Borealis highlights wire and cable value solutions at Wire 2002

Borealis has been a major supplier to the wire and cable (W&C) industry for over 35 years and today is the global technology leader in supplying high-performance compounds for the power and telecommunication industries.

Currently, the industry is going through a period of major change. The deregulation of telecommunications and power utility companies has irreversibly altered the rules and structure of the W&C industry. Moving to a more open market is also bringing about a restructuring in cable manufacturing due to demands for increasingly higher productivity. And, at Wire 2002 in Düsseldorf, Borealis’ presentation highlights its contribution to achieving that objective.

On Stand D70, Hall 10, Borealis will focus on how its W&C business is delivering value to the customers by developing products that offer greater productivity, downsizing possibilities and improved material life-cycle performance. Products such as Visico/Ambicat, a unique copolymer and catalyst system for 1kV cables, Supercure XLPE, which brings improved line speed for 6-33kV cables, and Casico for safer, polyolefin based building wires, have been recognised by the world’s major cable producers as contributors to achieving higher value in cable production and application.

A special feature of the Borealis stand will give emphasis to cabling in buildings. Conventional prescriptive cable regulations take little account of real performance. To profit from the new opportunities, a new methodology for building design is needed. This demands a safety engineering approach and Borealis outlines state-of-the-art Fire Safety Engineering solutions to fire-spread and smoke, and toxic hazard reduction within buildings.

In co-operation with University of Greenwich, Borealis will demonstrate a computer model which combines real fire data with a computer fluid dynamics prediction of the consequent fire gas and smoke distribution within a building, and an analysis of the subsequent building evacuation. The three steps are demonstrated to combine in a seamless manner and, according to the University of Greenwich possibly form the first ever attempt at such a comprehensive analysis.

A further novelty is the incorporation of fire gas irritancy as one of the criteria in the evacuation model. The building chosen was a hospital with geometry based on a real Dutch building. The results demonstrate clearly the comparative hazard for NHMH and NYM cables. The work forms part of continuing efforts by Borealis to promote Fire Safety Engineering as the route to cost effective cable installations.

Towards that goal, Borealis offers a unique solution, Casico, which is based on making smaller cables, thus mitigating these deficiencies with the added advantage of potentially increased cable densities. The technology behind this builds on the premise that the dielectric properties of polyethylene (PE) are far superior to competing products.

Borealis research and development is supported by a complete range of production facilities, together with a pilot cable extrusion line and a dedicated Wire & Cable Skill Centre in Sweden, able to produce customised polymers for virtually any W&C application, whether very large volumes or niche application quantities.

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For more information, please contact Marc Van Aperen, Media Relations Manager, Borealis, tel.: +45 45 96 61 85 - Email: marc.vanaperen@borealisgroup.com or please contact representatives at the Borealis stand at the Wire Exhibition in Düsseldorf (Hall 10 Stand 10 D 70, April 8–12, 2002)

For editorial information, please contact: The European Marketing Group, Paulien Boumans, tel.: +31 164 317 015, fax: +31 164 317 039, e-mail: pboumans@emg.nl

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