Oil and Bio-Diesel Heating

Unlike water, oil (and bio-diesel) does not transfer heat easily.  Generally the more viscose the oil the poorer its heat transfer properties.  Oil heating therefore requires much lower element watts densities than for heating water.  Oil is not a corrosive liquid and most element materials are suitable, however, copper elements should not be used.

Standard list numbers from our HO, HF, OD and SH ranges are suitable for heating some types of oil such as medium to light oils, heat transfer oils and bio-diesel, however, care needs to be taken as heavier oils and some specialist oils require very low watts densities and will require our Technical department to provide a specification to suit your type of oil.

Please note that unless stated otherwise, standard list numbers from product ranges that can be specified to heat oil are designed to heat water and therefore standard list numbers from these ranges should not be purchased for oil heating.  If you have any doubts, please contact our Technical Department who will be happy to help.

There are a number of different applications within oil heating.  These include:

• Flow heaters or line heaters where oil is heated when entering a pipeline to reduce its viscosity for pumping or pre-combustion.
• Tank heating to avoid oil becoming too viscose while in storage.
• Heating of oil sumps to reduce viscosity for applications such as hydraulics or lubrication.