26 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk April/May 2025 Energy & Environmental Management Focus on: Boilers, Burners & Controls Thermal fluid heating is based on a similar basic principle to a low pressure hot water system. It consists of a heater connected to carbon steel flow and return pipework which can provide heat to one or more users or systems. Instead of water running through the pipework, a thermal fluid - often a mineral or synthetic oil - is used as the heat transfer medium. This simple and easily automated closed loop design, allowing for high temperatures (up to 350°C in standard form), means thermal fluid heating systems can use 20-50% less energy overall to transfer the same amount of heat when compared to steam heating systems. What’s more, if you opt for a thermal fluid heating system with integral economiser, even less fuel is consumed, even when operating at high fluid temperatures. However, as energy efficient as they are, the majority of thermal fluid heaters in the UK remain gas or oil fired, courtesy of our reserves of North Sea gas. That must change if we are to meet our legally binding net zero commitment by 2050. With industry accounting for over 13% of GHG emissions in 2023, decarbonisation is a top priority and process heating is moving away from fossil fuels, to more sustainable energy sources which, in most cases, will be electricity. Electric thermal fluid heaters are readily available to aid that transition and are tried and With their energy efficiency, versatility, ease of use and ability to provide precise temperature control, thermal fluid heaters have never been so popular across a wide range of industries and processes, whether replacing traditional steam systems or for new production lines and sites. Etienne Fourie, Technical Sales Manager, Babcock Wanson explains further. The rise of the electric thermal fluid heater tested; Babcock Wanson has been building them since the 1970s. While their uptake in the UK has been historically low due to the comparative cost of electricity over gas, the push to decarbonise is seeing a rapid rise in the sales of electric thermal fluid heaters. If you are considering investing in electric thermal fluid heaters as part of your decarbonisation strategy, there are some important differences between these and their fired counterparts that need to be factored in. Design and construction First and foremost, an electric thermal fluid heater has a fundamentally different design from fired models.
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