Explosion-proof heaters

Outdoor instrument protection specialist Intertec has requalified a broad range of its explosion-proof heaters and controllers, and at the same time has formally validated their suitability for use in extremely cold environments. This development is likely to be of particular interest to designers of instrumentation systems requiring safety certification for hazardous areas, such as onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration/recovery projects in the Arctic polar region (up to -60 degrees Celsius).

All Intertec ATEX and IECEx heaters and controllers are now certified as complying with the latest editions of the relevant parts of the IEC/EN 60079 safety standard for electrical equipment in explosive atmospheres. The materials, construction and performance of these products have been thoroughly tested by an independent third-party certification agency and verified against the most up-to-date criteria that is available.
 
Intertec’s range of explosion-proof heaters includes a wide variety of ATEX and IECEx compliant models, with individual power ratings from 25 to 600 watts and a choice of temperature classes. There are different models to cover the principal application areas of freeze protection, condensation protection and temperature maintenance, with a choice of convection or conduction heaters in each category. Special profile heaters are available for bringing liquid or gas samples in pipes or cylinders up to operational temperature, together with a heat tracing cable and controller to protect exposed measuring lines against freezing.

There is also a series of explosion-proof smart heaters for temperature maintenance that use a patented redundant control method of limiting their surface temperature to ensure safety, which are supplied complete with a precision digital controller. The digital controller is an all-solid-state design with no mechanical switching contacts; it features fully encapsulated electronics and an intrinsically safe external sensor for directly monitoring the temperature of equipment such as gas analyzers.