Heating and maintaining temperatures in process piping is important to the operation of sulfur recovery units and other sulfur operations.
QMax
Key criteria in selecting heating systems include ease of installation, long- term performance, cost and maintenance. To ensure that high standards of each of these criteria are reached, the QMax Fluid Tracing System (FTS) combines predictable performance comparable to jacketed piping with the flexibility and low cost of standard steam tracing.
For most piping systems, FTS is an optimal heating solution. FTS offers excellent heating surface area around the process pipe as well as direct heating contact between the process and heating medium. While fully jacketed pipe is the sometimes more effective system for heating processes in a piping system, jacketed pipe comes with inherent liabilities such as high cost, long delivery times and maintenance headaches.
Carbon steel tracing, or contoured steam piping, has recently become an acceptable choice in sulfur operations because it reduces some operational concerns associated with jacketed pipe. However, many problems are inherent with the welded construction of this design. Such problems are as follows:
- High capital cost: It is often more expensive than jacketed pipe.
- Many leak points: As many as 10 per connection
- Long lead times
- Installation: It can be very problematic to install, often leading to system failure
QMax FTS is an innovative, highly conductive aluminum channel that fits under standard stainless tubing. Its aluminum body transforms the nature of the tubing from an inefficient convective heat transfer to a high efficiency conductive heat transfer, and its enhancements maximize heat transfer from the heating medium to the process. Some advantages of QMax FTS include:
- Fewer leaks
- Lower cost
- Easy installation
- Engineered system
Additionally, the enhanced QMax FTS Gen 2 maximizes the heat input of regular stainless-steel tracers and offers consistent results. With this technology, QMax can change the nature of an operation’s steam tracing from ineffective convective heat transfer to highly efficient conductive heat transfer. The heating surface area is then increased to as much as two inches, or 50mm, using highly conductive aluminum. A single tracer, with the addition of FTS, can achieve the same results as multiple tube tracers or even jacketed pipe. This saves time and money on capital projects and reduces long-term maintenance costs.
QMax FTS promises consistently effective results regarding aspects such as the following:
- Process temperature maintenance
- Minimum pipe wall temperature maintenance
- Light-duty process heat up
- Critical process freeze protection
QMax models the thermal characteristics of each application so the results of the QMax FTS system are consistent. The profile of QMax FTS is customized to each individual pipe size and individual tracer size to ensure the best results for each application.
All QMax products are made in the U.S. and customers can request a quotation or contact a representative for individual attention. QMax treats every application uniquely so it can offer the right solution for each client.
For more information, visit qmaxindustries.com or call (704) 643-7299.
