Controlling skin effect heat traced liquid sulfur pipelines with fiber optics

Sulfur transmission lines have been a continual challenge to the industry because of both the upper and lower temperature limits that are necessary for sulfur product quality. To pump the sulfur a minimum temperature is needed, but if heated to an excessive temperature the sulfur degrades and thickens. This paper explores the physical properties of sulfur, the skin effect heat tracing technology that is used to maintain the pipeline at the required handling temperature as well as the new tool which is available to monitor and control the pipe line temperature. The fiber optic distributed temperature system is also discussed.