Trace heating on pipelines

Control and monitoring of electric trace heating

Electric trace heating ensures frost protection or maintaining the temperature of the medium to be transported. However, pipe trace heating systems are permanently exposed to harsh ambient conditions and therefore age accordingly.

Increase your system availability with our scalable monitoring solution by detecting failures at an early stage and thus avoiding system downtimes. In addition, with our hardware and software solutions, you can realize centralized control of the temperature setting of your trace heating systems. Our experts will be happy to advise you.

Status information on a tablet in a processing plant with pipe trace heating

Monitoring trace heating systems Improved system availability

Older trace heating systems are often connected to the mains only via a fuse, so failures often go unnoticed. In the event of a failure, the entire operation usually comes to a standstill. For this reason, the individual trace heating systems are examined regularly during a special inspection round. Our customized and scalable monitoring solution for aging systems provides a remedy. Receive up-to-date status information of your trace heating systems directly in the distributed control system so that you can take countermeasures at an early stage.

Simple assurance via current measurement Modularly extendable monitoring solution

Our current transducers detect the current of the heating system. This method ensures that an open circuit, short circuit, or insulation fault in the trace heating system can be identified. Monitoring the current guarantees that the medium to be transported is transported safely.

These devices are combined with our Radioline wireless system to transmit the measuring signals to the control room without the need for complex cabling. The Radioline client polls up to 99 Radioline stations. You can connect several trace heaters to each station. This allows you to easily monitor any number of trace heating systems.

Interactive image map: Topological structure of a pipe trace heating monitoring system
Wireless I/O communication
Radioline is the wireless system for large systems. It ensures that suspicious measured values are immediately displayed in the operator control room so that countermeasures can be made at an early stage.
More about the Radioline wireless system
Wireless I/O communication
Flexible signal conditioning
PACT current transformers offer a complete product family for converting high alternating currents into 1 A and 5 A secondary currents.
More about current transformers
Flexible signal conditioning
Signal conditioners with functional safety and explosion protection
MACX Analog signal conditioners offer you explosion protection for all zones and substance groups alongside functional safety in accordance with SIL IEC/EN 61508.
More about signal conditioners
Signal conditioners with functional safety and explosion protection
Hydrogen pipelines in a processing plant

Control of trace heating More control over your trace heating

Control your trace heating as needed via the local PLC. Configuration is via an existing HMI or a laptop that you connect via WLAN. Alternatively, you can simply integrate the trace heating into your control system. Integration is via an interface that is compliant with Modular Type Package (MTP). With SIL 2-compliant configuration via PROFIsafe, you define the shutdown parameters of your trace heating.

Pipe trace heating in a winter landscape

Reduced energy consumption Use energy more sparingly

Often, the trace heating systems are simply turned on at the beginning of the cold season, especially in older processing plants. This happens regardless of whether this is even necessary. By taking the respective outside temperatures into consideration, you quickly save the costs for many kilowatt-hours and, in larger systems, even megawatt-hours of electricity.

Use only as much energy as needed with our intelligent controller. A temperature sensor ensures that the heating is only turned on when required via a configurable limit switch. Using a small-scale controller enables targeted and precise power control. In this scenario, the heat output is adjusted by means of pulse width modulation.

Control cabinet for electric trace heating

Ready-to-use control cabinet solution Intelligent automation solution

Benefit from quick and easy installation with our pre-assembled, ready-to-use control box.

Whether for monitoring or controlling your trace heating, we offer you the right control cabinet solution for your individual requirements. Our SIL 2-capable connector solutions ensure that the temperature sensor always monitors the correct heating strip.

clipx ENGINEER engineering software

Engineering software​ for control cabinet building Simplified planning of your trace heating system

The clipx ENGINEER engineering software enables the efficient planning of terminal strips, the placement of industrial electronics, and the design of mounting plates.

Transfer the existing solution for trace heating systems as a template into our clipx ENGINEER tool. With just a few clicks, you can adapt our solutions perfectly to your needs. You can then order the solution with individual items or pre-assembled using our tool in the Phoenix Contact online store.

Trace heating in a processing plant

Your advantages

  • Increased system availability with continuous and SIL 2-compliant monitoring of the heating strips
  • Optimization of your energy consumption with targeted and precise power control
  • Low installation costs with pre-assembled, ready-to-use control box
  • Easy integration of existing trace heating systems into your control room
Wireless-based trace heating monitoring

Wireless-based trace heating monitoring at Sappi Stockstadt GmbH

  • Sappi Limited is a leading global supplier of paper, paper pulp, and chemical pulp solutions.
  • Find out more about how suspicious measured values are immediately displayed in the operator control room so that countermeasures can be made at an early stage.

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