The original THERMOSAFE® Induction drum heater was manufactured and certified for use in potentially explosive atmospheres in 1986.
At that time the Company was based in London and registered as LMK Engineering Ltd. Certification was given by the UK Health & Safety Executive (Baseefa) in Buxton, Derbyshire in association with testing conducted at the Electrical Research Association.
The Induction Heater quickly became the gold standard for drum heating methods due to its energy efficiency, speed of heating, robust design and certification standards. Heaters have been supplied to over 60 countries in Europe, Africa, Australasia and the Americas, and not a single heater coil has failed in its 30 years of production and use.
The heater was independently tested for energy efficiency by two separate UK Electricity Supply Companies, and won national awards for its energy saving credentials. See projects notes with Esso and Comma Chemicals.
In August 2000, the Company was purchased by the current Directors, and then renamed LMK Thermosafe Ltd. A major new product development programme was introduced, and the first innovation was the patented FARATHERM® Induction Base Heater.
The Industrial bulk storage market was seeing major growth in the use of 1000 litre Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC’s) at the expense of traditional steel or plastic 200 litre drums, and the next phase of product development focused on introducing a range of flexible heating jackets for different sizes of container not catered for by the drum size only Thermosafe®.
Our wholly owned North American subsidiary “Thermosafe Technologies LLC” was established in 2007 to meet the growing demand for our products in USA and Canada. We use the business name “Inteliheat North America” to give clear identity to our North American certified product suite. Core products are available from our managed warehouse in Miami, Florida.
With a full range of heating solutions for standard industrial containers in both hazardous and ordinary locations available off the shelf, exports quickly grew as world markets recognized the exceptional quality and value for money of these products. This resulted in LMK Thermosafe Ltd being awarded the “Queens Award for International Trade” in 2012.
Further developments saw the introduction of new technologies and machinery permitting more bespoke container, vessel and pipe heating solutions to be created beyond our core drum and IBC market. The significant investment in R&D resulted in hazardous area certifications being obtained for new product ranges meeting UL and CSA standards for North America as well as ATEX standards for the EU and IECEx standards accepted by over 33 countries.
The Company has always sought to develop innovative solutions for our customers’ needs and continues to invest in new product initiatives where these help our global partners meet technical challenges heating materials or surfaces.