The electric heater would heat up the liquid though natural convection and conduction. Since the heat transfer is limited, it is imperative to pair the proper heat flux with the particular application to avoid fouling.

In a gas dehydration plant, an immersion type electric heater is commonly employed in a glycol reboiler. The electric heater is utilized to raise the temperature of the mixture to the boiling point of the water where the water can be removed from the glycol. We commonly find them on TEG reboiler on offshore platforms since the electric heater is inherently safe since they do not have a flame as compared to a fired heater. EML manufacturing also offer out line of indirect electric heaters for use in glycol reboiler, the heating elements in this type of heater can be replaced without draining the reboiler.