System and method for maintaining fluid temperature stability by managing thermal conductivity

A method for heating a fluid, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing two or more cells for retaining a fluid, each cell including one or more electrode pairs positioned therein;
• arranging the two or more cells along a flow path, the flow path including an inlet to and an outlet from the two or more cells;
• determining at the first cell of the two or more cells, the electrical conductivity of the fluid;
• determining at the first cell of the two or more cells, the thermal conductivity of the fluid therein;
• determining from the electrical conductivity of the fluid a voltage to apply from an external power source, across the one or more electrode pairs at a current sufficient to heat the fluid in the first cell of the two or more cells;
• passing the current from the one or more electrode pairs to the fluid to produce a heated fluid in the first cell of the two or more cells;
• and
• determining a voltage to apply from the power source across the one or more electrode pairs at a current sufficient to heat the fluid in a second cell of the two or more cells based at least in part on the thermal conductivity of the fluid in the first cell of the two or more cells.

A method for heating a fluid, the method comprising the steps of:

• passing a fluid along a flow path from an inlet to an outlet, the flow path including at least first and second cells positioned along the flow path such that the fluid passing the first cell subsequently passes the second cell, each cell including at least one electrode pair between which an electric current is passed through the fluid to produce heat therein during its passage along the flow path, and wherein at least one of the cells includes at least one segmented electrode, the segmented electrode comprising a plurality of electrically separable segments allowing an effective surface area of the segmented electrode to be controlled by selectively activating the segments such that upon application of a voltage to the activated electrode segment(s), current drawn will depend in part upon the effective surface area;
• determining the fluid conductivity at the inlet;
• determining the thermal conductivity of the fluid in the first cell;
• determining from measured fluid conductivity a required voltage and current to be delivered to the fluid by the first cell to raise the temperature of the fluid therein by a first amount;
• determining a heated fluid conductivity resulting from operation of the first cell;
• determining from the heated fluid conductivity a required voltage and current to be delivered to the fluid by the second cell to raise the temperature of the fluid therein by a second amount based at least in part on the thermal conductivity of the fluid in the first cell;
• and
• activating segments of the segmented electrode in a manner to effect delivery of desired current and voltage by the segmented electrode.