Heating element

A heating element converts electrical energy into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current passing through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element. Unlike the Peltier effect, this process is independent of the direction of current flow. A heating element converts electrical energy into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current passing through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element. Unlike the Peltier effect, this process is independent of the direction of current flow. Resistance wire: Metallic resistance heating elements may be wire or ribbon, straight or coiled. They are used in common heating devices like toasters and hair dryers, furnaces for industrial heating, floor heating, roof heating, pathway heating to melt snow, dryers, etc. The most common classes of materials used include: Thick film heaters are a type of resistive heater that can be printed on a thin substrate. Thick film heaters exhibit various advantages over the conventional metal-sheathed resistance elements. In general, thick film elements are characterized by their low profile form factor, improved temperature uniformity, quick thermal response due to low thermal mass and a higher operating efficiency. Typically, thick film heaters are printed or flat substrates, as well as on tubes in different heater patterns. These heaters can attain watt densities of as high as 100W/cm2 depending on the heat transfer conditions. The thick film heater patterns are highly customizable based on the sheet resistance of the printed resistor paste. These heaters can be printed on a variety of substrates including metal, ceramic, glass, polymer using metal/alloy-loaded thick film pastes. The most common substrates used to print thick film heaters are Aluminum 6061-T6, Stainless steel and Muscovite mica sheets. The applications and operational characteristics of these heaters vary widely based on the chosen substrate materials. This is primarily attributed to the thermal characteristics of the heater substrate.