TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION


It’s time to get familiar with electric process heaters


hydrocarbons requires high heat for a number of critical steps, and heaters based on fossil fuels have  with mounting pressure to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions and advance long-term decarbonization goals, engineers have been exploring the potential for electric process heat- ers. This would allow several heating steps to be completed using “clean” electricity from


renewable sources. In this article, Dennis Long, chief system designer at industrial electric heater manufacturer, Watlow,


explores the possibilities of electric process heaters. Replacing fossil fuel heaters with electric heaters would allow for  Buehler, Scope one emissions are the direct result of burning fuels like natural gas or fuel oil for process heating. Scope two emissions result from the need to import energy, while Scope three emissions are produced while using a product. For example, emissions from vehicles on the road. All three types must be reduced to hit decarbonization targets.


What’s holding back Scope one emission reduction? A survey conducted by Watlow for its customers and prospects has revealed that a full 90 per cent of oil and gas leaders are already actively engaged in decarbonization efforts. Hydrocarbon processors are no longer focused on if they should decarbonize, but how they will decarbonize.


So why aren’t electric process heaters more ubiquitous in the energy sector today? Surprisingly, familiarity might be the main reason. Until now, such heaters have played only very narrow roles in hydrocarbon processing and were usually smaller, operating at lower voltages. Although larger heaters are easily imaginable, engineers recognize that a number of questions arise when it comes to their control and  comes to running larger medium-voltage thermal systems. The good news for industry is that modern electric heaters can provide the same, or improved, performance that hydrocarbon engineers have come to expect from fossil fuel powered heaters and can therefore play a key role in decarbonization efforts.


Watlow


1+ (800) WATLOW2, 1+ (314) 878-4600 https://www.watlow.com/


ATC Semitec’s Successful Multi-Purpose IP67 Temperature Sensor


ATC Semitec’s AT-11 temperature sensor offers the best accuracy/cost/quality ratio available in the industry. Highly versatile, they are widely used by many industries worldwide, across a wide range of diverse applications including battery management systems within e-vehicles, HVAC, air conditioning, and digital thermostats. Using the popular Semitec 103AT-2 precision NTC thermistor, this TPE encapsulated thermistor sensor offers accurate temperature control (with an accuracy of +/-0.3°C at 25°C) and monitoring from -50°C to +110°C. The sensing tip at just 5mm x 6mm x 15mm long ensures a fast response to thermal change. Its accuracy has led to the Semitec 103AT-11 becoming virtually an industry standard sensor within the electronic digital thermostat sector. During the moulding process, the AT-11’s sensing tip is sealed to the single-insulated TPE leads to ensure IP67 integrity and therefore can be used where moisture ingress is often a problem to epoxy sealed sensors.


ATC Semitec Ltd 01606 871680


www.atcsemitec.co.uk


ADVERTORIALS


BPC Electronics Invests in Wire Bonder to Better Serve e-Mobility and Energy Storage Sectors


Inseto, a leading technical distributor of equipment and materials, has supplied and installed a Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) Asterion EV wedge bonder at Leicester-based BPC Electronics to support its expansion into sectors in which battery packs are used. BPC, a contract electronics manufacturer, is renowned for its electronic design and PCB assembly services and has the usual manufacturing equipment one would expect of a CEM; including pick and place machines, solder  company’s investment in the Asterion EV gives BPC additional assembly capabilities and, in particular,


the ability to manufacture battery packs for electric vehicles (EVs), other forms of e-mobility and the static storage of power (on the domestic and small industrial scale) from renewables such as wind and solar. The EV is part of a family of Asterion wire bonders (the largest of which has a bondable area of 760 x 1440mm), the members of which are all ideal for establishing the numerous electrical connections found in battery packs.


HEADING


Company name Telephone Number Website


Inseto (UK) Limited www.inseto.co.uk


SWaP-C – the new way to


consider hi-rel connectors By Robert Webber, product specialist, Powell Electronics


If you drill right down, industry demands can be stripped back to some bare requirements. Smaller size, lighter weight, higher perform- ance (which can mean higher power), lower cost. There is a nice industry acronym that covers this – SwaP-C (size, weight and Power – Cost) – and it applies perfectly to the selection of high reliability connectors.


Interconnect is an interesting subject because connectors are re- quired to play a dual function. They must ensure the transference of electrical signals and sometimes power from one part of the circuit - ing cables and boards. Sometimes they also play a structural role. Ensuring signal integrity and/or power continuity in high-reliability (hi- rel) applications such as defence or space, where extremes of shock,  careful consideration of the connectors used.


Let’s take, for example, the CubeSat. CubeSats are a class of mini- ature satellite based around a cubic form factor where each side measures 10 cm (roughly the size of a milk carton), and weigh no .more than 2 kg. CubeSats have been deployed from the International Space Station, or launched as secondary payloads. Currently, several thousand CubeSats have been launched.


Obviously size and weight are of paramount importance. But since the concept of the CubeSat was to get into space at low cost - with launch costs ranging from $60,000-100,000 and construction starting at just $50,000 – component cost needs to by minimized. If we look at the consumer electronics industry – for example cameras and  examples of miniature, lightweight connectors that are very cheap.


Powell Electronics https://www.powell.com


APRIL 2023 | ELECTRONICS TODAY 41


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