Electrically heated hoses can be used to prevent media freezing, to maintain their temperature and also to warm them. The patented heated hose range templine® by Masterflex has been providing for the flexible and reliable temperature-controlled transport of fluid, granular and gaseous media for many years.
The new templine® VARIO has been furnished with a further benefit as the medium-carrying internal hose (the inner liner) can now be simply replaced. "This is possible because of our intelligent 'hose-within-a-hose system'," explains templine® Product Manager André Meichle. "As a result, one and the same hose system can now be employed to transport very different media and very little time is required for any modifications. And that's not all: if the inner core hose becomes blocked, it is a simple matter to replace it and the heated hose is soon ready for use again."
The main problem with heated hoses is that they can easily become clogged due to the accumulation of materials or fouling, making them unserviceable. But thanks to the 'hose-within-a-hose' system, an obstructed heated hose need no longer be discarded and a new one obtained; all that needs to be done is replace the inner liner and the hose will be rapidly and inexpensively up and running again. All standard hoses with a diameter of 2 - 25 mm can be used as inner liners. They can be made of high performance plastics, such as polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE), polyamide (PA) or polyurethane (PU), but the smooth hoses of the type produced by the medical device manufacturer Novoplast Schlauchtechnik can also be used. For use in the medical sector, it would even be possible to use multilumen tubes as inner hoses. "We are currently trialling the new concept and are discovering ever more combination options," adds Meichle.
The product developers in Herten consider that the main application fields for the new heated hoses are the transport of hot adhesives, in devices that monitor air pollution levels, in industrial process analysis systems, in engine test benches used for the development of internal-combustion motors, in mobile analytical devices for the monitoring of compliance with emission thresholds, in vehicle certification systems and the transport of analytical gas samples. Meichle concludes: "The accuracy and reproducibility of the functioning of sensors and instruments in analytical devices is determined to a large extent by the processing of the medium and the heating of the section used to take measures to the correct temperature specified in standards and specifications." In contexts such as this, the templine® VARIO range can demonstrate the full range of its flexible capacities - a heated hose system for all situations.