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Composite, sol-gel mica heaters provide cost-effective alternative.
A novel, thick-film heating element technology has been engineered to create a heat source that offers a uniform temperature gradient across the element surface, reduced heat-up and cool down cycles while maintaining a cost benefit over conventional heating element technologies. The technology can be used to manufacture cost effective, low-profile heaters for commercial and industrial applications, and is well suited to serve as an alternative heat source for warming applications.
Datec Coating Corp. Mississauga, Ontario, developed a thick-film technology using its method for developing ceramic coatings. In the Datec process, a ceramic coating is applied to a mica insulation board, and then fired at a temperature as low as 350 DegC to form a heating element.
Thick-film heaters have been of interest for commercial and industrial applications because they provide a number of advantages over conventional metalsheathed resistance elements. Thick-film heaters have a low profile, fast thermal response, improved temperature uniformity over large surfaces, and higher operating efficiency.
However, they are not without limitations: until now "traditional" thick-film heaters have had high materials costs, complex processing schedules, high scrap rates, and have been limited to glass-based enamels. In addition, high processing temperatures, in the range of 650 DegC to 850 DegC, restrict their use to those substrates that can withstand the high processing temperatures and have a similar coefficient of thermal expansion.
By contrast, Datec's process is an engineered technology that overcomes the limitations of the traditional thick-film heaters and provides a cost effective, easy to manufacture and environmentally friendly solution. With this process, the ceramic coating system can be fired at low temperatures, thus increasing the range ot potential substrates to include glass, mica, polyimide, quartz, stainless steels, aluminum and super alloys. In addition, Datec's thick films can be applied over large surface areas providing excellent thermal uniformity that, combined with a high emissivity of 0.95, make the system suitable for any heating application requiring efficient radi, ml heal transfer.
The composite sol-gel coating (CSG) process is an innovative method developed and patented1 by Datec. In...