HAZARDOUS AREA EQUIPMENT FEATURE
SEVEN MAJOR GLAND INNOVATIONS UNVEILED
Hawke International has unveiled a range of 28 new glands, featuring seven major innovations T
hese are claimed to represent the biggest set of developments within
global gland manufacture since the company introduced the first hazardous area cable gland 60 years ago. Hawke’s glands are used by leading oil
and gas companies globally, including Shell, BP, Adma and Opco to name just a few. The first key innovation is around Hawke’s Universal 501/453 cold flow compliant cable gland. The company has developed a special conversion kit which enables the Universal to be easily converted into a barrier gland. Matt Ogden, cable gland
product manager at Hawke, explains what the conversion kit means for users: “In essence, we’ve created a ‘one gland, two applications’ proposition. Our customers can now purchase just one gland for both their standard and barrier gland requirements. Given that these glands typically make up 10-15 per cent of the stock held by companies, that means major cost savings, stock flexibility and peace of mind.” The conversion kit is available in two
forms. This first is a quick, two-part hand mix putty, which is easy to use and has a cure time of 30 minutes. This is particularly useful where termination space for the gland is limited, or in situations where cables are running horizontally to the installation area. The second conversion kit uses a liquid, fast curing resin. This is injected into a unique clear compound chamber, allowing full visibility of the flameproof seal during installation and inspection.
TIGHTENING GUIDE Hawke has also unveiled a tightening guide, which is now integrated into all Hawke glands, as standard. The guide reduces the chance of glands being over or under tightened - a major health and safety issue for companies within harsh
and hazardous environments. A gland that has been under tightened may allow water or dust into equipment, or the gland may become loose, creating an electric shock risk. If a gland is over-tightened, the cable’s properties will be compromised, and the equipment may fail, or the cable may become damaged, which can then lead to explosion risk. “A poorly installed cable gland can
easily become a weak link in the chain and tightening is a critical
development process. For instance, to prevent cables pulling away if an incident happens with a gland, it is best practice to install a clamp and cleat within 300mm of any gland installation. However, due to lack of knowledge, or space, there are many installations where this standard has not been met. To help with this, Hawke has
developed a new cost-effective, space efficient cable clamp which can be applied within 50mm of a gland. The company has also turned its attention to the overall ingress protection rating (which measures the level of dust and water penetration) across all its
glands – meeting a high level of ingress
protection . The protection ratings it now offers include IP66
which withstands high waterjet
pressure and IP67/68
area where things can go wrong,” explains Ogden. “Whilst the cost of cable glands is insignificant compared to that of other hazardous equipment, the cost of failure can be catastrophic.” The guide gives the installer and
inspector a simple visual indicator, to show the cable gland has been tightened to the corresponding outside diameter (OD) of the cable being fitted.
PUNCHED SEAL GLANDS Punched Seal Glands (PSG) are another product development in the Exd barrier gland world. Hawke has increased the number of cores that can be passed through its Punched Seal Gland. As a result, this gland, offers a far greater range of barrier gland applications, completely removing the need for resin or compound and reducing installation time by well over 50 per cent. Health and safety has also been critical areas of focus within the
which tests the product when submersed in water. Lastly, through the addition of IP69,
the glands are proven to withstand high pressure steam cleaning. This coupled with a redesign – fully
enclosing the gland threading – means Hawke glands are now ideal for the food, clean room and pharmaceutical sectors.
CERTIFICATION Lastly, Hawke’s non-metallic, fully inspectable barrier seal has gained NEC certification. Ogden concludes: “We’ve focused on
every aspect that matters to our customers – cost, installation, maintenance, stock management, ease of use, performance, of course safety - and innovated on all of these fronts.”
Hawke International
hubbell.com/hawke
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING | OCTOBER 2019 33
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