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, in association with testing conducted at the Electrical Research Association.
The THERMOSAFE® 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 since been supplied to over 70 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 Thermosafe® heater.
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 recognised 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. This significant investment in R&D resulted in hazardous area certifications being obtained for new product ranges meeting UL/CSA standards for North America as well as ATEX standards for the EU and IECEx standards, now 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 a wide range of technical challenges in heating materials and surfaces.
Many of our new products, such as our ProxAtex temperature controller and our Grafheat heating membrane are covered by relevant International Patents.
We now have subsidiary operating companies in USA (Dallas, Texas) and in China (Chengdu, Sichuan) for sales and technical support.
We have standard product inventory available for immediate despatch in the USA, mainland Europe and Australia, permitting rapid shipment to almost anywhere in the world. Many of our partner distributors also hold their own stock.
THERMOSAFE is a Registered Trade Mark of LMK Thermosafe Ltd in UK, Europe and elsewhere.