Porcelain Enamels

The Frit smelting plants of Pemco International are amongst the most advanced in the world. For the manufacture of vitreous enamels, the raw materials used for smelting have to pass intensive quality control tests before they can be weighed by formula, homogenised and introduced into the smelting furnaces. Typical batches contain up to 20 different raw materials such as quartz, borax, aluminium oxide, soda, titanium oxide and complex fluorides. Smelting of the raw materials requires temperatures at or above 1500ºC.

Pemco’s porcelain enamels protect the underlying material against corrosion, as well as giving the material excellent anti-bacterial properties and hardness. They also enable customers to enhance the visual appeal of their product with attractive and durable colours.

Today, porcelain enamels are typically applied as direct-on single-layer enamels, thus eliminating the need for applying two or more separate layers. The formulation of the direct-on single layer is such that proper adhesion, coverage and uniform coating as well as the desired colour is achieved in one step. The more traditional method of a ground-coat followed by at least one cover-coat is still used where aesthetic or other requirements put exceptional demands on the coating. In applying enamel coatings a wide range of application techniques are available, each of which will impact the particular enamel formulation. Kitchen appliances, hot water tanks, sanitary ware, chimneys, stoves and architectural panels are just some of the applications for Pemco’s Porcelain Enamels.