Trace Heating
Cunning Thermal Limited use electrical heating tape for frost protection and temperature maintenance of instrument lines and pipework in safe or hazardous locations.
What is Trace Heating?
Trace heating is installed on pipes and vessels to compensate for the rate of heat loss through the containment wall and its thermal insulation.
A typical trace heating system comprises of a thermostat, heating element, fixings, terminations and presence (warning) labels.
The heating element looks a bit like mains cable; it’s long and thin with plastic out sheathing and is supplied as a reel or coil.
The self-regulating heating element in trace heating has two wire conductors separated within an encapsulation of semi-conductive polymer. In its raw form, this looks like a long thick strip of liquorice. The polymer is insulated and copper braid is woven around the outside of it. An outer jacket is applied for protection.
When self-regulating heater is powered, a small amount of current is allowed to pass through the semi-conductive polymer. This has a heating effect. As the polymer warms, the microscopic current paths between the conductors are impeded and less heat is produced. Polymer manufacture is varied to produce a range of trace heating for differing heating requirements.
Features
The tape we use is a light industrial/commercial grade self-regulating heating tape that can be used for freeze protection or temperature maintenance of pipework and vessels in the construction and refrigeration industries.
It can be cut-to-length at site and exact piping lengths can be matched without any complicated design considerations.
The tape is approved for use in non-hazardous, hazardous and corrosive environments to world wide standards.
Its self-regulating characteristics improve safety and reliability. It will not overheat or burnout, even when overlapped upon itself. Its power output is self-regulated in response to the pipe temperature.
Trace Heating Information
The heating tape Cunning Thermal use has the following benefits:
- Automatically adjusts heat output in response to increasing or decreasing pipe temperature.
- Will not overheat or burnout, even when overlapped.
- Approved for use in non-hazardous, hazardous and corrosive environments.
- Available for 110-120VAC and 220-277 VAC