Feature Cabling & Cable Management


Legrand has supplied its Swifts deep galvanised cable ladder and cable tray to a recycling facility in Bolton in order to reduce the risk of corrosion to metal fittings in what is a very challenging environment


ue to the ever increasing impor- tance placed on recycling and waste management, the waste industry is becoming more technically advanced and increasingly focused on developing new recycling techniques to prevent the need to bury our rubbish underground.


Battling corrosion at recycling plant D


There are now several alternatives to landfill, not only from a waste man- agement point of view but also in terms of giving the waste a second life as a new, saleable commodity. The recycling of garden and kitchen waste into compost products that can be used as a soil improver in the horti- culture and agriculture sectors, is one area that has seen a great deal of devel- opment. The new 90m x 60m In-Vessel Composting (IVC) facility in Bolton, for example, is part of Greater Manchester’s Recycling and Waste Management Contract with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) and Viridor Laing (Greater Manchester). The contract aims to achieve at least 75% diversion from landfill and 50% recycling by 2015 and the Bolton facility is one of four IVC plants developed under the con- tract. From now on, all compost pro- duced will be sold as a multi-purpose ‘Revive’ soil improver, closing the loop on the recycling process.


A challenging environment Although the process of creating the compost is relatively straight forward, the environment it creates inside the plant can present some complex chal- lenges in terms of cable management - thus creating some very specific needs. To address these Swifts deep galvanised cable ladder and cable tray from Legrand has been installed at all four IVC Plants.


Nigel Leaver from Legrand’s cable management business, commented, “IVC is comparable to a home com- posting bin on a grand scale. On arrival at the plant the waste is shred- ded before being deposited in the ‘vessel’, where its temperature is mon- itored to ensure it is properly com- posted. The compost material is then recovered from the base of the vessel at intervals and transferred by con- veyor to an adjoining building for maturing before being dispatched.” The nature of the waste, the com- posting process and the end product are in themselves fairly innocuous,


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however, the high moisture levels in the plant caused by 100% humidity can present problems, along with the various acids in the moist atmosphere resulting from the microbial decompo- sition of the waste. Leaver explained, “This means that there is an increased risk of rust and corrosion for any metallic fittings and equipment. Therefore, the cable management infrastructure for the complex network of mains and small power cabling, requires a heavily galvanised cable ladder and cable tray.”


A Swifts solution To address this need mechanical and electrical design building services com- pany, SES, selected Legrand’s Swifts deep galvanised cable ladder and cable tray for the new plant because, while hot dipped galvanised cable manage- ment systems offer sufficient rust and corrosion protection for most installa- tions, hot dip galvanised products have a zinc coating of 55 microns as com- pared to 110 microns for deep gal- vanised alternatives. The difference is thanks to the type of steel used to create deep galvanised products.


Leaver continued, “Legrand has its own galvanising plant in Scarborough which enables us to manage the whole production process. While deep gal- vanised products are manufactured using the same process as hot dip gal- vanised products, it is manufactured using a silicon rich steel which attracts and retains more zinc to provide a double thickness zinc coating and a product that is much more resilient to moisture and other contaminants. Indeed, in a category C4 type industrial environment like the IVC plant in Bolton, we estimate the life expectancy


of deep galvanised cable management systems to be around 50 years - twice that of hot dip galvanised products in the same setting. What that means for the specifier is that a deep galvanised finish offers a much more robust cable management system with only a rela- tively small price premium over stan- dard galvanising and at a considerably lower cost than using stainless steel.” Legrand supplied SES with both its Swifts cable ladder for the heavier


Top: the development of a new 90m x 60m In-Vessel


Composting (IVC) facility in Bolton is part of Greater Manchester’s Recycling and Waste Management Contract with


Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) and Viridor Laing (Greater


Manchester) Inset: the


environment created inside the plant generates a complex challenge in terms of the cable management specification


mains cabling to create the power dis- tribution network and its Swifts cable tray to feed the small power cables to the machinery and the plant’s fire alarm system. The cable ladder and cable tray were supplied in 300mm, 600mm and 900mm widths to accommodate differ- ent sizes and volumes of cables at dif- ferent parts of the installation. The deep galvanised Swifts cable ladder was installed onto a 316 grade stainless steel channel, which pro- vided an open framework for the installation. To avoid the potential for electrochemical corrosion, which can occur when two dissimilar metals come into direct contact, SES insu- lated every point of contact using a rubber strip.


Leaver concluded, “When specify- ing a facility like the IVC plant in Bolton it’s essential to select products that are sufficiently robust for the application. Opting for a deep gal- vanised cable ladder and cable tray will ensure an excellent service life while delivering value for money on a whole lifecycle costs basis.”


Legrand www.legrand.co.uk T: 0870 608 9000


Enter 206 SEPTEMBER 2013 Electrical Engineering


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