FEATURE ANNIVERSARY SUPPLEMENT
35th Anniversary TRACING TECHNOLOGY BACK TO ITS ROOTS
Raychem, the inventor of self-regulating heat- tracing, celebrated its 40th Anniversary, in 2014, and is continuing the celebrations this year with events, contests and awards. Koen Verleyen, product and marketing manager at Pentair, details the breakthroughs in the company’s history
F
ounder of Raychem, Paul Cook, graduated from MIT University with a
degree in chemical engineering in 1947, and ten years later founded the company Irradiated Products Inc, renaming it Raychem (i.e. Radiation Chemistry) in 1960. The key to the success of Raychem’s first products was radiation crosslinking. When certain polymers are exposed to radiation, they crosslink and acquire many desirable characteristics, including strength and toughness, abrasion resistance, cut-through resistance, solvent and chemical resistance, improved high-temperature performance and elastic memory. Cook proved the commercial value of treating and altering the chemical structure of polymeric
products.This accomplishment led to the creation of new materials and high-performance products such as irradiated polyethylene insulated wire and heat-shrinkable tubing. These products greatly improved the performance of electronics components, electrical insulation, and the world's industrial and telecommunications infrastructure. Rapid growth meant that by the early 1990s, the company had evolved into a global enterprise with over 8,500 employees in more than 45 countries, producing hundreds of products based on radiation chemistry. These products spanned multiple markets comprising electronics, industrial and
telecommunications. In parallel, a bright scientist called Robert Smith-Johansson discovered that the static electricity generated by the friction of a ski over snow caused nucleation. This nucleation generates particles which attract moisture, creating a thin ice layer on the ski and thus decreasing speed. Smith-Johansson experimented with graphite-based films and accidently discovered that the ski wax heated up when voltage was applied over the metallic ski edges. Triggered by this discovery and further experimental work, he managed to develop a kind of heating paper. As a result, Chemelex Inc was founded and began producing Cellotherm, a parallel-circuit heating
Pentair’s Reflecta product
While Raychem possessed the expertise
paper for residential
applications.
Cellotherm paper consisted of a conductive compound sandwiched between two sheets with a thin flat conductor (bus) along each outer edge. Later Chemelex introduced Electro- Wrap, the first generation parallel-circuit heating cable for industrial installations, such as pipeline heating systems and storage vessels.
ONGOING CELEBRATIONS REACH THEIR FINALE IN JUNE 2015
• Pentair’s Thermal Building Solutions launched the Pentair Open Innovation Awards as part of the continued celebration of the 40 year anniversary of its Raychem self-regulating technology. The global initiative invited customers, installers, engineers and distributors to submit their bright ideas to make Raychem products even easier to use. The winner will be rewarded with a cheque for $3,500 and is invited to present their innovation at a ceremony in London. They will also be able to attend the final Formula E race, taking place in the city at the end of this month. • The company also launched the Pole Position contest as part of the celebrations. Inspired by the first ever Formula E electric racing championship, the global initiative invited customers, installers, distributors, employees and the general public to participate in an online contest with a chance to win a number of exciting prizes. The celebrations, ongoing since last year, will reach their finale in London on 27th June, with the final Formula E race taking place at Battersea Park in London. The presentations will take place afterwards at the Pullman Hotel, London St Pancras.
S1 JUNE 2015 | PROCESS & CONTROL 2 Self-regulating cable
in irradiation crosslinking of polymers, Chemelex held the intelligence concerning parallel circuit heating technology. In 1969, Raychem acquired Chemelex, uniting the two technologies. The following years were a time of intense development, led by a team including chief engineer Chet Sandberg. The first patents for Raychem parallel self-regulating heaters were granted in 1971. And in 1974, the first industrial self-regulating heating cable, called Auto-Trace, was widely commercialised. This heating cable was quickly adopted by the market for trace heating of pipelines and storage vessels. Not only could the heating cable be overlapped without “burning out”, the cable was cut to length in the field, simplifying design and installation. As previous cables had to be factory fabricated and were of a fixed length, these advances were appreciated by industry. The development of parallel self- regulating heaters paved the way for many other revolutionary heat-tracing products. In 2008, Paul Cook celebrated the sale of the billionth foot of self- regulating cable sold. In 2014, Pentair Technical Solutions
celebrated 40 years of Raychem self- regulating heat-tracing technology. Since 2012, Raychem has been a leading brand of Pentair, and continues to develop innovative solutions, with quality and reliability in mind. Alongside trusted partners and customers, Pentair looks to the future with continued innovation and ground- breaking heat-tracing products and control systems.
Pentair Thermal Building Solutions
www.pentairthermal.com Enter 238
/ PROCESS&CONTROL
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