WIRE & CABLE | MATERIALS
Right: Benvic’s Linkflex products are developed to meet the latest EU CPR requirements
European compounder Benvic responded to tighter EU regulation covering chlorine emissions from cables during burning with the launch two years ago of its polyolefin-based Linkflex HF HFFR and LSZH grades. Since then it says it has further expanded its Linkflex HF development team and invested in laboratory, pilot line and development equipment at its Montornes production site near Barcelona, Spain. The Linkflex HF product family was initially designed to comply with the latest European Construction Products Regulation (CPR) require- ments and early applications mainly targeted low voltage requirements in the building market. Benvic Product Marketing Manager Eric Grange says it now plans to extend into new and more demanding application areas. He cites the example of hi-speed internet data networks, where its Linkflex grades offer the fire resistance required for fibre optic installations. He also sees big opportunities in the fast growing renewable energy sector, where many projects are located in highly demanding climatic conditions. Other markets the company is targeting include industrial and transportation. “Benvic is now a multi material company,” says
Grange. “But not just because it makes good theoretical sense. The fact is that we are using our core polymer compounding expertise to create and build a number of new businesses, custom- er-by-customer and from the ground up.” Last year Teknor Apex announced a number
Right: Teknor Apex has expanded its FireGuard low smoke cable compound range
of new additions to its FireGuardPVC com- pounds, which are said to be suitable for applications ranging from copper data cable jackets to fibre optic cables and provide low smoke generation and low flame propagation performance that exceeds UL Subjects 13, 1424 and 444. According to the company, the new
grades offer lower smoke and higher oxygen indexes compared to current products, enabling production of larger,
higher density cables that comply with the US NFPA 262 Flame Travel and Smoke requirements. “These features are critical in applications such as data centres, wireless infrastructure for buildings and campuses and security systems,” says David Braun, Wire and Cable Industry Manager for the company’s vinyl division.
Cracking solutions Resistance to cracking is particularly important in the production of sheathing for armoured power cables used in hot environments with long term exposure to strong sunlight. Under such conditions sheath temperatures can rise considerably, reducing tear strength and leading to higher risk of tear propagation. The different expansion rates of the sheath and the metal armour can further exacerbate the problem. At the Cables Europe 2023 conference in
Cologne in Germany in March this year (organised by Compounding World publisher AMI), Innospec Leuna Business Development Manager Dr Chris- toph Bornschein detailed the effect of its Vis- cospeed HP and strongly amorphous Viscowax 1440 polyethylene wax on crack resistant cable sheathing compounds.
New name in HVDC subsea cable
XLCC is a UK-based start up that last year gained permission to build a production site for XLPE-insulated 525kV HVDC submarine cables on a 28ha former industrial site at Hunt- erston in Scotland. Construction is expected to begin on the site, which will include a
34 COMPOUNDING WORLD | May 2023
production facility with a 180m high PEX-a extrusion tower together with R&D and testing labs, this year. The company hopes to start cable production in 2025. XLCC is linked to the proposed
Xlinks renewable energy project. This aims to connect a 3.6GW 200km2
solar facility in the Guelmin Oued Noun region of Morocco to the UK’s National Grid. XLCC will produce the four 3,800km long 525kV sub-sea cables required for the sheme. �
www.xlcc.co.uk �
www.xlinks.co
www.compoundingworld.com
IMAGE: TEKNOR APEX
IMAGE: BENVIC
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