Cutting costs and going green
May 29th 2009

It is 50 years since thermal fluid first became popular in general industrial process heating applications. Safety and economies of lifetime operation are proven, as Chris Horsley, MD of Babcock-Wanson, explains.

Thermal fluid provides a flexible closed loop, no-loss system, where there is no boiler blowdown loss, no condensate or trap loss, no water treatment cost and no effluent disposal cost. Further savings are made from reduced plant management time and maintenance costs, long plant and component life plus easily controllable and flexible heat use.

Low standing losses and compactness help save valuable production space. High system safety and ease of operation are achieved due to very low operating pressure and the high integrity of simplicity; low cost throughout.

Simple solutions

Many, and perhaps the majority, of industrial applications of Babcock Wanson systems are quite simple, such as cookers and continuous fryers, vessel and tank heating and other mid to high temperature processes that require consistent and accurate control.

Additional uses of heat such as drying are also frequently integrated into the thermal fluid systems. Thermal fluid is particularly popular where a new process line is being installed and a thermal fluid system can be fully integrated into the process controls. This ensures precise levels of temperature control leading to end product quality and high plant productivity at low cost.

Typical fluids

Fluids used are generally of mineral origin with good heat transfer qualities and long service life. Available in food grade for sensitive operations and various temperature ranges to cover operations from, typically, -50 to 360°C.

Going green

The most notable contribution to reduction in global warming, Babcock Wanson believes, is the substantial overall energy saving over conventional heating methods such as steam. In many cases, this is more than 30 to 50%, which means a substantial reduction in the products of combustion to the atmosphere and much lower fuel bills for the user. Depending on the size of plant, all fuels and heat sources may be used, liquid or gaseous, and waste energy as well.

Applications

There are many applications for Babcock Wanson thermal fluid heating systems – pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, storage tanks, process tanks, metal finishing, and food processing – and the company’s brochure The Practical Application of Thermal Fluid Heating provides a useful insight.

If you would like a copy of the brochure, please send an email to Babcock Wanson: info@babcock-wanson.co.uk 

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