(Re) Introduction to BCE (Belilove Company-Engineers)

Ceramic Thick-Film Heaters for OEM Analytical and Medical Equipment

Ceramic heating element

Manufacturers of laboratory and process analytical equipment, as well as medical equipment, are continually challenged to make products smaller and more compact. Smaller, more efficient components are always in demand. Providing heat for sample stability or a chemical reaction is a common requirement. There's an ongoing challenge to find smaller and more efficient electric heaters.

Many traditional electrical heating elements are limited in size and efficiency due to the balance required between conductor temperatures and the the heat transfer properties of the dielectric material used in their construction. Sometimes the mass required to insulate electrically is at odds with the ability to drive the heat into the part.  Metal sheathed heaters use compacted magnesium oxide, or wafers of mica for dielectric. While these provide good electrical insulation, they also inhibit thermal transfer from resistance element to the external part. Flexible heating elements use a variety of rubbers or fluoropolymer elastomers that sandwich the resistance element. While these designs are dielectrically strong, and allow for excellent heat transfer, they are limited by the maximum operating temperatures and watt densities of the elastomer.

A newer, alternative technology is “thick-film” ceramic heaters, a process of depositing a resistor “trace” of tungsten paste on top of a ceramic part in a process very similar to screen printing. The deposition process allows for close control of thickness and width of the resistor, thus accurately controlling the conductor resistance, wattage, watt density, and uniformity of the heated part.

The use of ceramics as the heater body (referred to as a heated part), has many advantages. Ceramics are chemical inert, offer excellent thermal conductivity, impervious to moisture, and are very durable. The downside to using ceramics as heaters, however, is the difficulty in machining to very tight tolerances. In recent years though, many of the ceramic machining hurdles have been overcome through advanced ceramic machining processes.

In the early years of development thick-film ceramic heaters had a few major challenges. Dealing with mis-matched expansion coefficients between the ceramic substrate and the conductor trace was considerable. Years of research now have yielded excellent data on compatible materials making this problem much less significant. Another challenge is controlling the tolerance and repeatability of the heater resistance from part-to-part. Improvements and advancement in this area are made possible with laser etching, tighter screening procedures, and advanced machining.

The use of ceramics provided many interesting possibilities in heater design, and many materials were tested and researched. The most common ceramics used for thick-film heaters today are alumina (Al2O3), silicon nitride (Si3N4), beryllium oxide (BeO), and aluminum nitride (AlN). Each material has its own unique chemical and physical properties, but all exhibit good thermal conductivity and good dielectric properties.

The combination of excellent thermal conductivity, high dielectric, high watt densities, precise thermal profiling, and custom shapes and sizes that make thick-film ceramic heaters so attractive to equipment manufacturers. Providing more heat in smaller areas is easier than with traditional heaters. Additionally, some of the ceramics used are non-contaminating and moisture-proof, making them excellent candidates for clean and ultra-clean applications.

Ceramic thick-film heaters have many advantages over metal or elastomer sheathed heaters beyond just providing a more compact component. They are very fast acting, durable, moisture proof,  and contamination proof. They can be designed and machined to virtually any size or shape, watt density, voltage, and distributed wattage profile. While the initial design and prototyping requires investment in time and money, the resulting product can be mass produced economically and with repeatable accuracy and quality.

For more information, contact:
BCE
(510) 274-1990

www.belilove.com

Attending MD&M West and the Value of Exhibitions

Visit BCE at booth 2184

This week BCE is exhibiting at MD&M West (Medical Design and Manufacturing West) in Anaheim, CA. While the title implies medical equipment design, the exhibition also includes packaging equipment and other related equipment. The show runs Feb. 9, 10 and 11.

MD&M is the world's largest medical design and manufacturing exhibition. It "offers three days of technical presentations, hands-on design workshops, demonstrations and ticks and tricks to help you stay ahead of the game in 2016."

Representatives from many well-know "Medtech" companies will attend and a full 3 days of presentations are planned. Some of the more interesting titles are "The Creative Keys: How to Turn a Thought Into a Thing with Ease and Grace", "New Product Development Technologies and NexGen Applications", and "Leading the Smart Manufacturing Revolution".

BCE's Applied Resistance Group will showcase its thermal system design capabilities, advanced ceramics machining, laser machining, and thick film circuits and heaters. BCE is quickly developing a nation-wide reputation as an excellent partner for these products.

BCE is exhibiting their
years of experience in
thermal system design,
thick film, laser machining,
and advanced ceramics.

BCE has decades of hands-on experience with thermal systems and advanced ceramics. The result is a strong expertise in analytical instrumentation, semiconductor equipment, photovoltaic devices, medical equipment, plastics processing machinery, foodservice equipment, packaging machinery, aerospace technologies, and laboratory R&D.

Exhibitions and trade shows are great places to network and build business relationships. Face-to-face contact with prospective customers and vendors provide an opportunity for strong business relationship foundations. Meeting with someone in person is far better than meeting online.

One huge benefit of attending an exhibition is the ability to meet large numbers of helpful people in one place. When attending an exhibition, it's best to plan ahead and utilize your time efficiently. Set up appointments in advance so that you don't waste time wondering. Make a list of booths and people you really want to get to know. And please, stop by the BCE booth (2184) - you'll be glad you did.

Engineered Ceramics for the Analytical, Semiconductor, Electronics, Defense, Medical, and Aerospace Industries

Advanced ceramics machining

Ceramics are inorganic, non-metallic materials made from compounds of a metal and a non-metal. They include such compounds as oxides, nitrides, and carbides. Ceramics are typically insulators (electrically and thermally), but their properties can vary widely - for instance some ceramics actually belong to the super-conductor class. Advanced ceramics, such as alumina, zirconia, silicone carbide and silicone nitride are very resistant to corrosive chemicals and high temperatures. They posses higher stiffness and lower fracture toughness than metals.

Ceramics behavior under mechanical, thermal and chemical stress differs widely from other materials such as metals, which makes machining ceramics very difficult and requires knowledge, experience, equipment, and expertise. As the need for higher performance / higher precision parts has increased, advances in ceramics machining has overcome many of yesterdays machining challenges, and today's high-tech processes are yielding extremely close tolerance parts and ultra precise shapes.

Ceramic machining is the process of shaping the advanced ceramic material into high precision parts used in industry. Machining removes unwanted material by mechanical means, using very hard abrasive particles. If the machining is done before sintering (to achieve a "near-net-shape" to save time and money), the ceramic is referred to as in the "green state". Green state machining offers considerable advantages in quality, lower production costs, and manufacturing flexibility.

Grinding, the material removal process where abrasives is used, is the most prevalent machining process for advanced ceramics. Polycrystalline diamond and cubic boron nitride are the grinding materials of choice because of their hardness. Their particles are fixed to a grinding tool (or wheel) via resin or vitreous bonding, and are turned against the ceramic part at high speeds. Variation in grinding efficiency is a challenge though, due to the constant changing state of the grinding tools because of wear and abrasion.

The following chart is a helpful reference guide to the properties of some common advanced ceramics (click on chart for larger view).

For any inquiry on precision machined ceramics or thick film ceramic heaters, contact BCE at:

21060 Corsair Blvd
Hayward, CA 94545
Phone: (510) 274-1990
Fax: (510) 274-1999
www.belilove.com
E-mail: sales@belilove.com

Ceramic Thick Film Electric Heating Elements

Need a high performance electric heater in a low mass, low profile package? Need to put high watt density a small space? Or maybe you need to distribute wattage disproportionately to an irregularly shaped part?  Thick film ceramic heater technology is the answer!

Ceramic thick film heaters.

Ceramic thick film heaters are easily customized into a variety of shapes and sizes, and provide excellent heat transfer. Long life is assured by precise thermal matching between ceramics and resistor traces.

The heater ceramic substrates provide excellent hardness, wear resistance, and compression strength. The physical properties of the ceramic also provide optimal thermal conductivity and excellent uniformity. Thick film ceramic heaters are perfect for application in analytical equipment, life science equipment, mass spectroscopy, medical devices, semiconductor processing, packaging machines, and in applications ultra pure and chemically aggressive media.

Flexibility in Design:

Custom shapes
and designs.

• Virtually unlimited in shape or size.
• Single or double sides, one or two layers per side.
• High purity applications no problem.
• Precise control and uniformity via custom watt densities and patterns.
• Distributed wattage for ideal application of heat to part with minimal losses.
• Multiple heating zone capabilities for more precise control.
• Available in virtually any voltage, AC or DC.
• Integrated sensors including thermistors, thermostats, thermal fuses, and printed RTD's.
• Wide variety of lead configurations conforming to shock and vibration, vacuum and purity standards.

For more information contact:

BCE 
21060 Corsair Blvd
Hayward, CA 94545
Phone: (510) 274-1990
Fax: (510) 274-1999
www.belilove.com
E-mail: sales@belilove.com