West Babylon, NY – It’s no secret that snow and ice buildup on train tracks can cause major operational challenges that can result in rail service disruptions and compromised safety. To help combat these potential issues, nVent RAYCHEM and PRI have partnered to provide the North American transit industry with fully integrated heating systems for winter operations.

nVent RAYCHEM’s innovative heating solutions allow for safe and reliable railway operations in the harshest winter conditions. The company offers a variety of solutions including switch heating, contact rail heating, and catenary heating.

Switch Heating
The nVent Self-Regulating Switch Heating System is an innovative solution that automatically adjusts power output to compensate for temperature changes, delivering the exact amount of power required to keep tracks clear.

The nVent Flat MI Switch Heating System is a service-proven solution featuring a flat MI (mineral insulated) heating element that delivers robust, long-lasting heat to critical rail infrastructure in even the harshest winter conditions.

Contact Rail Heating
The CRH-SL Self-Regulating heating cables feature a polymeric, semi-conductive core extruded between the two parallel bus wires. This parallel construction allows the cable to be cut to length. The power output of heating cables decreases with increasing temperature due to the self-regulating behavior of the semi-conductive core. This ensures no overheating of the cables at high power outputs. The cables have rugged aluminum lamination that ensures efficient heat transfer to the rail as well as reduced risk of in-service or installation damage.

The PTC-Z is a service-proven system capable of high wattage output to melt snow and ice in the most demanding winter conditions. It utilizes an energy-efficient, power-limiting technology that reduces total cost of ownership. What’s more, PTC-Z features a rugged heating cable, durable enough to resist in-service damage to provide long-lasting performance on track. This efficient system is easy to install with included proprietary spring clips and fiberglass channel attachment hardware. It arrives at the job site pre-terminated for simple field connections.

Catenary Heating
nVent RAYCHEM CATHeat system features a high-temperature fluoropolymer jacket, thermally conductive silicone outer jacket, and phos-bronze mounting clips. The system quickly transfers energy to the contact wire, providing ice-melting heat to the overhead line in a short period of time. It is simple to install and will not interfere with network infrastructure or vehicle operations, and constant wattage heating technology provides reliable performance with a low cost of operation.

Interested in one of these solutions? Contact us today.