Why Thermal Heating Fluid Burns Up In Your Thermal Fluid Heater?

The reason that your thermal heating fluid is burning up in your thermal fluid heater might be more obvious than you’d think. And it's likely no fault of yours. Here's what's probably happening inside your industrial thermal fluid heater (hot oil) heater:

Within a thermal fluid heater, the film layer is where the degradation of the fluid takes place. This is the location where the heat transfer fluid will be exposed to the hottest temperatures – and the place where heat transfer fluid ends up burning up.

Heat transfer fluid suppliers market and sell their fluids based on bulk or operating temperature – the outlet temperature of the heater when it is in operation. Heater suppliers on the other hand build heaters based on film temperature – the temperature that occurs in the film layer along the edge of the pipe where the heater is the hottest. This discrepancy is often what causes thermal fluid to unexpectedly burn up in heaters – and is just one of the reasons why film temperature is so important to take into account when purchasing a thermal fluid heater!

With a helical coil heater, the film temperature can be 100 degrees higher than the bulk temperature. While the outlet temperature for the heater may be listed at 550 degrees, the film temperature could be 650 degrees. As a result, if you purchased thermal heating fluid based on a bulk temperature of 550 degrees, your fluid is likely going to burn up because the maximum film temperature is most likely less than 650F!