South African electric heating element manufacturer Hi-Tech Elements has, in a reversal of normal trade, been awarded its largest-ever electric column paste heater contract to export 30 of these units to a smelter group in Golmud, in the central Chinese province of Qinghai.

The contract, which was awarded through a long-standing Canadian turnkey client, was secured last year, after which the first consignment of heaters left South Africa in September.

The company has, to date, delivered 18 units on schedule, and expects to deliver the final 12 units by the end of this month.

Hi-Tech Elements MD Shaun Bester acknowledges that the locally manufactured units do not differ significantly from those of its competitors, but asserts that the contract was awarded based on the client’s satisfac- tion with previously ordered heaters.

Each locally manufactured unit is rated at 120 kW during application temperatures of 120 °C, and incorporates a temperature transmitter, pressure differential transmitter and an over-temperature sensor as operational safety devices.

The company previously designed and manufactured electrode paste heaters for other applications, supplying industries in Korea, as well as the local mining sector.

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