I need to maintain a half-full 55-gallon drum at 180°F?

[Dave Gahl]

I'm working on a project for work and need to fill a 55-gallon drum half way and maintain it at 180°F. Right now I was thinking on using dishwater heating coil. Typically how much voltage does one of these need to run? Does it vary by brand?

 

[AnalogKid]

Fill with what?

Dishwasher heating elements are designed to run straight off of a country's AC grid, so 120 Vac in the US.

How tight does the temperature control have to be? Omega Engineering and other industrial supply companies have lots of thermostats with sensors.

ak

 

[Alec_t]

If uniformity of temperature is important you will need a stirrer of some sort.
Good thermal insulation around the drum will help with the uniformity issue and to minimise power consumption.
What will fill the drum?

 

[Externet]

Disconnect the higher heating element, fill it to half, and set the thermostat to 180F. It will take 230V AC
----> http://www.sears.com/kenmore-55-gal-tall-12-year-electric-water/p-04232154000P

 

[Dave Gahl]

The drum will be filled with chicken smaltz.

 

[Alec_t]

Get an element which is food-safe (stainless-steel sheathed?) and has an easy-clean shape.

 

[duke37]

If smaltz is gloop, then I would go for placing the drum on a hot plate and fix a contact thermostat to the outside, then the inside can be cleaned without obstruction

A hot water immersion heater close to the bottom with a built in thermostat would do the job but would be difficult to clean out.

 

[Alec_t]

+1 on the external hot-plate.