Watlow®, a manufacturer of complete thermal systems for the industrial sector, with nine manufacturing facilities and three technology centers in the United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia, recently introduced its new ECO-HEAT® exhaust gas heating system. It functions as an internal load bank in medium stationary and mobile diesel generator applications. Incorporating ECO-HEAT into a diesel generator’s after-treatment system helps eliminate problems encountered under low generator load conditions, such as increased engine back pressure due to excessive soot loading, poor NOx conversion and fouled Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valves.
Unlike external load banks which require a completely separate footprint and waste their heat to the surrounding environment, ECO-HEAT is designed to be installed in the exhaust pipe and provides heat directly where it is needed within the after-treatment system. Using electricity from the generator, it has the dual effect of increasing exhaust gas temperatures by both increasing load on the diesel engine and heating the exhaust directly. This saves valuable space and requires less energy, resulting in less fuel consumption. If generator load demand increases, the ECO-HEAT system gradually reduces its load and thermal output, and shuts off as soon as exhaust gas temperatures reach acceptable levels.