Introduction to Industrial Electrical Heating

This application note provides an introduction to a series of papers on industrial electric process heating technologies, hereinafter referred to as electro-heat or electro-heating technologies.

It briefly describes the basic principles of each of the various electro-heating technologies and explores their common ground. The economic and process related advantages of electro-heat are discussed. In the majority of cases, electro-heat has a better environmental performance than an industrial heating system utilizing natural gas or other fossil fuels. This application note provides some insight into why this is the case.

Finally, this paper provides an overview of the most appropriate applications as well as a short overview of the specific areas of technological development for each of the electro-heat technologies.