SubscribeInditherm's portable drum heating systems are a revolutionary approach to heating the contents of drums, whilst at the same time allowing them to be transported around a user's plant.
Inditherm offers a wide variety of options for portable drum heaters for 2, 3 and 4 drum systems, some of which have been supplied certified to Zone 2 to a leading global pharmaceutical company. These are mounted on a suitable pallet for easy transport around a plant using a fork lift truck.
The following optional extras are available:
- Additional base heaters. These enable the contents of the drum to be heated much more quickly.
- Integral lance heaters. These can be mounted on the pallet and enable an extraction lance to be warmed prior to being inserted into the drum.
- ATEX Zone 2 Certification. This enables the system to be used in hazardous areas.
The drum heaters use Inditherm’s patented, low voltage carbon polymer technology (CPT) to provide the heating. Unlike other forms of heating, there are no hot spots.
The construction is a heated, insulated jacket that surrounds the drum circumference and has either a fixed or removable lid. The jacket is connected to a power socket and mounted on a special pallet that can provide secondary containment, if required. Pallets can support 2, 3 or 4 drum heaters. Typical systems are shown below:
Lance Heaters
Two drum system with base heaters and integral bayonet heaters
Three drum system (to ATEX Zone 2 Specification)
Inditherm also produces unheated jackets that are suitable for materials where insulation only is required to retain heat.
Benefits
Many materials become viscous at room temperature, notably sugars, surfactants and a variety of chemicals. These materials present users with a number of challenges:
- Without heating, the product cannot be discharged quickly enough from the drum into the manufacturing process, even at room temperature. Expensive, power intensive heating rooms are often considered to be the only solution.
- Portability of heated drums is often a problem, requiring separate heating systems for different locations.
- To keep production flowing, it is often necessary to replace the drum before it is completely empty, meaning product is wasted or returned to the supplier.
- Alternative drum heating systems can create hot spots that can burn the product. Un-insulated drums can cause a health and safety hazard when hot.
- Accurate temperature control using band heaters is difficult due to the small surface area being heated and the lack of insulation.
Using Inditherm removable, portable drum heater jacket solves these problems:
- Heating the drum significantly reduces the product viscosity, thereby improving flow and reducing decant time.
- The yield is significantly improved, with virtually no product being left behind inside the drum, thereby reducing costs.
- Inditherm’s pallet system enables users to warm drums in one part of a plant and then to move them to where they are needed to discharge product. Heating can be provided in both locations.
- Inditherm’s low voltage system uses only a small amount of energy and it is possible to heat a full drum from 20°C to 75°C for less than £1.00 (€1.50).
- The even temperature distribution eliminates hot spots and the temperature can be controlled to suit the users’ needs.
Heating Profile
A typical heating profile using water is shown below. As can be seen, it took only 15 hours to heat the contents from 20°C to 40°C in the ambient conditions shown.
Typical Heating Profile for a 205 Litre Drum Containing Water
To accelerate the heating process, the pallet can be fitted with integral base heaters located under each drum, as shown below. In this test, the drum reached 40°C in only 8 hours.
Typical Heating Profile with Additional Base Heater
Schematic
Schematic of Typical Two-drum Heating System with Optional Base Heaters
Inditherm’s portable drum heating systems offer significant benefits over other technologies, which is probably why they are now becoming an accepted standard with those companies which have gained positive experiences from using them.
For further information contact Marc Hayes at +44 1709 761000 or mhayes@indithermplc.com