Milestone-Proposal talk:Self-regulating Trace Heater

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Support of proposal from IAS Chair -- Administrator4 (talk) 17:11, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

IEEE Historical Committee It has come to my attention there is an effort to place an IEEE Milestone at the first commercial manufacturing location for self- regulating electrical heat tracing in Redwood City. I have long been a member of the IEEE PCIC, a committee under IAS, which sponsors a significant number of IEEE Standards. Two of these (IEEE 515 and IEEE 844) are critical to the design and use of electrical heat tracing in the process and power generation industries. At the PCIC annual event, there are a number of technical papers with the subject of heat tracing and standards meetings for IEEE 515 and 844. These standards are referenced in NFPA 79, the National Electrical Code.

Electrical heat tracing has been a great advancement for process temperature control and freeze protection of piping system. The self-regulating heater has become the technology of choice because of its reliability and cut to length installation in the field. Historically steam tracing was the standard and now electrical has replaced it. Electrical tracing provides energy efficiency, better reliability, and environmental improvements by not creating a toxic waste. The site of the proposed Milestone Plaque has continuously produced self-regulating heat tracing since 1972. I have seen a press release from 2008 that announced over a BILLION feet of this electrical heater has been manufactured at this site.

I give my full support for the placement of this IEEE milestone in Redwood City. It is rare a product like this can significantly improve the design and operation of process plants, and even rarer that the IAS can participate in a Milestone Project. If you need more support from our Local Chapter of IAS or more information, please contact me. Regards, Roland Engle 2018 IEEE IAS Chair, San Francisco Section and 2018 IEEE Section Chair