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Electrical heat tracing: international harmonization-now and in the future

 

Electrical heat tracing: international harmonization-now and in the future

C. Sandberg

Tyco Thermal Controls

N.R. Rafferty – M. Kleinehanding – J.J. Hernandez

E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company, Inc 

 

Abstract:  In the past, electrical heat tracing has been thought of as a minor addition to plant utilities. Today, it is recognized as a critical subsystem to be monitored and controlled. A marriage between process, mechanical, and electrical engineers must take place to ensure that optimum economic results are produced. The Internet, expert systems, and falling costs of instrumentation will all contribute to more reliable control systems and improved monitoring systems. There is a harmonization between Europe and North America that should facilitate design and installation using common components. The future holds many opportunities to optimize the design.

CLICK HERE to order complete paper

 


Heat Tracing Installation

Industrial electroheating and electromagnetic processing

Pipe Heating

Heat Tracing

Outdoor Deicing & Snow Melting

Electrical Safety

“Snow at Argenteuil” | Claude Monet (1875)

Today our focus turns to outdoor electric deicing and snow melting wiring systems identified as suitable for the environment and installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.  They work silently to keep snow load from caving in roofs and icicles falling from gutters onto pedestrian pathways.

While the voltage and ampere requirement of the product itself is a known characteristic, the characteristic 0f the wiring pathway — voltage, ampere, grounding, short circuit, disconnect and control — is relatively more complicated and worthy of our attention.   Articles 426-427 of the National Electrical Code is the relevant part of the NEC

Free Access 2023 National Electrical Code

Insight into the ideas running through technical committee deliberations is provided by a review of Panel 17 transcripts:

2023 NEC Panel 17 Public Input Report (633 pages)

2023 NEC Panel 17 Public Comment Report (190 pages)

We hold Articles 427 in the middle of our priority ranking for the 2023 NEC.   We find that the more difficult issues for this technology is the determination of which trade specifies these systems — architectural, electrical, or mechanical; covered in previous posts.   Instead, most of our time will be spent getting IEEE consensus products in step with it, specifically ANSI/IEEE 515 and IEEE 844/CSA 293.

Comments on the Second Draft of the 2026 NEC will be received until April 18th.

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We collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facility Committee which meets online 4 times per month in European and American time zones.  Since a great deal of the technical basis for the NEC originates with the IEEE we will also collaborate with IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 18 whose members are charged by the IEEE Standards Association to coordinate NFPA and IEEE consensus products.

Issue: [19-151]

Category: Electrical, Energy

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jim Harvey, Kane Howard, Jose Meijer


LEARN MORE:

IEEE Standard for the Testing, Design, Installation, and Maintenance of Electrical Resistance Heat Tracing for Commercial Applications

844.2/CSA C293.2-2017 – IEEE/CSA Standard for Skin Effect Trace Heating of Pipelines, Vessels, Equipment, and Structures–Application Guide for Design, Installation, Testing, Commissioning, and Maintenance

 

How to Care for Horses in the Winter

 

“No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.”
— Winston Churchill

 

Utah


Gulliver’s Travels

…”The curiosity and impatience of my master were so great, that he spent many hours of his leisure to instruct me. He was convinced (as he afterwards told me) that I must be a Yahoo, but my teachableness, civility and cleanliness, astonished him; which were qualities altogether opposite to those animals…”


 

Rewind: Animals 100

Town Gas

Brought to You by Howard: Alice H. Parker’s historic patent of the gas heater warms the world

Different Trends in Worldwide Natural Gas Distribution Market Outlook: Ken Research

 

Historically, “Town Gas” referred to a manufactured gaseous fuel, primarily produced from coal, that was supplied to homes and businesses in towns and cities for heating and lighting purposes.   We use it as a general term for a manufactured gas distributed through educational settlements because of its cleaner and safer properties.   Among them:

  • Heating and Cooling – Most settlements use natural gas to power boilers and furnaces for heating buildings during cold months. It also fuels absorption chillers for air conditioning in warmer seasons.

  • Electricity Generation – Settlements with cogeneration (combined heat and power) plants use natural gas to produce electricity while capturing waste heat for heating, improving energy efficiency.

  • Cooking Facilities – Dining halls rely on natural gas for precise and reliable cooking, making meal preparation efficient.

  • Laboratories and Research – Science and engineering labs use natural gas for Bunsen burners, sterilization, and other experimental applications requiring controlled flames.

  • Hot Water Supply – Dormitories, gyms, and other campus facilities use natural gas water heaters to provide a continuous supply of hot water for showers, washing, and sanitation.

  • Transportation – Some universities operate shuttle buses and service vehicles on compressed natural gas (CNG), reducing emissions and fuel costs.

  • Emergency Backup Power – Natural gas generators provide backup power during outages, ensuring critical systems, like research labs and data centers, remain operational.

     

Emergency and Standby Power Systems


Safety and Sustainability Bibliography:

International Standards:

ISO 13686 – Specifies the quality of natural gas for use in various applications.

ISO 14001 – Provides environmental management standards for reducing the environmental impact of natural gas operations.

ISO 50001 – Energy management system standard for improving energy efficiency, including natural gas usage.

IEC 60079 – Covers explosive atmospheres, ensuring safety in handling natural gas in industrial settings.

OHSAS 18001 (now ISO 45001) – Occupational health and safety standards for workplaces dealing with natural gas.

IPCC Guidelines – International standards for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas operations.

U.S. Standards:

Natural Gas Transmission & Distribution

49 CFR Part 192 – Federal Pipeline Safety Regulations, governing natural gas pipeline transportation.

EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) – Requires natural gas facilities to report emissions data.

ANSI/GPTC Z380.1, Guide for Gas Transmission, Distribution, and Gathering Piping Systems

NFPA 54 (National Fuel Gas Code) – Covers safe installation and use of natural gas in buildings.

NFPA 58 – Safety regulations for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), including storage and handling.

ASME B31.8 – Pipeline safety code for natural gas transmission and distribution.

Clean Air Act (CAA) – Regulates air emissions from natural gas production and consumption.

California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) – Encourages sustainable fuel alternatives, including renewable natural gas (RNG).

State of Michigan Technical Standards for Gas Service

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Natural Gas Policies

Schools, Colleges, Universities, Hospitals (Educational Settlements)

University of Michigan Design Guidelines

 

Related:

Inglenook

Hot chocolate vs. hot cocoa

Michigan Central § 2024 Net Position: $5.600B

Why Does The Modern World Make No Sense?

“…Hot cocoa and hot chocolate are terms that we often used interchangeably. Technically, hot cocoa and hot chocolate are as different as milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate. Hot cocoa is made with cocoa powder, the way my mother made it when I was a kid. Hot chocolate is made from melting chocolate bars into cream…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plant science at your dinner table: Hot chocolate vs. hot cocoa

 

How to make the chemically perfect hot chocolate

Milk

Industrial electroheating and electromagnetic processing

The global standards for heat tracing systems are developed by IEC Technical Committee 27.  The scope of work for this committee is reproduced below:

Standardization in the field of industrial equipment and installations intended for electroheating, electromagnetic processing of materials and electroheat based treatment technologies Note: The scope of interest covers industrial installations with the use of the following equipment: – equipment for direct and indirect resistance heating; – equipment for electric resistance trace heating; – equipment for induction heating; – equipment using the effect of EM forces on materials; – equipment for arc heating, including submerged arc heating; – equipment for electroslag remelting; – equipment for plasma heating; – equipment for microwave heating; – equipment for dielectric heating; – equipment for electron beam heating; – equipment for laser heating; – equipment for infrared radiation heating. The list presents typical examples of equipment and its applications and is not exhaustive.

CLICK HERE for the link to the TC 27 Strategic Business Plan

Titles in this committee’s bibliography appears to be stable.   As with all IEC titles, they are relatively narrow in scope compared with the titles promulgated by most US standards developing organizations.  Our interest lies primarily in the application of this technology within and around education community buildings.

While heat tracing generally goes un-noticed it is an essential part of cold weather safety.  It is wise to keep pace with its evolution with innovation in materials and controls with the lead.

We maintain this committee’s work on the standing agenda of our seasonal Snow & Ice colloquia; along with US standards developed by UL, IEEE, NEMA, NFPA, ICC, ASHRAE and a few others.  We also collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee on this topic.  See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.

 

Issue [18-332]

Category: Electrical

Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Lorne Clark, Jim Harvey

 

Nourriture Hiver

Western Colorado University Center for Cold Climate Food Security

Today we break down the catalog for food safety in education communities; with primary attention to consultations from private standard developing organizations and federal agencies charged with food safety.  We do so with sensitivity to animals and plants and sustainability of the global food supply chain.   Many schools are the communal cafeterias for the communities that own and operate them and run at commercial scale.

We prepare responses to public consultations released by standards developing organizations which, in many cases, have significant conformance enterprises.

ANSI Standards Action | Current Weekly Edition

Note the call for public comment on proposed WTO Agriculture, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures (Page 48)

Core titles are published by the ANSI accredited organizations listed below:

3-A Sanitary Standards

Catalog

ASHRAE International

The ASHRAE catalog is the most cross-cutting and fastest moving catalog in the land.   If you claim ownership of the United States energy domain you pretty much capture everything related campus safety and sustainability.  Best to deal with it on a day-by-day basis as we usually do according to daily topics shown on our CALENDAR.

Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

National Electrical Safety Code   (Our particular interest lies in the safety and reliability of off-campus agricultural and research facilities that receive power from regulated utilities)

Kitchen Safety and Security System for Children

TupperwareEarth: Bringing Intelligent User Assistance to the “Internet of Kitchen Things”

Designing an IoT based Kitchen Monitoring and Automation System for Gas and Fire Detection

Re-Inventing the Food Supply Chain with IoT: A Data-Driven Solution to Reduce Food Loss

International Code Council

Commercial Kitchens

International Building Code Assembly Group A-2

International Building Code Group U Section 312 Agricultural Buildings

International Building Code Moderate Hazard Factory Industrial Group F-1 (Food Processing)

Who Gets Rich From School Lunch

National Fire Protection Association

Kitchen Wiring

National Electrical Code Article 210 (Branch Circuits)

National Electrical Code Article 547 (Agricultural Buildings)

Standard for the Installation of Air-Conditioning and Ventilating Systems

Public Input Report for the 2024 Revision

Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations

Public Input Report for the 2024 Revision

NSF International

Food Equipment

Commercial Warewashing Equipment

Commercial Refrigerators and Freezers

Commercial Cooking, Rethermalization and Powered Hot Food Holding and Transport Equipment

Commercial Powered Food Preparation Equipment

US Federal Government:

US Department of Agriculture

Food & Drug Administration (HACCP)

State Governments:

Lorem ipsum @StandardsState

Global:

International Organization for Standardization

International Electrotechnical Commission

Codex Alimentarius

Food safety and sustainability standards populate are of the largest domains we track so if we need a break0-out session, let’s do it.  Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.

University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment

Agenda / Farm & Table


More

Standards supporting vertical farming

STANDARDS SUPPORT SOPHISTICATED FARMING METHODS THAT BRING PRODUCE TO YOUR TABLE

US Food & Drug Administration: Food Facility Registration Statistics (as  of January 11, 2021)

National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry

The U.S. Land-Grant University System: An Overview

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Standards Development

The origin of the Land grant act of 1862 

International Electrotechnical Commission: Keeping food safe from farm to plate

 Codex Alimentarius

Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education: Dining Services Programs

Science and Our Food Supply: A Teacher’s Guide for High School Classrooms

Food Code 2017

Textiles

List of Technical Committees

“The Dressmaking Factory” 1881 Charles Ginnar

“Dwell on the beauty of life.

Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

The consumer discretionary sector is among the largest economic sectors in every nation.   Consumer Discretionary is the term given to goods and services that are considered non-essential by consumers, but desirable if their available income is sufficient to purchase them.  Consumer discretionary goods include durable goods, apparel, entertainment and leisure, and automobiles.  The International Organization for Standardization administers leading practice discovery and promulgation of the standards in a core component of durable goods industry — textiles – through its Technical Committee 38.

We find continued student interest in these technologies so attention to the elevated hazards in research, instructional and display spaces require attention.   We recognize that not every student is interested in cleaning neural network data sets or learning Tensor Flow but wants to devote their energy to making the world a better place by making the world a more beautiful place.

From the ISO/TC 38 prospectus:

STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN ISO/TC 38 Textiles

“…Textiles are one of the most important and versatile commodities in the global economy. The textile industries involve provision of raw materials, preparation of fiber production, manufacture of yarns and fibres, manufacture of fabric formation, finishing processing including bleaching, dyeing, printing, coating, special chemical treatments, transformation of the fabric into clothing, upholstery, or industrial/technical textiles, and rope and netting formation. Therefore, the textile industry concerns a variety of entities such as suppliers of raw materials, processors, manufacturers, traders,  distributors, retailers, associated industries such as the laundry industry, government and educational establishments as well as consumers….

…One new field of innovation in the textiles is emerging as the smart textiles which cover either smart textile materials or smart textile systems, including some of them combining technologies with electronic textiles and wearable devices. The uses expected of the smart textiles extend over medical device, general product safety, textile labelling, etc. Our technical committee liaises for cooperation with other technical fields and be responsible for standardization of the textile field of smart textiles….”

Japanese Industrial Standards Committee is the Global Secretariat.   ASTM International is ANSI’s US Technical Advisory Group Administrator

Educators and students in the United States interested in participating in the development of this product should communicate directly with Jen Rodgers at ASTM International, Jen Rodgers ([email protected]).  We maintain all ISO consensus products on the standing agenda of our monthly International Standards teleconference; open to everyone.   See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.

Standard Specification for 100 % Cotton Denim Fabrics

Wool Throw Project

Sheep and Wool

How to Grow Wool in Your Backyard

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