Explosion-proof electric heating cables in industry

　　In the petrochemical industry, coal mine, pharmaceuticals and other industrial areas where explosive gas environment exists, explosion-proof electric heat tracing tape as special heat tracing equipment undertakes the important mission of anti-freezing and heat preservation of key pipelines and equipments in winter. This kind of special environment, professional explosion-proof electric heating tape through special design and strict certification, in order to ensure that the temperature control function at the same time, in full compliance with the safety requirements of the explosive environment, become an indispensable safety guarantee of the hazardous area.

　　The core value of explosion-proof electric heating tape lies in its intrinsic safety characteristics. Different from the conventional products, explosion-proof electric heating tape from the source of design to consider the safe use in the flammable and explosive environment. The heating element is made of special alloy material, which ensures that even in the faulty state, it will not produce high temperature that is enough to ignite the explosive mixture. The outer sheath is made of flame retardant and anti-static composite material, which effectively prevents the discharge phenomenon caused by the accumulation of static electricity. The internal structure has been optimised to ensure that after long-term bending use can still maintain stable electrical performance. These design features make the explosion-proof electric heating tape can contain hydrogen, methane, petroleum gas and other dangerous gases in the environment of safe operation, for the chemical production provides a reliable protection.

　　Explosion-proof certification system is the quality assurance of these products. ATEX (EU), IECEx (international) certification system is commonly used internationally, and domestically there are GB3836 series of standards. These standards according to the frequency and duration of explosive environment, the hazardous area is divided into 0 area, 1 area, 2 area and other different levels. High-quality explosion-proof electric accompanying tropical products will be clearly marked applicable explosion-proof level and temperature group, such as Exd Ⅱ BT4 that applies to Ⅱ class B class T4 group explosive gas environment.

　　Explosion-proof electric accompanied by tropical selection need to consider a variety of factors. First of all is the environmental characteristics, including dangerous gas type, area division, ambient temperature and other parameters. For hydrogen environment, must choose for IIC group of the highest explosion-proof grade products; In the presence of corrosive media chemical plant area, also need to take into account the corrosion resistance requirements. Next is the process requirements, maintenance temperature, heating power, response speed and other parameters affect the final choice. Professional selection programme can balance the safety and economy, to ensure long-term stable operation of the system.

　　Installation specification directly affects the safety of explosion-proof electric trace heating system. In the hazardous area construction, must strictly abide by GB50257 and other electrical device installation specification. Cable introduction device need to use explosion-proof gran head, ensure the sealing of the interface; junction box must choose the corresponding explosion-proof grade products, and correctly install the sealing ring; grounding system to ensure a reliable connection, grounding resistance is less than 4 Ω. Special attention should be paid to is that explosion-proof electric heat tracing tape bending radius is usually larger than ordinary products, when installing to avoid excessive bending lead to structural damage.

　　Maintenance and repair is the key link to ensure that the explosion-proof performance continues to be effective. Regularly check the integrity of the outer sheath, found broken immediately repair; measurement of insulation resistance, to ensure that not less than 20MΩ; check all the explosion-proof joint surface is intact, whether the sealing element is aging. Maintenance work must use explosion-proof tools to avoid mechanical sparks. When overhauling in environments that may contain explosive gases, it is also necessary to follow the management system for pyrotechnic operations. Perfect maintenance records are also an important part of the management of explosion-proof equipment, including the test data of each inspection, replacement of parts and other information, which is the basis for safety management and also provides evidence for accident investigation.

　　The introduction of intelligent monitoring technology improves the reliability of explosion-proof electric trace heating system. Modern explosion-proof systems can integrate temperature sensing, leakage monitoring, power detection and other functions, and transmit signals to the control room through the safety gate. Intelligent diagnostic systems are able to analyse operational data and detect hidden dangers such as insulation degradation and joint oxidation in advance. These technological advances make temperature control in hazardous areas safer and more reliable.

　　From the practical application point of view, the safety benefits brought by explosion-proof electric accompanying heat belt far exceed its cost investment. On the one hand, it avoids the production interruption caused by the freezing of pipeline, and more importantly, it eliminates the risk of explosion caused by electrical equipment, and this safety value cannot be measured by money. With the continuous improvement of industrial safety standards, explosion-proof electric heat tape is towards a higher level of safety, longer service life, more intelligent monitoring of the direction of development, for the hazardous area of the winter safety production to construct a solid barrier!