Heating a 12 m High Production Workshop — Heavy Metal Project

A real heating project for a large production facility

In 2020, Teplov implemented a heating project for the Heavy Metal production facility in the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine.

The total production area was 16,842 m², with a workshop height of approximately 12 m. However, the entire volume of the building did not need to be heated. The heating system was designed for a separate production zone covering 4,032 m².

The relationship between the total building area and the actual heated zone was one of the important factors considered when selecting the heating principle and equipment.

For industrial facilities of this type, the heating system is selected based on the building's characteristics and operating conditions. For more information on solutions for production facilities, warehouses, hangars, and other industrial spaces, see the industrial heating section.

The heating system objective

A thermal engineering calculation was carried out before the heating system was designed.

The main objective was to provide the required thermal conditions in the working zone of the large production facility without making it necessary to heat the entire 12 m high volume of the workshop uniformly.

For such a facility, the selection of a heating system depends not only on floor area, but also on:

• workshop height;
• building construction and insulation;
• actual heat losses;
• working-zone area;
• required temperature conditions;
• location of production zones;
• heat-transfer mechanism.

Why infrared heating was selected for the 12 m high workshop

Building height has a significant influence on heating performance.

With convective heating, heated air is the main heat-transfer medium. Warm air tends to rise towards the upper part of a high-volume building, which can result in vertical temperature stratification: temperatures near the ceiling become higher than those in the occupied working zone.

For a workshop with a height of 12 m, this is an important engineering consideration.

Infrared, or radiant, heating uses a different primary heat-transfer mechanism. The heater transfers energy by radiation to surfaces, equipment and other objects within the heating zone. These heated surfaces then transfer part of the heat to the surrounding air.

This makes it possible to organise heating of a specific working zone in a large production building rather than making the initial objective the heating of the entire air volume from floor level to the 12 m ceiling.

This was particularly relevant to the Heavy Metal project: of the total production area of 16,842 m², a separate zone of 4,032 m² was heated.

Therefore, the system selection was based not simply on the type of electric heater, but on the characteristics of the building and the actual heating task.

Thermal calculation and equipment selection

The number and capacity of the heaters were determined on the basis of a thermal engineering calculation.

Three types of Teplov medium-wave industrial infrared heaters were installed:

The total installed nominal power of the system was therefore 312 kW.

This figure represents installed equipment capacity and should not be confused with the building's calculated heat losses. Required heating capacity is determined from the thermal calculation of the specific building.

Industrial heaters for a high-ceiling workshop

The project used Teplov U-series equipment designed for industrial premises with significant ceiling heights and for local heating.

Teplov U12000 is a 12 kW medium-wave electric infrared heater designed for premises with ceiling heights from 6 m.

Teplov U9000 has a nominal power of 9 kW and is designed for premises with ceiling heights from 5 m. It can also be used for local heating of defined zones.

Teplov U6000 has a nominal power of 6 kW and is intended primarily for intensive local heating, including industrial premises with high ceilings.

Combining models with different power ratings made it possible to adapt the system to the building configuration and the requirement to heat a specific part of the workshop.

Ceiling and wall installation

The project used a combination of ceiling and wall installation.

This arrangement makes it possible to direct radiant heat according to the layout of the working zone. In a large workshop, equipment positioning should be considered together with the geometry of the building, production equipment and the areas where heat is actually required.

Project result

The result was a heating system for a 4,032 m² section of the production workshop.

The project combined:

• a total production building area of 16,842 m²;
• an approximately 12 m high workshop;
• the need to heat only a defined production zone;
• thermal engineering calculation;
• 29 medium-wave industrial infrared heaters;
• total installed capacity of 312 kW;
• ceiling and wall installation.

The project demonstrates one approach to heating large production facilities: the system is determined not only by the total floor area, but by the building's thermal load and the actual zones in which the required thermal conditions need to be maintained.

Other Teplov projects

See also other industrial heating projects:

Heating the production workshop of the Kyiv Electric Car Repair Plant — a project using 28 P4000 heaters for a 980 m² production facility.

Heating the industrial enterprise "DneproSpetsMash" — a project using U-series industrial heaters for a production facility.