Who Is Process Technology and Why They Are a Trusted Electric Heater Supplier

Why the Right Electric Heater Supplier Matters for Your Operation

If you work in chemical processing, electroplating, semiconductor fabrication, or any industry that needs precise liquid or fluid heating, you already know how much depends on the quality of your heating equipment. One wrong material choice, one heater that can't handle your chemistry, and you are looking at contaminated batches, equipment failures, or worse — a safety incident on the floor.

That is why picking the right electric heater supplier is not just a procurement decision. It is an operational one. You need a supplier that actually understands industrial heating from the ground up — one that has designed products for your exact kind of environment, not just adapted general-purpose equipment and slapped a spec sheet on it.

Process Technology, based in Willoughby, Ohio, has been doing exactly that since 1978. This post walks through what they make, who they serve, and why their product range is worth knowing if you are buying or specifying industrial heating equipment.

About Process Technology — A US-Based Industrial Heating Manufacturer Since 1978

Process Technology was founded by Tom Richards with one clear goal: make industrial heaters safer, more reliable, and better suited to demanding process environments. Over the decades, that mission has driven several real industry firsts.

Tom Richards pioneered the use of thermal overtemperature protectors as a standard feature on immersion heaters — something that is now considered table stakes, but was genuinely ahead of its time. He also introduced grounded quartz heaters and PTFE-coated heaters to the market, and secured UL certification for immersion heaters, which was a meaningful milestone for safety and quality assurance.

Today, the company is led by Jody Richards, who was named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® East Central Award Winner. The company also recently expanded significantly by acquiring Kepco Inc., a well-known power supply brand — making Process Technology a more complete supplier for industrial electrical systems.

You can browse and buy their products directly through the Process Technology online plating store, which covers heaters, power supplies, and accessories all in one place.

Electric Immersion Heaters — The Core of Their Product Line

If you need to heat a tank of liquid — whether that's a plating bath, a chemical solution, a water tank, or an industrial process fluid — an electric immersion heater is typically the most direct and efficient way to do it. The heater goes into the liquid and heats it from within.

Process Technology makes a wide range of these, covering multiple mounting styles, materials, and wattage ranges. Here is a quick look at their main immersion heater types:

A key advantage across all their immersion heaters is the choice of sheath material. Metal (304 or 316 stainless steel, titanium) is used for general and corrosive applications, while PTFE (fluoropolymer) sheathing is available for heaters that need to work with aggressive chemical solutions without reacting to them. Both options come with built-in overtemperature protection.

The screw plug immersion heater range specifically stands out for installations where a threaded bushing or NPT fitting is already in the tank wall, which is common in industrial plating and chemical processing tanks.

For applications where precise heat control matters more than raw wattage, their derated (low watt density) models reduce the risk of scorching or thermal stress on sensitive fluids — a thoughtful design choice that matters a lot in surface finishing and semiconductor wet processes.

Inline Water Heaters and Chemical Heaters — Heat as Fluid Flows

Not every application calls for a tank-mounted heater. Sometimes you need to heat a fluid as it moves through a line — a single-pass or recirculating setup where the fluid is already in motion and needs to reach a precise temperature before reaching the process point.

That is exactly what Process Technology's inline water heaters and chemical heaters are designed for. Their inline range includes options for DI water, aggressive acid-based chemistries, and flammable solvents — each with materials chosen specifically for compatibility.

Some notable inline products include:

• ChemHeat Inline Heater (fab heater) — Compact design with PTFE wetted surfaces. Suitable for semiconductor wet processes, surface finishing, and filtration lines. The ChemHeat fab heater is engineered specifically for wet-process non-flammable chemistries, with all PTFE tubing to eliminate environmental exposure.
• SHX Family — New ultra-high-purity heaters for IPA and flammable solvents, meeting the stringent requirements of semiconductor fabrication environments.
• Titanium Inline Heater — Uses commercially-pure titanium heating elements for clean, corrosion-free performance in precision recirculating systems.
• LTFH Filter Housing — The LTFH filter housing combines heating and filtration in a single compact unit, which is useful in process lines where both are needed simultaneously.

The inline heater range also covers PTFE and PVDF wetted surfaces for highly critical clean manufacturing processes using DI water — which is the kind of purity demand that semiconductor and flat panel display fabs have.

For general commercial or industrial water heating needs, their electric water heater and industrial water heater options are straightforward, robust, and available in turn-key system configurations.

Quartz Immersion Heaters — When Chemistry Gets Aggressive

Standard metal heaters work well for many applications, but if your process involves strong acids — like sulfuric, hydrochloric, or phosphoric acid — you need a heater that won't react with what it is sitting in. That is where quartz heaters come in.

Process Technology's QM Series quartz immersion heater uses a heavy wall metal element enclosed in a quartz glass sheath. Quartz is chemically inert to most aqueous acidic solutions, which makes it well-suited for plating tanks, pickling tanks, and similar chemical process environments.

Key specs for the QM Series:

• Heats up to 212°F (100°C)
• Available in 500 to 10,000 watts, single phase
• 120 to 600 volts
• Polypropylene guards available for assembly protection

When selecting a quartz heater, Process Technology recommends checking your specific chemistry against a solution compatibility chart — the right sheath material always depends on exactly what is in the tank. Their FAQ page covers this in detail and is a good resource if you are unsure which heater material is appropriate for your application.

Immersion coils are another option for indirect heating — Process Technology also offers heating coils for applications where the heating element must be physically separated from the process fluid for contamination control reasons.

Power Supplies and Rectifiers — Now Including Kepco

A less talked-about but equally important part of Process Technology's catalog is their power supplies and rectifiers. These are used in electroplating, anodizing, and surface finishing operations where a stable, precise DC current is needed to drive the plating process.

Their PRO Series power supply offers three regulation modes — voltage, current, and power — giving operators flexibility depending on what their specific plating process demands. Each mode works differently in relation to load and output settings, and the right one depends on the chemistry and workpiece being processed.

With the acquisition of Kepco, Process Technology has added a well-established line of precision power supplies to their portfolio, expanding their capability for customers who need high-quality bench and industrial power supply solutions alongside their heating equipment.

Accessories: RTD Sensors, Thermistors, and Thermal Protectors

Industrial heating systems are only as good as the control and sensing components that go with them. Process Technology also supplies the accessories that make a complete heating system work correctly.

Their RTD temperature sensors (thermistors) come in 2-wire, 3-wire, and 4-wire configurations. The third and fourth wires in a 3- or 4-wire RTD allow the measuring device to detect and compensate for lead wire resistance — which matters when you need accurate temperature readings over longer cable runs.

Rigid and flexible (FEP sleeve) sensor versions are available, giving installers options depending on whether the sensor needs to be a fixed probe or something more flexible in its routing.

Thermal overload protectors are another key accessory in their lineup. These are safety components that cut power if a heater exceeds a set temperature, protecting both the equipment and the process from thermal runaway events. They are available in a wide range of trip temperatures and amp ratings to match different heater configurations.

Industries That Rely on Process Technology Products

The breadth of their product line reflects the breadth of the industries they serve. Here is where you are most likely to encounter Process Technology equipment in use:

• Semiconductor manufacturing — Ultra-pure inline heaters for DI water and wet process chemistries in chip fabrication lines.
• Electroplating and surface finishing — Immersion heaters for plating baths, screw plug heaters for phosphate and other finishing tanks, and power supplies for driving the plating current.
• Printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing — Chemical process heaters for etching, cleaning, and surface treatment lines.
• Solar panel manufacturing — Heating solutions for chemical bath processes used in solar cell production.
• Medical device manufacturing — Precision heating for clean process environments.
• Automotive and aerospace — Anodizing and surface treatment processes for metal parts.
• Aquaculture — Dedicated fresh water and salt water heaters for fish farming and marine aquaculture systems.
• Flat panel display — High-purity process heating for display substrate cleaning and chemical treatment.

What Makes Process Technology Stand Out as an Electric Heater Supplier

There are plenty of companies that will sell you a heater. Fewer will sell you the right heater — one engineered for your specific fluid, your operating temperature, your wattage requirement, and your tank configuration. Here is what differentiates Process Technology in a practical sense:

• Designed and manufactured in the USA — Their products are built at their Ohio facility, which matters for quality consistency and lead time predictability.
• UL-certified immersion heaters — A safety standard not all suppliers hold.
• Material options that match real-world chemistry — Stainless steel, titanium, PTFE, quartz — you get the material that fits your fluid, not the material that is cheapest to make.
• Overtemperature protection as standard — Not an add-on, built in from the start.
• Custom engineered solutions available — For applications where an off-the-shelf product is not quite right.
• Online store for direct ordering — The Process Technology plating online store makes it possible to order heaters, power supplies, and accessories directly.
• Low carbon footprint design approach — Their products are designed to deliver performance with a reduced environmental impact, which matters in regulated industries.

For a broader perspective on how their products fit into modern industrial heating contexts, this article on industrial electrical heating products used in modern manufacturing and chemical processing is a good read. There is also additional coverage of their product range and applications on their blog post archive.

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