Catalytic heater types

Types

There are three main types of larger catalytic heaters:

Heated Enclosure Packages

Instrument Gas and Pilot Preheating Regulators

Space Heating

Heated enclosure packages are used to protect pipes from rain and ice build-up by keeping the pipes heated. The catalytic heater is contained within the package which is usually made out of stainless-steel. Instrument gas and pilot preheating regulators are only used for freeze protection, and to heat up the gas before it reaches the pilot. It can also be used to heat a stream of gas that's used for measurement or instrumentation. Space heating is a good substitution when heat is required but traditional means, such as electricity or safety concerns over explosive gas, can't be used. Catalytic space heaters generate infrared heat to raise the temperature in a given area.

In addition to the larger catalytic heaters there are also small hand warmer or pocket heaters that use a catalyst combustion unit. Current units use a glass fiber substrate coated with platinum. Cheaper Chinese units may use other cheaper catalysts that don't work as well. Some older units used asbestos substrates. These hand warmers are for people who work or pursue leisure activities outdoors in very low temperatures, especially those that require manual dexterity that is not possible while wearing thick gloves or mittens. They date from the foundation of the Japanese Hakkunin company by Niichi Matoba, who founded to produce a hand warmer 'Hakkin Kairo' based on his Japanese patent of 1923. John W. Smith, President of Aladdin Laboratories, Inc. of Minneapolis was awarded a US patent for a product called the Jon-e (pronounced “Johnny”) catalytic hand warmer on December 25, 1951. Production peaked in the fifties and sixties, at 10,000 warmers a day. Aladdin went out of business in the 1970s.In 2010 the Zippo lighter company introduced an all-metal catalytic hand warmer, along with other outdoor products.There are other catalytic hand warmer brands like the South Korean S-Boston, the UK Whitby Warmer and also Chinese unbranded versions of designs based on the Hakkin 'Peacock' or the 'Jon-e' which date back to the manufacturing heyday of Hong Kong in the 1960s and 70s.