Abstract: A heater for heating a conductive liquid includes a two-dimensional array of rod-like electrodes (22, 122, 322, 422, 522) extending parallel to one another, an electrical power supply having a plurality of poles, and power switches to connect different ones of the electrodes to different poles so that current flows between the poles through the liquid. The array desirably includes outer electrodes defining the boundary (24, 424) of the array and inner electrodes disposed within this boundary. The array may have regular or irregular spacings between the electrodes. The array can provide numerous different connection schemes to vary the electrical resistance between the poles and thus vary the heating rate. The array can be arranged to provide substantially equal currents through three poles of a three-phase power supply.

Abstract: An ohmic heater has a structure (20) defining a flow path extending in a downstream direction (D), a first pair of electrodes (34a,34b) and a second pair of electrodes (36a,36b). The electrodes of each pair are adjacent one another in the downstream direction but spaced from one another in a direction perpendicular to the downstream direction; the pairs of electrodes are spaced apart from one another in the downstream direction. An electrical circuit (40,42,44,46,48,50) is operative to apply a voltage (i) between the electrodes (34a,34b) of the first pair; or (ii) between the electrodes (36a,36b) of the second pair; or (iii) between at least one electrode (34a) of the first pair and at least one electrode (36b) of the second pair, and may vary the applied voltage. The heater can meet varying conditions such as changes in conductivity of the liquid flowing through the heater.

Abstract: An ohmic heater for heating a conductive fluid includes electrodes (14) and spaces (20) between the electrodes. A controller (52) selectively connects the electrodes to a power supply (36) during a succession of actuation intervals so as to form conduction paths, each including two live electrodes connected to different electrical potentials, and the fluid in one or more spaces. The controller models fluid passing through the spaces as a series of finite elements moving through the spaces. Before each actuation interval, the controller estimates the expected results of actuating various possible conduction paths, including the estimated temperature of the fluid in the conduction paths and the estimated currents passing through the live electrodes. The controller selects a set of conduction paths for which the estimated results meet a set of constraints, and actuates only the selected conduction paths during the actuation interval.