New development for the appliance industry: PLADUR Thermosafe offers protection against contact burns and is now market-ready

PLADUR^® Thermosafe is a new product on display at Blechexpo. Developed by ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, Thermosafe is a coated steel product that makes for safe handling of hot surfaces of dryers. The thermal conductivity of the steel has been reduced to avoid contact burns. The material can be combined with sealed elements, is easy to form and process, and can be given a custom appearance, for example with colors.

Response to changed regulations

Since 2014 the appliance industry has had to comply with new rules that state that metallic contact surfaces of electrical appliances must not exceed a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius in normal operation. The developers at ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe now have a solution for manufacturers of condenser and heat pump dryers: PLADUR^® Thermosafe is a metallic-look, moisture-resistant, and easily formable coil-coating product that significantly lowers the thermal conductivity of the steel. This is achieved by a new production process in which galvanized and sealed steel is coated with a firmly adhering varnish and then finish-coated with a hot laminating film. The surface of Thermosafe heats up six times more slowly than uncoated galvanized steel. The new product is temperature-resistant in a range from minus ten to plus 80 degrees Celsius and also meets specified 1,000 hour moisture exposure requirements. PLADUR^® Thermosafe is now being used by customers in production.