Evaluation of Internal Electrical Heater for Pipe Temperature Control Using FEA Model
In oil and gas industries, electrical heaters are often used to control the internal pipe temperature. One important criterion for such test, is to maintain a uniform temperature range during the test. The objective of this study was to evaluate the heat transfer of one design of the internal electrical pipe heaters, by simulating both conduction and convection heat transfer around the heater and the steel pipe. Our model was based on Finite Element Method, using COMSOL multiphysics with CFD module. The simulation results revealed that convection air flow occurred at top half section of the pipe inner and highlighted the shortcomings of the existing heater design that a uniform thermal distribution in the pipe may not be achievable under current design.
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