested in the principles of pressure control, flow control, pneumatics, hydraulics and other process control subjects, the Columbia Gorge Community College offers a wonderful selection of videos. They are presented by a teacher named Jim Pytel who does a very nice job. We'll repost one on flow control valve basics here and suggest you recommend them to any new engineering student, tech, or service rep you know.