"NIMBUS" PTC Panel Heaters
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- Category: News
- Published on Friday, 18 January 2013 05:31
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Type “Nimbus” and "Cirrus" PTC Heating Elements
ITC presents a line of innovative convection heaters and contact heating elements by DBK® based on PTC (“Positive Temperature Coefficient”) technology.
Unlike traditional heating elements that use a resistance wire to generate heat, PTC heating elements are barium titanate ceramic stones. These elements have unique properties as semiconductors, which can be precisely determined during their design.
If a voltage is applied across a PTC, current will flow and heats the element. Initially, the resistance drops, allowing more current to flow, and thus begins to heat more quickly. Once the heater temperature starts to rise, the resistance of the ceramic element rapidly increases: the current flow diminishes to almost zero, making the heater self-limiting. If the ambient temperature starts to decrease, the heater’s resistance decreases, drawing more current and countering the cooling tendency. The PTC elements can be manufactured to different temperatures, at which the resistance change takes place. Moreover, if the operating voltage increases, the PTC initially consumes more power, but as its temperature increases more rapidly, the current stabilizes more quickly at a lower level. Therefore, unlike traditional resistance wire, the performance of the PTC is not proportional to the square of the voltage. For this reason, the same heater can be used at either 120vac, or 240vac, and provide essentially the same output.
A PTC heater is an effective low cost solution, because it provides a highly efficient source of heat in a very small package, resulting in using a smaller enclosure than previously used. The heater also provides lower operating costs because the wattage constantly varies from minimum to maximum based on the temperature required. In some cases, because PTC heaters have this self limiting temperature characteristic, they can be operated without the traditional need of thermostat. Of course, in some instances the use of a supplementary thermostat is useful, and the product line presented here includes both an adjustable rail-mounted unit, and a low cost, preset temperature model.
The heaters are very easy to install on DIN rail, and the connection wires are already attached to the heaters. This dramatically reduces labor cost as well as miscellaneous mounting hardware. The range available is very wide, ranging from 20 watts right up to 800 watts, and the entire line carries CSA, UL, and approvals such as VDE and the CE-mark.
ITC’s DBK® “NIMBUS” line are convection PTC heaters (without fan). "CIRRUS" heaters are PTC heaters with integral fan.
Click here for ITC's Panel Thermal Management catalog.
