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Momentum is building in the UK for the take-up of electric cars. Earlier in 2018, the Committee on Climate Change told ministers that three-fifths of all new cars must be electric by 2030, to meet greenhouse gas targets. More recently, sales in electric vehicles have surged in reaction to rising fuel prices, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
As we gear up for Black Friday, which has rapidly turned into Black November, it’s useful to look at household appliances and how people have come to rely on them being safe to use in the home.
Consumer appliances are at the apex of convenient, modern living, but they can also pose a risk. They should meet rigorous safety standards, and to do this, they require high temperature insulation.
Earlier in 2018, Which? reported that faulty appliances cause 60 UK house fires a week. The most high risk appliances are potentially dangerous white goods such as washing machines and dryers. However sophisticated household appliances have become, safety is still an issue.
With the momentous marking of the centenary of the 1918 Armistice having just passed, we wanted to honour the armed forces by looking at military vehicles through the ages, and examining how, in the modern age of military transportation, high temperature insulation is an essential requirement.
Mica is a naturally occurring mineral with inherent insulation properties that make it ideally suited to a broad range of industrial and commercial applications. As a product, mica cuts across sectors, supporting specialised industries, such as foundry and steel, but also in our homes and in everyday use in consumer appliances.
Mica is versatile but also, to an extent, hidden. It is often the case that people are unaware of it, or of its properties. Here, then, we answer some commonly asked questions about mica.
What is high temperature insulation? High temperature insulation is an insulating substance that protects from extremely high temperatures and is used in manufacturing, cars, electrical appliances, and tooling, amongst other things.
Many different industries rely on high temperature insulation to carry out essential processes, manufacture products and components, and ensure optimum, economic performance.
Insulation is vital for preventing the transfer of heat. By doing this, it reduces the amount of energy that is needed to raise temperatures, and it protects that are adjacent to the heat source from damage.
While mica brings key environmental benefits to a wide number of industries, is mica environmentally friendly when it comes to its mining, processing and disposal?
Mica is a naturally occurring mineral and its two main forms used in various industrial and commercial applications are phlogopite or green mica, and muscovite or white mica.
As this blog post on mica in its natural form explores, extracting mica requires mining it. As with all forms of mining, there are risks and environmental issues that come with these processes.
Mica is a very effective industrial insulation material, due to its unique physical properties. The versatility of this naturally occurring mineral means that it has applications across a wide range of industries, providing essential support as a high-performance insulator. It also acts as a superior relining material in the foundry and steel industry.
Mica has a significant impact on people’s everyday lives through its use in domestic as well as industrial settings and situations. This includes insulation for consumer appliances, but also its use in mica panel heaters.
Mica and electricity are a match made in heaven. A key property of mica is that while it conducts heat, it does not conduct electricity. This means mica has a very capable dielectric function, making it ideally suited for applications which require an effective heat conductor and electric insulator. Furthermore, because mica is both flexible and durable, we can manufacture and shape it to make it supremely adaptable across a spectrum of industries and products. These range from the power electronics sector to consumer appliances, and also include essential electrical insulation for essential components in both the aerospace and automotive industries.