WHAT IS TRANSATHERM
TRANSATHERM has the unique property of being able to transfer heat very efficiently. It is a solid non-metallic putty-like material that has been developed for application over steam / tracing and electric strip heaters to eliminate the need for costly jacketed equipment. TRANSATHERM will cure from the soft pliable putty to rock-like hardness within 24 hours at room temperature. Curing can be accelerated by the careful application of heat. In curing, TRANSATHERM intimately bonds itself to both the tracing and the piping with great tenacity and passes the heat with the effectiveness of steel. TRANSATHERM is recommended for hot or cold service. The top temperature limitation seems to be 750 ºF, although it has been successfully used on a few applications above this temperature. In alternating hot and cold service TRANSATHERM stands up quite well with no signs of spalling, cracking, crumbling or other detrimental effects. TRANSATHERM has excellent physical properties. It can withstand both impact and thermal shocks. Its linear shrinkage is less than 1% and it has excellent adhesion to metals. Curing time varies with ambient conditions but a one half inch layer is usually sufficiently cured in 24 hours for the subsequent application of thermal insulation. The curing rate can be accelerated by the gradual application of heat through the tracers.
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By comparing a steam jacketed valve (a), a steam traced valve without the benefit of TRANSATHERM (b), a steam traced valve as in (b) but with the application of TRANSATHERM, the proven advantages of can be easily shown. These valves were filled with mineral oil, the steam at 145 psig was applied to the jacket and tracing. The rate of temperature rise in the center of the valves was measured. Figure 2 illustrates the relative performance of these three systems. It is obvious that the steam traced valve with TRANSATHERM very closely approaches the performance of the jacketed valve. Valves were chosen to point up the desirability of TRANSATHERM, not only from the point of performance, but to illustrate some of the savings that accrue. The jacketed valve cost 13 times more than the traced and TRANSATHERM d valve including all labor and materials for installation. The delivery of the jacketed valve was 3 weeks, the other valve was immediately delivered out of stock.
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EQUIPMENT LOSSES – by eliminating costly jacketed equipment and still retain the effectiveness of such equipment.
TIME – no waiting for special or not in stock castings.
MAINTENANCE – no costly equipment to repair, save time, money with simple repairs.
REPLACEMENT COSTS – tests indicate TRANSATHERM systems will outlast jacketed equipment in many cases.
PRODUCT – should equipment walls or tubing fail, construction separates products from heating or cooling medium.
STEAM – excellent heat transfer utilizes steam effectively, means less steam needed.
WORRY – TRANSATHERM is dependable, no hot or cold spots, get an even temperature throughout.
ELECTRIC HEATERS – heaters operate at lower temperatures resulting in lower power costs and longer life.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT – the TRANSATHERM tracer systems eliminates the cost of special jacketed equipment and allows experimentation at low cost.
SALVAGE VALUE – when equipment is worn out the TRANSATHERM system with tracing can be easily disassembled and used for the replacement part.
