[westy1969]

I have an array of heater tubes made from Inconel. Within the heater tubes are a gas, which surprisingly I wish to heat up. The array of the tubes is such that I can currently use a gasoline burner to heat the tubes but this is quite crude and requires additional components to remove the burnt fuel.

I've subsequently looked at Induction heating which looks very promising with a small packaged coil arrangement that can easily produce the heat density I require within my packaging constraints. I've been tasked to also look into a bespoke gas powered radiant heat systems as an alternative. My problem here is I don't know where to start looking. Can anyone offer any advice on the types of systems available and possibly companies that can produce bespoke radiant heating systems.


I require about 85KW to be put into the gas but I've no idea where to start drawing comparisons between the induction and radiant heat system. I am assuming that a gas powered radiated heat version will not produce the W/mm offered by induction heating but as I say this is an assumption.

[heattreater]

Westy,
In the U.S. heat treating industry, most radiant tube systems are gas fired. The biggest name in combustion systems in our industry is Eclipse Combustion out of Rockford, IL. A good technical resource there is Mr. Jim Roberts. He knows his stuff and will be able help you with a solution. They might even have an "off the shelf" system that will work for you.

As far as electric (resistance) heating, a big player in our industry is Kanthal. I don't have contact information for them, but I'm sure you will have no trouble finding them on the web. I hope that helps. Post again if you need more help, and let us know how your project works out!

I'm not familiar with any induction sytems for heating up gases in a tube.

[westy1969]

Many thanks for your prompt response. I've approached both the companies mentioned and I'm currently weighing up some costs. At least I've got some more options now. Thank you.

[DrOrpheus]

You're wanting to heat the burner tubes from the outside to make what's inside hot? Can you brick around it and string heating elements around it? Might provide for even heating and may be simpler than using induction.

[westy1969]

Main issue is getting suitable heat input for the small area I have. My heat exchanger is 420mm in diameter with a 130mm hole in the middle. I've calculated that I need 85KW of heat into the gas in the tubes to optimise my efficiencies, I'm not sure electrical heating will give me the heat density I need. My approaches to gas burner companies seem to be drawing a blank at present, I've no feedback from them following initial discussions. Any other ideas I can be investigating in parallel?

Thanks to all feedback so far

[heattreater]

I think if your application is a "one-off", then the manufacturers aren't going to spend much time helping you. You will probably have to come up with something on your own.