Industries served by Elmelin and our mica insulation
Elmelin’s mica and microporous insulation products and solutions are used across a wide breadth of industries, in different industrial and commercial settings and situations. This reflects the sheer adaptability and flexibility of mica’s natural mineral properties, and of our commitment to finding the right solution for the businesses we serve.
Whereas mica’s history as an insulation material is closely bound up with the foundry and steel industry, its present-day applications are truly varied, to the extent that it provides essential insulation and thermal management support in areas as diverse as aerospace, power electronics and consumer appliances.
Here, we’re going to tell you a bit about the industries we serve and describe how we help and support their processes and products, as specialists in our field.
Mica and the Foundry Industry
Mica has a history of being the go-to product for foundry insulation and protection. Its natural qualities of resistance to high temperatures and low thermal conductivity, combined with its flexible durability, make it well suited for a range of foundry applications.
Insulation helps foundries maintain the consistently high temperature levels they require for metal casting work. Mica’s superior technical attributes mean it is ideal as a lining material for furnaces, providing the necessary flexibility of movement to reduce the possibilities of cracks appearing in the lining during expansion and contraction.
In addition to these excellent slip plane qualities, mica also protects the coil grout when combined with a mesh material, acting as an essential early warning system for furnaces.
Foundries benefit from mica because it increases furnace safety, boosts relining speeds, reduces downtime and helps improve overall foundry productivity.
Elmelin’s range of insulation materials for foundries includes mica laminates and mica roll; microporous insulation sheets used in ladles, tundishes and for thermal management; and mica components for furnace construction.
Contributing to Continuous Process Industries
Petrochemical, glass and cement industries require high temperature insulation solutions, ensuring consistency and safety at every stage.
The petrochemical industry constantly strives to reduce emissions and improve efficiency in energy consumption by continuously improving its processes. High temperature insulation solutions support this, enabling consistency and safety in production.
Our lightweight, flexible, but extremely durable mica-based and microporous solutions include: insulation for process pipes, linings to protect against extreme heat, thermal barriers and fire protection.
Furnaces and kilns in glass and cement production are high consumers of energy but require regulated temperatures to ensure the quality of their finished products. Microporous insulation supports these crucial processes, saving on energy, maximising volume and keeping production at high temperatures consistent.
Furnaces also require control valves as part of their safety systems. Elmelin’s Elmtherm product range provides essential insulation for these valves.
Supporting Transport
Key transport industrial sectors rely on Elmelin’s products to meet performance and safety challenges.
In the automotive sector, mica-based insulation products offer the kind of advanced adaptability essential for an industry that must continually evolve and refine its products and processes to meet environmental and energy-efficiency targets and challenges.
These products include: thermal management solutions for batteries; thermal runway and flame retardant barriers; and various key components made from mica, including washers and gaskets, starters and alternators.
Automotive production requires a combination of optimised performance with assured protection. To be properly responsive, modern cars are both technologically advanced and highly sensitive. Consequently, they have fragile components requiring a high degree of thermal protection and durability. Elmelin’s rigid and flexible insulation products have precisely the qualities modern motor manufacturing requires.
Mica also provides essential insulation for vehicle batteries, to ensure they are fire resistant and crash-safe. It also insulates data recorder boxes, used in various transport modes; and provides fire-proofing for cabins and interiors, and specified storage containers for haulage.
The aerospace industry relies on the right high temperature insulation to ensure flight safety and efficiency, and because it is both lightweight but extremely strong and resilient, mica provides the basis for different insulation solutions.
For air transport, Elmelin’s insulation solutions cover heat shields, aircraft interiors and exteriors, insulation for batteries and flight recorders and various components.
Insulated Tooling Solutions
Elmelin provides mica and other products for essential insulation of tools for both manual and machine applications.
For factories and workshops, mica provides insulated machine parts, which we cut, punch and shape to order. These can be a combination of standard parts and shapes that are bespoke to specialised processes, cut to order.
With properties allowing it to withstand temperatures of up to 12°C, mica tube is ideal for insulating heat guns. Ceramic mica encloses the heating element, providing insulation and ensuring concentrated, uniform heat emissions.
Mica for Power Electronics
The high resistivity and stability of mica make it ideal for power electronics systems, where long-term durability is critical.
In power electronics systems, effective insulation is integral to their working, while distorted waveforms they generate can pose risk to how effective this insulation this is.
At the same time, these systems must meet ever-increasing demands for faster performance within increasingly closer integrated functions.
Mica tubes used in capacitors and resistors, and other mica components, help ensure the quality and reliability of how electrical instruments perform, while simultaneously offering a high degree of protection.
As an insulator, mica has a high dielectric strength, able to withstand intense electric fields and temperatures up to 650°C. Combined with glass fibre, mica also has considerable mechanical strength, bolstering its practicality.
Insulating Consumer Appliances
How safe today’s consumer appliances is integral to how acceptable, and therefore, successful, they will be in a competitive marketplace. They must meet strict safety standards, and must perform consistently.
Electrical and high temperature insulation are essential for the safe performance of vast numbers of different appliances. Mica’s application as reliable insulating material is considerably varied, and it can be found in everyday items such as hairdryers, toasters and micowaves. Elmelin also supports manufacturers of fan-assisted heaters and convention heaters with insulation solutions.
Adaptable mica laminates provide essential hot plate insulation for a wide range of consumer appliances, preventing radiated heat loss, providing superior thermal protection for energy efficiency, and offering the kind of durability that helps ensure product longevity.
Modern Fire Protection
For most industries, fire prevention is a core concern. Asbestos is no longer a preferred material, now that the severe health risks associated with it are well established.
Mica and microporous insulation products provide a safe, adaptable substitute in a wide range of settings and applications, being both strong and highly heat resistant.
Consequently, mica provides heat shields for automotive, aerospace and other transport applications. It also supplies the military with fire proofing and protection for data recorders.
Elmelin’s microporous technology also provides the basis for essential fire-proof insulation of fire doors and elevator doors.
Have We Mentioned Your Industry?
Even if you’re industry isn’t in this article, it doesn’t mean we haven’t got an insulation solution for you. Mica-based or microporous technology might provide you with the solution you seek. Call us on +44 20 8520 2248, or email sales@elmelin.com. Or, you can complete our enquiry form and we’ll get back to you as soon as soon as we can.