Thick Film Heating Elements (TFHE)

Thick Film technology on a quartz, ceramic, steel or titan support is ideal in the production of compact high-performance heaters, especially for those applications where quick heat-up times or uniform heating are needed, as well as whenever process visibility or resistance to corrosion are important. TFHE are the ideal solution when space is limited, when heating should be precisely adjusted on a surface, in extra-clean or chemically-aggressive environments.



Structure and Principle of Operation
The support base of Thick Film Heating Elements normally consists of a flat steel plate covered by a glass-enamel layer that provides electrical insulation. A resistive paste is then deposited by screen-printing, to provide the required heating pattern. Furthermore, the heater's surface is then covered by a special protective coating. Contact pads of a resistive layer are connected to the terminal leads by soldering. As tension is applied to TFHE terminals, the resistive layer begins to heat and consequently transmits its very uniform heat.

Main Advantages
* High reliability
* Long lifetime
* Efficient operation
* Fast start-up heating
* No red-hot surfaces
* No oxygen burnout
* Uniform surface heating
* Controllable surface temperature

Main Applications
TFHE are widely used in industry and domestic electrical appliances: for the heating of electrical equipment drives, local parts, central cabinet units, and relay protection units mounted indoor and outdoor. They are often used to warm up various switchgears of transformer stations, as well as high-voltage oil circuit breakers and railway traction substations.
TFHE are widely used in public transportation, to heat passenger areas in electrically-powered vehicles. They are used for diesel fuel warm-up, various explosion-proof applications for gas, oil and mining industries. TFHE are also used for temperature maintenance, dehumidification, direct heating of liquids, household convection heaters, mini cookers, feet heaters, and a variety of other applications.