Pacific Automation and Thermon sign exclusive Australian partnership

Pacific Automation has been appointed as the exclusive Australian partner for Thermon, expanding its industrial process heating portfolio.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Thermon is a publicly-traded US company specialising in industrial process heating. Pacific Automation is a leading Australian provider of industrial electrical and automation solutions.

This expanded strategic partnership marks a significant milestone for both companies and reinforces Pacific Automation’s commitment to supporting Australian industry with world-class innovation. Pacific Automation has been closely partnered with Thermon since 1990, supporting its product range within a non-exclusive national partnership.

“We are delighted to expand our relationship with Thermon,” said Stephen Armstrong, CEO of Pacific Automation. “This new exclusive partnership aligns with our goal of being Australia’s go-to supplier of industrial electrical solutions.

“We work closely with our international suppliers, going beyond just distribution. We want to represent them in this country like they would represent themselves. Our technical support and customer service teams have received full training on Thermon technology. Our goal is to offer customers the same high level of support they’d receive from the original manufacturer.”

Local reputation

Thermon products have an excellent reputation across the country already. In 2021, Pacific Automation successfully delivered a solution for a major project in the form of a heat trace cabling solution for a long bitumen transfer line in Kwinana, Western Australia.

Figure 1: Thermon HTEK heat trace cable installed against a bitumen transfer pipeline.

The client was operating in an industrial marine environment, and dealing with unique site restrictions including the pipeline partially crossing over private land and a requirement for Hazardous Area T3 compliance at the wharf.

Heating bitumen over long distances requires a precise approach. Having previously delivered successful heat trace cabling projects across Australia, the Pacific Automation team was aware of common pitfalls. After an on-site assessment the team recommended implementing a HTEK™ Series constant watt heating cable from Thermon. Circuit lengths up to 3,658 m can be energised from a single end, cutting down on power connection points.

Alternative options for the main pipeline, such as self-regulating cable, were inefficient choices due to the size and scale of the project. With only a much smaller run length possible between power connection points, any design utilising this cable would be unnecessarily complex.

HTEK Series cable is built for high performance in demanding conditions, with an estimated service lifetime over two decades. Combined with the reductions in required power infrastructure and subsequent installation costs, it has cut out many headaches for the design engineers and port maintenance team.

Pacific Automation’s engineering team worked closely with integration specialist ESI to successfully deliver a full heat trace cabling solution along with control and power distribution design, plus a complete remote monitoring set up via PLC.

Figure 2: Industrial bitumen transfer pipeline with heat trace installed at marine port.

With a full suite of features including low and high temperature alarms, programmable high temperature trip functions and high ground/earth leakage alarms, the client now has a system specifically designed for the continuous monitoring and management of the heat tracing solution.

This solution means the team is always ready for the next bitumen shipment into port. The pipeline can be efficiently heated and monitored.

Applications in food and beverage

Thermon heating solutions are also suitable for the food and beverage processing industries. They can help increase operator safety or improve the efficiency of the heating systems.

Solutions can include immersion and circulation heaters, boilers, tubular heaters for deep fryers, tank boosters, washdown heaters, and controls and monitoring for the entire heating system.

Options include:

• Low-voltage 12–24 V TESH refrigeration heating cable for freeze protection around freezer doors and condensate drains offers an alternative option when 240 V is not available or required.
• The Thermon RTF Flexipanel is a flexible heating panel designed for stable temperature maintenance on tanks and vessels. It is ideal for trouble-free installation and getting up and running fast.
• Self-regulating BSX heat trace cable for 25 mm² concentrated caustic soda (NaOH) line maintenance and freeze prevention, plus controller and termination accessories.
   

High-accuracy temperature control will help maintain strict quality levels and tight production schedules. Whether it’s meat and poultry processing, distilling and brewing, or a commercial kitchen, Thermon keeps production on track.

Figure 3: Applications for process heating in the food & beverage industry. For a larger image click here.

Solutions for decarbonisation

Australia’s economy is decarbonising. The science and economics of climate change make it inevitable that this will continue. Decarbonisation is now a defined goal for industry by the Australian Energy Transitions Commission. As industry heads toward net zero, Thermon technology can play a key role in this journey.

In the February 2023 report from the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative (ETI), ‘Pathways to Industrial Decarbonisation’, experts have examined specific industries, namely iron and steel, aluminium, other metals, chemicals, and liquefied natural gas. These are significant industries in terms of their emissions, energy use, and contributions to the Australian and global economies.

“The report finds that...industry’s early uptake and effective integration of renewable electricity, electrification, and use of green hydrogen to substitute for other fuel sources can help Australia achieve competitive costs for reliable decarbonised energy.”¹

Thermon offers solutions for industrial electrification including immersion heaters, circulation heaters, electric boilers and calorifiers, environmental air and space heaters, electric heat tracing, CEMS bundles, electric warming blankets and catalytic methane heating systems. These technologies can aid the electrification of process heating within hydrogen production, alumina refinement and ammonia production, to name a few.

Figure 4: A Thermon 860 kW custom-engineered immersion heater.

Thermon can also offer custom-engineered process heating systems for very specific requirements. The retrofit and replacement of carbon-intensive process heating systems and legacy fossil-fuel powered plant equipment represents an opportunity for industrial operators to cut their emissions and track toward net zero.

Partnership reflects core values

Pacific Automation prides itself on the core values of customer satisfaction, technical expertise, and exceptional service.

The expanded partnership with Thermon solidifies Pacific Automation’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancements and delivering world-class solutions to Australian customers.

Shaun Napier, Managing Director of Thermon Australia, expressed his excitement about the new partnership.

“Pacific Automation’s reputation for excellence and their strong market presence make them the ideal partner for expanding our footprint in the Australian market,” he said. “We believe that our shared values of innovation, quality, and customer focus will drive mutual success and benefit our customers in achieving their operational objectives.

“We are thrilled to be working alongside Pacific Automation and look forward to a prosperous future together.”

The exclusive Australian partnership between Pacific Automation and Thermon is effective immediately. Customers can now access a full range of industrial process heating solutions and receive full technical support for Thermon products through Pacific Automation’s national network of offices across the country.

For more information about Pacific Automation, visit https://pacificautomation.com.au.

^{1 Paul Graham, CSIRO Chief Energy Economist and report contributor via https://www.energy-transitions.org}.

Top image: iStock.com/Kawinnings