(42a) Electrically Heated Equipment Safety in Pilot Plants

Pilot Plants often use electrically heated equipment for heat tracing, process heating, and similar applications due to its convenience, flexibility, and relatively low cost. Unfortunately, electrically heated equipment creates significant safety issues including:

• Overheating a component raising the potential for a catastrophic component failure under pressure
• Overheating a seal and creating a significant leak
• Providing an ignition source to ignite a leak or release
• Increasing the potential for and probability of a release in standard piping and tubing fittings

This presentation will discuss these potential hazards , the conditions and situations where they are more likely to occur and suggest guidelines to avoid or reduce their likelihood.