New Borealis compound, Supercure™ LS4201, improves productivity

To help satisfy the growing demand for MV, HV and EHV underground cable systems for electric energy transmission, Borealis, the leading supplier of polyethylene to the wire and cable industry, has developed Supercure LS4201. The new XLPE compound can deliver significant increases in cable production speed without compromising either quality or performance.

Supercure LS4201 is a further development of Borealis’ well-established LE4201, the current industry standard for XLPE cable. It can improve productivity in the two main areas of degassing and extrusion.

Degassing is an important process for HV and EHV cables as it removes the cross-linking by-products such as methane, which otherwise would present a number of problems if left within the XLPE matrix. The time taken to degas a cable primarily depends upon the initial level of by-products. Traditionally the process has been accelerated by increasing the temperature, which speeds up degassing but also uses significant amounts of energy and can cause damage to the cable core. Supercure LS4201 reduces the degassing requirements and thus can significantly improve cable productivity.

Supercure LS4201 cable insulation was engineered to enhance performance in respect of improved length of run (lower propensity for scorch), reduced degassing and to maintain or increase extrusion speed. The scale of productivity improvements that can accrue from the increased throughput offered by Supercure LS4201 (increased length of run at essentially identical line speeds) will depend on cable design, size and manufacturing principles, but at 12mm wall thickness production time can be reduced by 25% or more.

Supercure LS4201 is among the new, advanced wire and cable solutions, which are presented at the Borealis Stand at Wire 2004, D70, Hall 10.

Supercure is a trademark of Borealis A/S, Denmark.

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