Customised heating jackets cut time and cost during curing processes
Around the world, wind power is becoming an increasingly important part of energy production. As the industry advances, so do demands on manufacturers to produce longer turbine blades.
Long blades can produce more power, and are preferred offshore, but also create difficult challenges for designers, manufacturers and maintenance staff. Because of their size and weight, sectional parts are bonded together with epoxy. Poor temperature control at this vital stage of manufacturing may be revealed months later when the blades are experiencing the stresses and strains of severe weather in their place of use.
Furthermore, as they suffer wear during use, on-site repair is more difficult than for smaller blades. Adhesives and composite materials often require heat to be applied at precise temperatures and uniformly across large surfaces, requirements that are much harder to meet in operational use at a wind farm than in a purpose-built factory. Using an unsuitable patchwork heaters is a mistake that can prove extremely costly. But the expense of getting large blades back to a factory for repair is prohibitive, especially when the wind farm is offshore.
The best solution to this common dilemma is to use custom flexible heating jackets, designed and manufactured by LMK Thermosafe Ltd.
For over twenty years, LMK Thermosafe’s ability to design and produce top quality, precision heating jackets across multiple industrial sectors has won us an unparalleled international reputation, and a long list of world-class clients, including Sinopec, BASF, Vestas, Akzo Nobel, Givaudan, Johnson & Johnson, and many more.
All our products are designed and made at our high-tech factories in Haverhill, England. This allows us to have complete control over the design, manufacturing and quality control process. It also enables us to create heating jackets for complex shapes like turbine blade tips, to our customers exact specifications.
A high quality heating element is machine-stitched into each jacket – it’s careful positioning plus a thick layer of fiberglass insulation work together to ensure that heat is distributed evenly and efficiently. Various power ratings and thermostats (40°C, 90°C, 160°C) are available to suite your exact temperature needs. Jackets can be created in many shapes, and can be joined together to heat the most complex-shaped items. The jacket’s own fully-adjustable straps ensure a perfect fit.
Where rigorous electrically safety standards are legal requirements, such as CSA, UL, CCC, ATEX and IECEx, whether for ordinary industrial use or in potentially explosive atmospheres, we offer fully certified solutions to the necessary International Approvals, underpinned by our extensive quality assurance and regular external auditing.
