The Advantages of Hot Water vs. Steam for Jacketed Heating

In jacketed heating applications where processes require operating temperatures up to 350°F, steam and hot water serve as typical forms of heat transfer.

Currently, an increasing number of process engineers are switching from steam to hot water for heating jacketed reactors or vessels. There are several basic reasons for this trend:

• The temperature in the jacket can be controlled much more accurately with hot water than with steam. This higher degree of control protects against damage to or loss of product through overheating.
• Hot water ensures a better quality end product. This is particularly important in processes requiring very precise product temperature control.
• Hot water distributes heat more evenly than steam. This eliminates hot spots which often cause product to bake onto the walls of the vessel, and at worst, ruin the entire batch.
• In critical processes utilizing glass-lined reactors, steam can shock and damage the lining. Hot water allows smooth transitions from heating to cooling with no thermal shock.