What is an Atmospheric-pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI) Heater?
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| Diagram of APCI highlighting heating element. |
For more information
on APCI heaters call BCE
at (510) 274-1990 or visit
Belilove.com/apci-heater
on APCI heaters call BCE
at (510) 274-1990 or visit
Belilove.com/apci-heater
Mass spectrometers work by removing target components as ions in a gas phase, and then detect them as ions under high vacuum. In the development of liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry (LC-MS) a significant problem arises from the vaporization from liquid mobile phase when large amounts of gas can be introduced into the mass spectrometer (MS), and thus decreasing the level of vacuum and impinging the ability of ions to reach the detector.
Dealing with the mobile phase and preventing the introduction of the smallest amounts of gas is critical in LC-MS.
Atmospheric-pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI)
One solution is to use Atmospheric-pressure Chemical Ionization, a specific type of chemical ionization. Atmospheric-pressure Chemical Ionization vaporizes solvent and sample molecules by spraying the sample solution into a heater (approx. 400 °C) using a carrier gas, such as Nitrogen. The solvent molecules become ionized via corona discharge and generate stable reaction ions in the mass spectrometer.
An APCI heater is a specialty electric heating element that has a resistance temperature detector (RTD) built-in for accurate temperature control, a .016” ID capillary tube in the center of the heater axis and a maximum operating temperature is up to 400°C. This assembly also comes complete with the connector plug.
For more information on APCI heaters contact BCE at (510) 274-1990 or visit http://www.belilove.com/apci-heater.
Hotwatt Electric Heating Elements for OEM, Laboratory, and Industrial Applications
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| Hotwatt Electric Heating Elements |
Contact BCE for more information at (510) 274-1990 or visit http://www.belilove.com.
Capillary Source Heater Assembly
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| APCI heater from BCE (Belilove Company-Engineers) |
The APCI heater has a Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) built into it. The heater assembly has a .016” ID capillary tube in the center of the heater axis. The maximum operating temperature is up to 400°C. This assembly comes complete with the connector plug.
The APCI sample is typically dissolved in a solvent and pumped through a heated capillary. Nitrogen gas is introduced the gaseous solvent is heated up to 400°C the sample is then ionized by corona discharge.
For more information on capillary source heaters, or any custom electric heating element, contact:
Belilove Company-Engineers Gains ITAR Registration. So What's ITAR?
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| BCE (Belilove Company-Engineers) is ITAR registered. |
Understanding and complying with The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is necessary for companies in the supply chain to operate efficiently and expand business opportunities world-wide.
The U.S. Government requires all companies who manufacture, export, or broker defense related articles, defense related services, or technical data to be ITAR compliant. In as much, compliance with the continuously evolving export regulations is essential for any company that does business with manufacturers or contractors who compete in the global marketplace.
ITAR is designed to help ensure that defense related technology does not end up in enemy hands. ITAR relates directly to defense-related applications. Items specifically designed or otherwise intended for military end-use are listed on the United States Munitions List (USML) and are therefore controlled by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The program is administered by the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) at the State Department.
Products, services, and information all fall under ITAR regulations, with the most notable items being “Significant Military Equipment (SME)”. These are the most controlled. Examples are tanks, ships, helicopters, and explosives. However, there are many other "not so obvious" items listed on the USML, or used in the supply chain, and providers of these articles must follow ITAR as well.
To be ITAR COMPLIANT, a company needs to register with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and fully understand what is required for compliance. The company must understand and abide by the ITAR as it applies to any of their United States Munitions List related goods or services, and the company certifies that they comply with ITAR when they providing materials or services to a USML prime exporter.
For more information, visit The International Traffic in Arms Regulations website.
Electric Heaters 101: Get the Heat Out of the Heater
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| Internal view of swaged cartridge heater. |
At the heart of most resistance type electric heaters is a nichrome alloy wire, or ribbon, referred to as the heating "element". It acts as a resistor to the electrical current and gives off heat. With sheathed heaters, the heating element is then wrapped in some sort of electric insulating material such as mica or magnesium oxide (MgO), and then encased in a metallic sheath. Unfortunately, both the electric insulator and the metallic sheath act as heat insulators to some degree, which cause the nichrome wire to get very hot. Nichrome wire has a melting point of 1400 deg. C (about 2500 degrees F). While this sounds high, the wires and ribbons can easily exceed these temperatures in normal operation when not allowed to adequately conduct heat.
Very often electric heater failure can be directly attributed to poor conductivity between the heating element and the process medium. Whether it be a cartridge, strip, band, duct or immersion heater the principle is the same - lower resistance wire temperatures equal longer heater life.
When applying cartridge heaters, special care has to be taken to the bore tolerance of the hole where the heater is inserted. The tighter the bore tolerance, the more efficiently the high internal wire temperatures are conducted away. Tolerances of several thousandths of an inch can change the life expectancy of a cartridge heater significantly.
Strip and band heaters require tight, full surface area clamping to maximize life and performance, while duct heaters and immersion heaters require circulation to transfer heat away from the element, and keeping resistance wire temperature within reasonable operating limits.
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| Internal view of band & strip heater. |
Any situation where the heater is exposed to a stagnant air gap (or stagnant fluids) will most likely result in over temperature of the wire and failure at that point. With this in mind, anyone applying traditional resistance type, electric heating elements must be very aware of maintaining very intimate contact between the heating element and the item or process being heated.
Whenever applying electric heating elements, the consultation of an applications expert is always recommended. They will be able to consider many other operational factors such as wire watt density, conduction properties, control scheme and overall thermal system dynamics.
Process Heaters, Furnaces and Fired Heaters: Improving Efficiency and Reducing NOx
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| Process Heater (courtesy of AMETEK Process Instruments) |
Process heaters are used throughout the hydrocarbon and chemical processing industries in places such as refineries, gas plants, petrochemicals, chemicals and synthetics, olefins, ammonia and fertilizer plants. Some plants may have only two or three heaters while larger plants can have more than fifty.
Most of the unit operations in these plants require red heaters and furnaces. These operations include:
Most of the unit operations in these plants require red heaters and furnaces. These operations include:
- Distillation
- Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC)
- Alkylation
- Catalytic Reforming
- Continuous Catalyst Regeneration (CCR)
- Thermal Cracking
- Coking
- Hydrocracking
- Start-Up Heater — Starts-up a process unit where it is required to heat up a fluidized bed of catalyst before adding the charge.
- Fired Reboiler — Provides heat input to a distillation column by heating the column bottoms and vaporizing a portion of it. Used where heat requirement is greater than can be obtained from steam.
- Cracking Furnace — Converts larger molecules into smaller molecules, usually with a catalyst (pyrolysis furnace).
- Process Heater — Brings feed to the required temperature for the next reaction stage.
- Process Heater Vaporizer — Used to heat and partially vaporize a charge prior to distillation.
- Crude Oil Heater — Heats crude oil prior to distillation.
- Reformer Furnace — Chemical conversion by adding steam and feed with catalyst.
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