Heating Processes

Space Heating

Space heating is the heating of a space, usually enclosed, such as a house or room. A space heater keeps the air and surroundings at a comfortable temperature for people or animals, or even plants in a greenhouse. Space heating generally warms a small space, and is usually held in contrast with central heating, which warms many connected spaces at once. Space heating does not include water heating, unless it is used for hydronic heating.

Electric heating

Electric heating is any process in which electrical energy is converted to heat. Common applications include heating of buildings, cooking, and industrial processes .
An electric heater is an electrical appliance that converts electrical energy into heat. The heating element inside every electric heater is simply an electrical resistor, and works on the principle of Joule heating: an electric current through a resistor converts electrical energy into heat energy.
Alternatively, a heat pump uses an electric motor to drive a refrigeration cycle, drawing heat from a source such as the ground or outside air and directing it into the space to be warmed. Such systems can deliver two or three units of heating energy for every unit of electricity purchased.

Industrial electric heating

Advantages of electric heating methods over other forms include precision control of temperature and distribution of heat energy, combustion not used to develop heat, and the ability to attain temperatures not readily achievable with chemical combustion. Electric heat can be accurately applied at the precise point needed in a process, at high concentration of power per unit area or volume. Electric heating hire apparatus can be built in any required size and can be located anywhere within a plant. Electric heating processes are generally clean, quiet, and do not emit much byproduct heat to the surroundings. Electrical heating hire equipment has a high speed of response, lending it to rapid-cycling mass-production equipment.

Industrial Heating

Design of an industrial heating hire system starts with assessment of the temperature required, the amount of heat required, and the feasible modes of transferring heat energy. In addition to conduction, convection and radiation, electrical heating methods can use electric and magnetic fields to heat material.

Gas heaters

A gas heater is a device used to heat a room or outdoor area by burning natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas.

The first gas heater made use of the same principles of the Bunsen burner invented in the previous year. It was first commercialized by the English company Pettit and Smith in 1856. The flame heats the air locally. This heated air then spreads by convection, thus heating the whole room. Today the same principle applies with outdoor patio heaters or “mushroom heaters” which act as giant Bunsen burners.

Beginning in 1881 the burner’s flame was used to heat a structure made of asbestos, a design patented by Sigismund Leoni, a British engineer. Later, fire clay replaced the asbestos because it is easier to mould. Modern gas heaters still work this way although using other refractory material.

Modern gas heaters have been further developed to include units which utilize radiant heat technology, rather than the principles of the Bunsen burner. This form of technology does not spread via convection, but rather, is absorbed by people and objects in its path. This form of heating is particularly useful for outdoor heating, where it is uneconomical to attempt to heat a large volume of air.

Radiant heating

Radiant heating is a technology for heating indoor and outdoor areas. Radiant heating consists of “radiant energy” being emitted from a heat source. Radiant heating heats a building through radiant heat, rather than other conventional methods including convection heating. The technology has existed since the Roman use of Hypocaust heating. Underfloor radiant heating has long been widespread in China and Korea. The heat energy is emitted from a warm element (floor, wall, overhead panel) and warms people and other objects in rooms rather than directly heating the air. The internal air temperature for radiant heated buildings may be lower than for a conventionally heated building to achieve the same level of body comfort (when adjusted so the perceived temperature is actually the same).