Electrical heat tracing on the sugar silo
Prevents condensation and keeps the sugar free-flowing
The quality of the stored sugar can be significantly affected by condensation. To prevent condensation from forming and to ensure the sugar remains free-flowing, it is essential to heat the silo jacket to maintain a constant temperature.
Turnkey silo wall heating: from consultation to commissioning
To maintain the sugar at a constant storage temperature of approximately 20 °C, the electric silo jacket heating system – including the switchgear and installation on the sugar silo – is used.
The silo wall heating system is a supplementary heating system for the silo jacket. Its primary purpose is to prevent the silo body from cooling down due to weather conditions, such as cold outside air or one-sided wind conditions. By heating the silo’s outer shell (the area between the actual silo shell and the external insulation), the formation of thermal bridges between the stored product and the outer shell is prevented.
The electrical silo wall heating system consists of resistance cables arranged in several loops on the outer shell of the silo and covered over the entire surface with a special self-adhesive film. The heating cables are laid around the silo body in independently switched heating loops. In addition to the installed heating circuits, the entire silo shell is heated in separate sectors. The multiple routing of the heating loops within each circuit is designed to ensure that, should a single heating loop fail, the two adjacent heating cables can compensate for this malfunction. This ensures that even if a heating loop in the silo body fails, that sector can still be adequately heated (redundancy). The sectoral separation also generally allows (where required) for individual areas of the silo body to be heated. This can be helpful, for example, in the event of strong one-sided winds that cause the silo body to cool down only partially.
The heating circuits, which run alongside the cable trays at the bottom of the silo body and are routed centrally to the control room, are controlled via a control cabinet from which the individual heating circuits can be activated or deactivated.
Temperature sensors are installed in specific areas to monitor the temperature of the silo body. In the event of overheating, these sensors shut down the entire system either completely or partially.
However, eltherm not only supplies the electric trace heating required to maintain a constant temperature in the sugar silo and prevent condensation, but also provides the technical design, engineering and subsequent installation and commissioning of the entire system. In this way, the heat requirement is calculated precisely in advance and the heating system is designed accordingly. A specialised control system ensures that temperatures can be maintained with precision. Furthermore, precise control minimises energy consumption, ensuring that the trace heating operates particularly efficiently.
Key facts
- Precise calculation of heat demand and corresponding system design
- A redundant system compensates for malfunctions in individual heating circuits
- Precise control reduces energy consumption
- Everything from a single source: from technical design through to commissioning and maintenance
FAQ
If the dried and separated sugar crystals become damp at a later stage, they may clump together. Simply absorbing moisture from the air is enough to cause this. The clumped sugar crystals complicate the rest of the production process, which is why condensation – and consequently increased humidity – on and inside the silo must be avoided.
The silo jacket heating system prevents the silo jacket from cooling down due to cold outside air or one-sided wind conditions. This prevents condensation and ensures that the stored sugar does not absorb moisture. As a result, the quality is maintained and the sugar does not clump together.
As sugar tends to clump and thus loses its quality almost immediately, it must be protected from moisture. If the sugar no longer flows freely, this causes significant disruption to the processes. To prevent condensation on the sugar silo, it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature. This is where an electric trace heating system comes into play, which guarantees consistent temperatures thanks to precise control technology.
