Types of Industrial Electric Infrared Heaters Offered at Casso Solar Technologies: Part 2

Derek Burkholder

July 11, 2019

Introduction

Casso-Solar Technologies designs and manufacture several types of electric infrared heaters for different applications and industries, each with its own benefits. To get the best heater for your applications, it is important to understand the different types available. In our last post, we discussed some of our panel heaters, FB heaters, C+ heaters, and FHT heaters. In this post, we will highlight our tube and V-series heaters which are typically faster acting.

Some Important Electric Infrared Heaters Offered by Casso-Solar Technologies

The following models of electric infrared heaters all produce heat as line sources rather than a continuous face like those of the previous post. This allows for precise zoning and also means the heat up and cool down times are shorter due to the lower mass of the heaters. The heaters can all also be easily built into an array to provide uniform heating.

V-Series Heaters: Similar to traditional stamped wire heating elements, this heater is constructed of stamped serpentine metal elements constructed from a high temperature alloy. However, it is far superior to the stamped wire type heaters because instead of being held to an insulating board with numerous pins it is cemented to the board creating a significantly stronger and hardier bond. The extremely low mass of the heating elements means the V-series heater is perfect for applications that demand fast heating/fast cooling as it reach temperature in approximately 5-10 seconds. The heaters are commonly built with screens in front of the elements to prevent the product from contacting the heater. It can also be supplied with air holes behind the heating elements to allow for airflow through the heater to accelerate cooldown even further.
Furnace Tube Heaters: This heater is very similar to the FHT heater in its uses and operation. It consists of a heating coil wrapped around a quartz tube on the outside, exposing the coil to the air to allow for convection heating of air as well as infrared heating of a product. Precise heating arrays can be constructed from furnace tube heaters to create furnaces that have a high degree of control and zoning. These are best used tin a furnace environment to create complex parts where FHT heaters do not provide a fine enough level of control.
Unitube Heaters: Constructed by placing a heating coil inside a quartz tube and then fitted with an internal refractory reflector, our unitube heaters are one of our most popular items. The benefits of the internal reflector are two-fold as it both ensures that all energy from the coil is directed towards the product and holds the coil securely in place. When using an internal reflector, you no longer need to worry about having external reflectors that require cleaning and maintenance; the reflector will last for the entire lifetime of the heater. Unitube heaters reach temperature quickly, can be easily built into extensive arrays, and are able to be constructed to work with nearly any voltage at a variety of wattages. With every unitube heater being custom designed to our customers’ specifications there is nearly infinite flexibility on possible designs.
Duo Tube Heaters: Identical in operation and capabilities to a unitube heater, our Duo Tube heaters differ only in that they are constructed of two parallel heating coils placed into a special “figure 8” quartz tube that can house both coils simultaneously instead of a single coil. This construction provides higher strength than a unitube heater as the dual quartz tube is less susceptible to breakage. These heaters feature a white ceramic reflective coating that is baked into the quartz tubing in lieu of the internal refractory reflector. This coating serves the same purpose as the unitube’s reflector and will also last for the life of the heater. With even more design flexibility and possibilities available as compared to the unitube heater, this heater is quickly becoming one of our most popular offerings.
Short wavelength Infrared High Intensity Heaters: The short wavelength (SWL) infrared heater is also built similarly to a unitube heater, but has a slightly different type of heating coil and the quartz tube is completely sealed and filled with an inert gas instead. The heaters provide infrared energy at a shorter wavelength than a unitube or Duo Tube does and that shorter wavelength energy is more intense and at a much higher watt density typically. SWL heaters are ideal when a high amount of energy is needed to be delivered in a short period of time. Most commonly these heaters are used when processing metal film running at high line speeds.

For more information on any particular type of heater, please visit our website where we have the product data sheets available for all of our offerings. Or call us at (845) 354-2010 and one of our applications experts will help you determine the best heater for your application. With our nearly 60 years of experience in the industry and with the help of our testing lab we will make sure to recommend the perfect solution.

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Written by:

Derek Burkholder

Vice President of Sales & Engineering

Derek Burkholder holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and is Vice President of Engineering & Sales at Casso Solar. Previously holding the title of Engineering Manager, Derek draws upon over a decade of industry knowledge to write extensively about the construction & application of heating systems such as industrial ovens, dryers, furnaces, and infrared heaters for industrial manufacturing processes.