Chemicals & Speciality Chemicals Manufacturing

Industry Overview - Electric Heating in Chemicals & Polymers

Chemical and polymer plants use electric heating on reactors, distillation systems, dryers and utilities where accurate temperature control, fast response and integration with automation systems are important.
Electric heaters can offer precise power delivery and flexible control compared with simple on/off systems.
Intelligent SCR power control from CD Automation supports temperature stability, batch repeatability and energy monitoring as sites modernise and optimise their processes.

Jacketed reactors and vessels
Extruder barrel and die heaters
Distillation and evaporation systems

Dryers, tray ovens and small kilns
Tank farms, manifolds and heat trace
Autoclaves and curing presses

Process Machinery & Applications

Electrically heated systems in chemical and polymer plants commonly controlled with REVO SCR power controllers.

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Reactors & Jacketed Vessels

Electric heating for batch and semi-batch reactors used in synthesis, crystallisation or neutralisation.

Common pain points:

tight temperature bands
ramp/soak profiles
traceability

Recommended controllers:

REVO DPU

REVO C

Extruder Barrel & Die Heaters

Multi-zone barrel and die heating on compounding and devolatilisation extruders.

Common pain points:

profile stability
vent zone control
energy usage

Recommended controllers:

REVO PC

REVO PN

REVO C

Compounding & Pelletising

Electrically heated compounders, side feeders and strand pelletising lines.

Common pain points:

throughput consistency
material changes
downtime

Recommended controllers:

REVO PC

REVO PN

Polymerisation & Curing

Electric heating for polymerisation reactors, curing vessels and post-curing ovens.

Common pain points:

controlled ramps
exotherm management
product consistency

Recommended controllers:

REVO DPU

REVO PC

REVO C

Distillation & Evaporation

Electric heating of reboilers and evaporators for solvent recovery and purification.

Common pain points:

boil-up control
solvent handling
energy demand

Recommended controllers:

REVO DPU

REVO C

Dryers & Tray Ovens

Electrically heated tray, cabinet and small continuous ovens for powders and intermediates.

Common pain points:

drying uniformity
overheat prevention
energy efficiency

Recommended controllers:

REVO PC

REVO PN

REVO C

Tank Farms & Heat Trace

Tank heaters and heat tracing for storage tanks, lines and manifolds handling chemicals or polymers.

Common pain points:

freeze protection
temperature stratification
load diversity

Recommended controllers:

REVO PN

REVO C

REVO PC

REVO DPU

Autoclaves & Curing Presses

Electric heating for autoclaves, curing presses and vessels used for composites, rubbers and advanced materials.

Common pain points:

cycle repeatability
pressure/temperature interplay
safety interlocks

Recommended controllers:

REVO DPU

REVO C

Typical Pain Points & How We Solve Them

Temperature Accuracy & Product Quality

Many chemical and polymer processes rely on tight temperature control to achieve the desired conversion, molecular weight and product properties.

Solution: REVO C and REVO-PC-based architectures provide smooth power control to reactors, reboilers and ovens, helping to maintain narrow operating windows.

Energy Use in Heat-Intensive Operations

Reactors, distillation columns, dryers and heat-traced systems can account for a large portion of site energy use.

Solution: Demand limiting, appropriate firing modes and staggered starts with REVO-PN and REVO-PC help manage peaks and support energy-efficiency initiatives.

Maintenance, Fouling & Heater Failures

Heaters can experience fouling or degradation over time, leading to uneven performance and outages.

Solution: Current monitoring and open/partial-load alarms from REVO C and REVO-PC can help maintenance teams identify developing issues earlier.

Solvent Handling & Safety

Processes involving flammable solvents or volatile components require careful temperature control and integration with safety systems.

Solution: REVO controllers can be integrated into panels and systems that include appropriate safety instrumentation, providing alarms and status signals to DCS or SIS.

Batch Consistency & Repeatability

Batch and semi-batch processes need repeatable temperature profiles and reliable ramp/soak behaviour.

Solution: Using REVO C or REVO-PC with PLC or DCS recipe control supports consistent heating performance across multiple batches.

Modernisation & Sustainability

Sites are looking to modernise electric heating control while improving efficiency and supporting wider sustainability goals.

Solution: Replacing older contactor-based systems with REVO controllers improves controllability and provides data that can be used in energy and performance monitoring.

Snapshot: Reactor & Distillation Electric Heating Control Upgrade

Problem: a multi-product plant used contactor-based control on jacketed reactors and reboilers, leading to temperature overshoot, limited data for troubleshooting and little coordination between units.

Solution: jacket heaters on key reactors were migrated to REVO C, while reboilers and selected utilities were grouped under a REVO-PC master with REVO-C zone control. The site PLC/DCS now coordinates ramp/soak profiles and receives power, current and alarm data from the REVO architecture over a fieldbus connection.

Result: improved temperature stability, clearer visibility of heater performance, more consistent batch profiles and better support for energy and performance monitoring (typical benefits achievable on similar upgrade projects).

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Why CD Automation?

REVO solutions for reactors, reboilers, dryers and utilities
REVO-PC with Modbus, Profinet, EtherCAT into PLC/DCS/SCADA
Firing modes suited to resistive and transformer-fed loads
Support for OEMs, system integrators and site engineers
Suitable for brownfield upgrades and new-build projects

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Industry Overview - Electric Heating in Chemicals & Polymers