See The Journey Of George Crowley, The Man Behind The Electric Blanket

George C. Crowley, an engineer and inventor whose work led to 80 patents, including one for the first thermostatically controlled electric blanket, died Jan. 15 in Pinehurst, N. C., after suffering from pneumonia. He was 80 years old. After his graduation in 1942 from the University ofNotre Dame, where he was a third-string quarterback, Mr Crowley joined the Navy and was assigned to the General Electric Company, which was engaged in numerous wartime technical projects. It was Mr Crowley's development work on electrically heated flying suits that would enable pilots to fly above antiaircraft flak that led to his invention of the electric blanket, which was patented by the company. 

Mr Crowley's later work for G. E. and for the Northern Electric Company brought dozens more patents for other products as well as refinements for blankets. He continued to invent after retiring from Northern Electric in 1982 as executive vice president for research and engineering. When he died, he had a patent pending for a control that would automatically switch off an overheating blanket; he had hoped to provide the device to Japanese manufacturers. By the time he was 6 years old, Mr Crowley was exhibiting his flair for invention, wiring the stairs to his third-floor room to warn of approaching parents, according to David Scott, a son-in-law. By 12 he had rigged a dining room door to open so that his mother could easily pass through carrying armloads of dishes and had made it so the curtains would close when someone flipped on the lights. Sometimes he would induce family members to survey the kitchen looking for things he could invent. For his work in developing a negative temperature coefficient electrical cable, a major improvement in blanket technology, G. E. presented him its Charles A. Coffin Award in 1949, the company's highest honour for an employee. The citation spoke of his ''outstanding ingenuity and technical judgment in the design and development of a control circuit which made possible considerable advances'' in blanket quality.

Mr Crowley, who was born in Keansburg, N. J., also turned his inventiveness to golf. In 1958, he and a partner, Robert J. Sertl, patented a device for painting balls that used a blower to suspend them in the air while they were sprayed and dried. Other inventions were a tennis-ball bouncer and a device to chase squirrels from bird-feeders, the latter abandoned when he began to feel bad for the squirrels' receiving a one-volt shock.

Prevent Freezing Of Pipes And Maintain A Specific Material Temperature With The Help Of Heat Tracer

Heat tracer is primarily used to prevent freezing by keeping a liquid above 32 degrees (or whatever temperature necessary to keep the material flowing through the piping). It can be used to reduce viscosity of a fluid to allow for effective pumping. Heat trace may also be used to maintain a specific temperature for a material (process maintain). Other uses of heat tracer include compensation for heat loss, raising piping temperature to recover from outages, eliminate formation of liquids in gas or powder lines, and minimize the formation of solids in liquid pipes. As an example, cooling water lines usually have enough velocity to not freeze very often because there is enough flow through the line to prevent freezing. Steam lines have high potential to freeze because the condensation does not move. In a hot water application, lines maybe need to be kept warm so water does not have to be reheated for use in a process. Generally speaking, a freeze protection application is typically easier to engineer. A system to maintain a specific temperature to support a process is more critical and requires more complex engineering. 

Knowing the function of the trace is critical when selecting the type of trace, heat trace monitoring methods, and the control scenarios for the trace. Heat trace does not come in a one size fits all package. It is recommended that you consult with process designers and engineers that understand your process in order to size and design the heat trace system that is right for your needs.  There are multiple types of heat tracers, including steam trace and electric trace. Process lines, vessels, and tanks can be traced with either electric trace or steam trace. However, electric trace has become increasing popular over steam tracing for different reasons. Heat trace and insulation heat trace and insulation work hand in hand. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the insulation and the heat trace together as a system to determine the optimal combination. Too little insulation or the wrong type of insulation could result in a larger heat trace requirement and extra operating costs. Too much insulation may not generate the desired payback from saved operating costs. Tank and large vessel heating tank present unique challenges due to the size of the tank or vessel and potential for heat loss. Using electric trace requires multiple passes spaced equally (typically around 8” to 12”) on the lower 1/3 to ½ of the tank. Installing this trace is difficult and expensive. Further, once the tank is insulated, repairing or replacing a portion of the trace is both time consuming and expensive.