Electric Immersion coil heat exchangers

Electric Immersion coil heat exchangers

Immersion coil heat exchangers are often used in a variety of applications where a fluid needs to either be heated, cooled, or maintained at a specified temperature by the end user. Immersion coils most common uses are in industrial applications for tanks that may be exposed to outside temperatures and weather, surface finishing applications where an acid is used to apply a coating to a product (this could be galvanizing, chrome plating, or nickel-plating applications), steel pickling applications, energy storage applications where a basic solution is used to harvest excess energy from a power grid, and many other applications that have heating or cooling needs.

An immersion coil is a heat transfer device that is directly immersed into a tank of solution that needs heating or cooling of a process fluid. The design of the immersion coil is beneficial over other style heat exchangers because it is immersed directly in the fluid without having to be pumped externally into a heat exchanger and then back to the process tank. This provides fast and efficient heat transfer and limits the need for additional piping, valves, and does not require additional space in the mechanical room. The most common style of immersion coil heat exchangers are fluoropolymer immersion coils, electric immersion coils, and metal “grid style” plate immersion coils. Each coil has benefits for different process applications.

1. Fluoropolymer immersion coils are typically used in a very corrosive application where metal type heat exchangers would not be the best fit. Since all metals corrode over time there is concern using metal type heat exchangers in a very corrosive application. Fluoropolymer immersion coils are best fit for these applications due to their resistance to corrosion (being of nonmetallic construction), they are electrically non-conductive- to prevent stray currents and short circuits, they have a “Non-stick” surface providing excellent fouling resistance and are chemical inert. This style immersion coil is very versatile and can provide heating and cooling of a process fluid to suit the customers’ needs.

2. Electric immersion coils are typically used where no hot water or steam source is available. Being just that, an electric immersion coil, they are best used in applications where there is little concern over stray currents and fouling. These coils are also beneficial for quick heat up times; however, a major downfall of this style coil is the inability to provide both heating and cooling to a process fluid.

3. Grid style plate immersion coil heat exchangers are used in a multitude of industries and applications. Their advantages are ease of maintenance compared to other types of immersion heaters. Coils are easily removed for maintenance. Smaller coils required to perform the same duty due to the higher efficiency of the coils. There is also a complete range of materials available for many different industry needs.

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