Heat Tracing for Bitumen and Heavy Fuel Oil
Bitumen and heavy fuel oil are among the most demanding heat tracing duties in industry: maintain temperatures around 140–180 °C, high viscosity, and a product that solidifies permanently if it cools. This guide covers the practical design points for bitumen storage and transfer systems.
What needs heating
- Bitumen storage tanks and tank bottoms
- Transfer and loading lines
- Pumps, valves and flanges
- Heavy fuel oil lines and settling tanks
- Loading arms and tanker connections
Design points
1. Maintain temperature is high
Typical bitumen grades are held at 140–180 °C depending on the grade and the pumping requirement. At these temperatures, heat loss is large and cable selection must be checked at the actual maintain temperature, not at ambient.
2. Cable technology
High-temperature applications usually need constant wattage or MI cable; self-regulating cable is available in high-temperature versions but output at 150 °C is low, so circuit lengths shorten quickly. Verify output curves at the maintain temperature.
3. Insulation is the main lever
Thick insulation and a proper vapour/weather barrier reduce the required cable power more than any other measure. Bitumen lines often use 50–100 mm insulation and aluminium cladding.
4. Tank heating vs line heating
Tank coils or tank-bottom tracing heat large volumes; transfer lines mainly compensate heat loss. The two need different control: tank heating is often duty-cycle controlled on product temperature, lines on line temperature.
5. Hot spots and product quality
Bitumen can coke or degrade if overheated locally. Avoid cable overlap, keep power density moderate, and control on product or line temperature with a high-limit cut-out.
6. Loading areas
Loading arms and tanker connections need flexible heating solutions and must withstand movement and weather; fix the cable so that movement does not fatigue it.
Typical design values (indicative)
| Item | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Maintain temperature | 140–180 °C (grade dependent) |
| Insulation | 50–100 mm with cladding |
| Cable type | Constant wattage or MI; high-temp SR where suitable |
| Control | Line/product temperature with high-limit cut-out |
| Protection | Earth leakage protection, circuit isolation |
Common mistakes
- Selecting cable from the ambient-temperature output curve.
- Insulation too thin, then compensating with excessive cable power (hot spots).
- No high-limit protection, so a thermostat failure cokes the product.
- Tank and line heating on one control loop.
- Cable fixed rigidly on loading arms, then fatigued by movement.
What to provide for a quotation
- Product grade, maintain temperature and pumping temperature
- Tank sizes, line lengths, pipe sizes and insulation
- Loading and transfer details
- Supply voltage and available capacity
- Hazardous area classification of the tank farm
Topic hub: Heat Tracing by Industry (Applications)
Bitumen or heavy oil project?
Send the product grade, tank and line data. We calculate heat loss at the maintain temperature and select high-temperature cable.
Request a Quote