Electric heat tracing can be used for overhead pipelines

　　Over the urban industrial park, criss-crossing overhead pipelines constitute a unique industrial landscape. These metal dragons hanging on the ground are facing more severe thermal insulation challenges than underground pipelines in the cold season. With its unique adaptability, electric heat tracing technology has become the temperature guardian of overhead pipeline in winter, which perfectly solves the special heat tracing problem brought by high altitude environment.

　　The demand for heat tracing of overhead pipelines has distinct characteristics. Unlike buried pipelines that rely on soil for thermal insulation, overhead pipelines are completely exposed to air and are more directly affected by environmental temperature. The cold wind in winter in the northern region will increase the heat loss of pipelines by more than 30%, and the temperature difference between day and night will cause the metal to expand when heated and contract when cooled, which will also bring additional tests to the heat tracing system. The overhead steam pipeline in a chemical industry park once suffered from the lack of traditional thermal insulation, which led to a 25% decrease in transportation efficiency in winter. After the transformation with electric heat tracing, this problem was completely solved. Overhead pipelines usually have large span and many supports, which require the heat tracing system to have special installation adaptability.

　　The ability of electric heat tracing technology to overcome the limitation of high altitude environment is amazing. The special high-altitude installation heat tracing belt adopts reinforced sheath and anti-UV material, which can resist strong sunlight radiation and wind and rain erosion. Its unique mechanical strength design enables the heat tracing belt to withstand the vibration caused by high-altitude wind load, and will not cause internal structural damage due to long-term swing. The application case of an elevated pipeline in a coastal petrochemical base shows that the specially designed electric heating system has been working for five years without failure in a strong wind of 10 levels, showing amazing environmental adaptability. This kind of reliability is particularly important for overhead pipelines crossing important facilities such as rivers and railways, and the inconvenient maintenance makes the system reliability the primary consideration.

　　The innovation of installation technology makes the application of electric heat tracing in overhead pipeline more handy. The particularity of aerial work has given birth to many innovative installation methods: prefabricating the heating pipe section in sections to complete most of the installation work on the ground, reducing the time of aerial work; The magnetic fixing device makes the installation of heat tracing belt faster; UAV-assisted inspection technology solves the maintenance problem of high altitude system. The statistics of a multinational energy company show that the installation efficiency of overhead pipeline heat tracing system is improved by 40% and the safety accident rate is reduced by 60% after adopting the new installation technology. These innovations not only improve the engineering quality, but also greatly reduce the risk of aerial work.

　　Energy-saving performance is the outstanding advantage of electric heat tracing in the application of overhead pipelines. The heat loss mode of overhead pipeline is different from that of the ground, and the traditional heat preservation method is often difficult to cope with multi-directional heat loss. The electric heat tracing system can dynamically adjust the output power according to the heat loss of different sections of the pipeline through accurate temperature sensing and zoning control. The measured data show that under the same insulation conditions, the overhead pipeline with intelligent electric heat tracing system can save more than 35% energy than steam heat tracing. This energy-saving feature is particularly obvious in long-distance transportation pipelines.

　　The guarantee of safety performance is a special requirement for overhead pipeline heat tracing. High altitude environment makes electrical safety more important, and lightning protection and electromagnetic interference prevention design are essential. Multi-layer insulation protection and reliable grounding system ensure safe operation in bad weather. The experience of a lightning-prone area shows that the failure rate of electric heat tracing system with special lightning protection design is 90% lower than that of ordinary system in thunderstorm season. At the same time, fire resistance is also an essential feature for high-altitude applications, and the application of flame retardant materials avoids the fire risk, which is particularly important for pipelines crossing densely populated areas.

　　The design of maintenance convenience embodies the wisdom of overhead pipeline heating system. Modular design allows sectional maintenance and replacement, avoiding the whole system shutdown due to local damage. The application of remote monitoring technology enables maintenance personnel to obtain the running status of the system on the ground, greatly reducing the frequency of high-altitude inspection. The intelligent heat tracing system of central heating pipeline in a city has realized more than 95% fault diagnosis and solution on the ground through the Internet of Things technology, which greatly improved the maintenance efficiency. This design thinking fully considers the particularity of aerial work and effectively controls the whole life cycle cost of the system.

　　With the three-dimensional development of cities, the application of electric heat tracing for overhead pipelines is facing new opportunities and challenges. The new material technology makes the tracing belt lighter and stronger, which is suitable for laying in complex space; New energy power supply mode provides solutions for pipelines in remote areas; Digital twinning technology realizes real-time simulation and prediction of system state. These innovations promote the continuous evolution of overhead pipeline heat tracing technology and provide reliable guarantee for the smooth flow of urban industry.