Amorphous Metal Tape

amorphous material

What is an amorphous material?

Amorphous material is a solid with internal structure of liquid. Contrary to an amorphous composition, a crystalline solid possesses a crystalline lattice, i.e. periodical structure forming a lattice in space. The structure of the liquid differs from that of the crystalline solid by absence of the periodical order. The atoms of the liquid are chaotically distributed in space. Cooling of liquid results in arising the crystalline structure at some specific temperature (crystallization temperature). However if the cooling is very rapid then the liquid solidifies without forming the crystalline lattice. This is true for multi-component alloys, which include two kinds of atoms (binary alloy) or more.

What are the specific features of the amorphous tape?

The leading feature of these materials is the absence of the crystalline structure. The crystalline solids are typically built from small crystallites with grain boundaries between them causing most of the material faults. Amorphous metallic alloys have homogeneous structure providing high physical, mechanical, anti-corrosion, wear resistant and magnetic properties making them superior in many aspects with respect to crystalline metals.

What is amorphous metallic alloy ribbon?

Amorphous metallic alloys, which are often referred to as metallic glasses, are relatively new materials, mainly known in the form of thin ribbons. They are pre-pared from molten alloys by rapid quenching technique. In this technique the melt of a metallic alloy is poured onto rapidly rotating copper drum. Due to low thickness of the ribbon (20 to 30 micron) it is cooled at a very high rate (about million degrees per second). It prevents the crystalline structure from growing during solidification. During such a short time the crystalline structure has no chance to arise. Instead the amorphous solid in the form of a very thin ribbon like tape (width varies from few millimeters to 20 cm) is prepared.

Why TruHeat's amorphous metallic tape is an excellent heating element for moderate temperature heaters?

Due to the absence of the crystalline order the amorphous ribbons possess elevated specific electrical resistance compared with crystalline solids of the same composition. Together with the physical form of the ribbon, which provides low mass-to-specific surface area ratio, it makes the ribbon a very attractive candidate as a heating element. Why? The explanation is very simple: energy transfer from any heating element is proportional to its surface area and temperature difference between the heater and environment. The higher the surface area the lower the temperature difference needed to transfer the energy from the heater to the environment. Since the surface area of the ribbon is pretty high (compare it with the surface area of a conventional wire used in many heaters) it is able to efficiently transfer the heat to the environment without arriving to high temperatures. If we are speaking about, for example, domestic heating then lower temperature provides healthier environment and higher safety.

SAVE ON ENERGY CONSUMPTION

Benefits

KEY ADVANTAGES

SUPERIOR HEATING PERFORMANCE

Due to the low mass of TruHeat’s amorphous heating tape, it performs far better than regular heating elements such as heating cables. Indeed, the amorphous tape will begin heating its surroundings faster than the traditional heating cable. This also means that TruHeat’s unique technology is more energy-efficient than other heating systems, thus saving on electricity bills and offering a low maintenance-cost system.

LONG PRODUCT LIFE

Due to the non-crystalline nature of the amorphous heat tape, it resists being brittle over time due to oxidization unlike copper heating cables found in conventional in-floor heating systems. Additionally, our amorphous heat tape lasts much longer since it operates at a lower temperature.

LARGE HEAT TRANSFER AREA

The amorphous heat tape’s large transfer area means that the product reaches a specific power output level at a lower temperature.

ENERGY SAVINGS

Our revolutionary amorphous heat tape heats up faster than any other heating element. So, while other heating systems consume tons of energy to get up to peak temperatures, the amorphous heat tape reaches its peak temperature faster and with minimal energy consumption. Additionally, since the heat tape is flat in nature, the heat is instantly transferred into the flooring above unlike heating cables where majority of the heat is stored within the core of the cable. Combining these 2 elements is much lighter on the user’s wallet when using our heating system.

NEGLIGIBLE EMF

Measurements of the electromagnetic field strength generated by our amorphous heat tape prove that it is negligible when compared to the strength of acceptable EMF levels. TruHeat’s EZ-Heat mats made of our amorphous heat tape have passed rigorous safety tests and TruHeat has all necessary approvals.

3x FASTER HEAT DELIVERY

Differentiation

AMORPHOUS METAL TAPE VS HEATING CABLE

Cable based systems need at least 1 hour to get up to peak performance levels and this tends to get a little heavy on your wallet over time. Due to the thin metallic nature of our heat tape, our heating system will reach peak temperature in minutes. In comparison to hydronic based systems, TruHeat systems also out perform them by delivering the heat when you need it and shutting off once the desired room/floor temperature is achieved. Whereas, the hydronic systems need to keep working all the time otherwise they are not effective since they too need a lot more run time to be effective.

Based on lab tests, TruHeat’s amorphous metal heat tape will achieve its peak 86°F/30°C temperature in merely 3 minutes. Meanwhile, the cable reaches this same temperature in over 10 minutes. This means that the amorphous heat tape starts to delivery heat 3 times faster.

Testing

HEAT TRANSFER TEST

When a copper cable is heated, the core is much hotter than the surface trapping tons of unused energy which makes it highly inefficient. Additionally, the actual contact area of a thin cable is miniscule. You can do a simple test by taking a cylindrical pen and touch it against your finger to see how much surface area of the pen actually touches your finger…very small amount correct? This is exactly the same case with the cables. Only a tiny portion of the cable actually makes contact with the surface it is trying to heat above it.

The advantage once against goes to our metallic heat tape in this case. The fact, that the heating tape is so thin also means that the generated heat can easily be sent forth to the surrounding area, making our heating element far more efficient.

In fact, based on lab studies, TruHeat systems offer a 173% better heat transfer rate compared to heating cables as shown in the chart.

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