The global foundry and steel industry is massive, 112.7m tons of metal castings are produced globally every year. In Europe alone, 290,000 are employed in the foundry industry.
As has been the case in many other industries, foundry and steel has experienced the impact of COVID-19 on production, supply chains and consumer demand. With foundry being one of the sectors we work with most frequently, we wanted to examine the current climate in the industry and the outlook for the coming months. …
The right insulation solution can help to increase efficiency, extend the useful life of the system or equipment, and help to reduce maintenance costs. Perhaps most importantly, having the right insulation solution can ensure the safety of anyone operating the equipment – protecting them from high voltages and/or high temperatures. Mica’s unique thermal, electrical and physical properties make it ideal for use as an insulation solution in a number of applications. Mica-based insulation can withstand up to 1000°C, and 2000 volts before breaking down, meaning it can offer vital protection in high temperature and high voltage situations. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how insulation can help to improve safety in a number of applications. …
Heat dissipation is an unavoidable but nonetheless negative side effect of a number of processes in a range of industries – from forging steel to powering an electric vehicle. Heat dissipation and insulation both need to be considered for ensuring maximum safety.
A number of factors can affect heat transfer. It’s important to understand what these factors and outcomes are in order to find the right way to address the heat dissipation with the right insulation.
Here’s what you need to know about heat dissipation, and how thermal insulation can help address it.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt keenly across the global economy. Combining this with large shifts in geopolitical policy, every single industry has been impacted, and has been experiencing delays and problems with their supply chain. The US is entrenching an ever-deepening trade war with China and the UK has decided to leave the European Union. Therefore for many manufacturing companies, building a resilient supply chain will become more critical than ever. …
In our previous blog post, we examined in detail five thermal insulation materials and their physical and thermal properties. In this post, we’re going to get into official thermal classification of insulating materials, their importance when it comes to selecting the right type of insulation and the applications of the materials in each classification.
When it comes to selecting the right insulation solution for an electrical application, it’s important to understand the dielectric capabilities and properties of the material or materials being used.
A dielectric material is one which is a poor conductor of electricity, but can support electrostatic fields. This means that if the material is exposed to an external electric field, the substance becomes polarized. This allows it to store electric charge, making it a poor conductor, but a good storage medium. …
Maintaining the right level of insulation resistance is vital in many industries which use machinery that operates at high voltages. A whole host of external factors can have an effect on the performance of insulation – general wear and tear, equipment damage, moisture, corrosive vapours, and of course – prolonged exposure to extremely high temperatures. From a design perspective, it’s very important that you understand the requirements of your high voltage application, the most important insulation material resistance of course being electrical resistance. However, in these applications, temperature and fire rating also have an important role to play.
As you’re no doubt aware – insulation can be made of a whole host of other materials – fibreglass, cellulose, mineral wool. That being said, mica has very unique properties that make it an excellent choice as a basis for insulation in a range of industrial applications.
Here we’re going to look at a particular form of mica – muscovite mica – its properties and how it’s used by the industry and by Elmelin to make a variety of processes safer and more efficient. …
Elmelin specialises in an innovative range of microporous high-temperature insulation materials that are used in a wide range of applications – including aircraft, military vehicles, nuclear power plants and furnaces. These materials are designed to give superior performance in all conditions. …
