Sparks Electrical News April 2019

CABLES AND CABLE ACCESSORIES

10

FIRST AFRICAN-SOUTH AMERICAN FIBRE OPTIC CABLE OPENS FOR COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC T he first subsea fibre optic cable system to connect Africa and South America in the southern hemi- sphere is now live and open for commercial traffic, operator Angola Cables has announced two and a half years after construction began. Japan’s NEC Corporation began work on the 6200 kilometre, $160 million South Atlantic Cable System (SACS) in April 2016. The project was partially funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). It directly links Fortaleza, Brazil, with Angolan capital Luanda and will enable high speed and large capac- ity international data transmissions from Africa to the Americas, boosting current speeds five-fold. It will reduce latency between the Brazil and Angola from 350 ms to 63 ms. From Fortaleza, SACS can also be connected to another cable system which stretches to Miami Florida, enabling Angola and Africa to connect directly with the US. António Nunes, CEO of Angola Cables, said that the commercialisation of the cable is “more than a game-changer” when it comes to data connectivity and services between the two continents. He said in a release Thursday: “By developing and connecting ecosystems that allow for local IP traffic to be exchanged locally and regionally, the efficiency of networks that are serving the Southern Hemisphere can be vastly improved. As these developments progress, they will have considerable impact for the future growth and configuration of the global internet”.

ABB TO REVOLUTIONISE CABLE PROTECTIONWITH SMART DEVICES

T he first-of-its-kind Cable Protection System (CPS) smart sensor technol- ogy, currently under development in ABB’s Research & Development facility in Switzerland, will be designed to sense such problems as condensation or rising tem- peratures in the conduit that protects critical electrical cables. Using the analytical power and secure cloud-based communication of the ABB Ability™ platform, the system will remotely report and analyse data, allowing facility managers and engineers to keep tabs on their electrical cable protection through smart phones, laptops or other remote de- vices. ABB is already producing smart sensors for motors, pumps and mounted bearings, which effectively convert them into smart, wirelessly connected devices. In combination with those tools and the power of ABB Abil- ity™, the new CPS smart sensor technology will provide end-to-end real-time monitoring of a facility’s most crucial electrical components, a key characteristic of the smart factory of the future. The CPS sensors will attach easily to a con- duit with minimal configuration. They will be designed to withstand the same pressures and harsh environments that the conduit it- self must withstand, while requiring little or no maintenance of their own.

ABB Ability™ is a digital offering designed to weave together the threads of countless electronic inputs to help humans more ef- ficiently control the interconnected factories of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The real- time monitoring provided by the ABB Ability™ smart sensor system will give managers the ability to decrease downtime by reducing the occurrence of unexpected electrical cable fail- ures. And the ability to pinpoint components with potential problems could allow managers to replace or repair only the equipment that needs attention, rather than performing mass change outs on pre-set schedules. “At ABB, we pride ourselves on bringing the future into the present,” says Claudio Fegino, Global Product Group Manager for ABB Cable Protection. “Decades of engineering work have gone into the production of liquid tight fittings and conduits that can withstand everything from chemical exposure to physical abuse. Now, we are bringing cable protection into the world of Industry 4.0 with the CPS smart sensor, a tool that will give managers levels of information and control over their electrical systems that are unheard of today. This prod- uct is the first of its kind in the world, and we are proud to be on the verge of introducing it to the market.”

Enquiries: www.angolacables.co.oa

CABLES FOR THE DIRECT CURRENT ERA

A lternating current is the blood that flows through the veins of our power grid. It con- veys electrical energy across great dis- tances from the power station to our homes. But the monopoly of alternating current is coming to an end. Consumables such as mobile phone chargers, LED lamps and electric vehicle batteries increasing- ly require direct current. There is also an increasing number of power generators, such as photovoltaic units, that supply direct current instead of alternating current. The necessary conversion between alter- nating and direct current consumes huge amounts of energy. That is why energy experts are campaign- ing for the construction of direct-current grids. The industrial sector, especially the automotive industry, has also begun to equip factories to run on direct current. But there is a problem: direct current places new demands on infrastructure, including cables. Leading connection systems manufacturer LAPP has taken a close look at these challenges. The company showcased its first series product at SPS IPC Drives 2018. The ÖLFLEX DC 100 is specially developed for supplying motors and systems with direct current. The cable is the result of comprehen- sive experiments in the LAPP laboratory and at the Ilmenau University of Technology, where Professor Frank Berger researches the influence of direct cur- rent on the ageing process in cables. “In principle, cables for alternating current can also be used for direct current,” explains Berger.

In terms of long-term durability, however, there are still many open questions and very little in the way of knowledge, even though direct current has been around since the 19th century. Researchers have found evidence that direct current fields place different strains from alternating current fields on the plastic of the insulation. “It is very important to understand the correlation precisely, which is why we are paying so much attention to this issue that will shape the future,” says Guido Ege, Head of Product Management and Product Development at LAPP. The new ÖLFLEX DC 100 is designed to with- stand decades of use with direct current, just like its alternating current equivalent the ÖLFLEX Classic 100. The two cables feature different insulation but otherwise share similar properties. They both have PVC sheaths and offer identical dielectric strength, for example. The only visible difference can only be seen once the sheath is removed.

Enquiries: www.abb.com

RUGGED CONNECTORS FOR TOUGH ENVIRONMENTS

Enquiries: www.lappkabel.de

ing for boats and other marine ves- sels. The Molex design features a pro- tected, low-profile positive latch that stops wires getting caught during assembly while keeping the overall connector package size small. Seal caps with protective guide chan- nels align terminals to provide addi- tional security against seal puncture during assembly, and also protect against seal damage during han- dling, shipping, insertion and opera- tion. The wire-to-wire connector sys- tem comprises plug and receptacle housings and crimp terminals that can be assembled in 2 to 10-circuit configurations, including void options for 3, 5, 7 and 9-circuit requirements. Clean-body terminals with wrap- around insulation crimps are used to help prevent seal punctures. Each fe- male terminal has two contact points and two serrations in the conductor crimp area to enhance electrical and mechanical performance. A primary lock provides 30 N terminal reten- tion force.

RS COMPONENTS has introduced the Molex Squba range of 1,80 mm sealed wire-to-wire connectors, de- signed to fit into small spaces while offering IP67 protection against liq- uid, dust and dirt. Squba supports currents up to 6 A carried over No. 24 to No. 22 AWG wire, delivering more power over such a small wire gauge than other connector systems on the market. System integrators in the industri- al and transport sectors are expected to incorporate ever greater func- tionality into their designs, making it difficult to squeeze all the required components into the available space. Many applications also experience wet or dusty conditions that can cause unsealed connectors to fail. With a terminal pitch of just 1,8 mm combined with IP67 protection, the Squba connector system ensures a reliable connection even in space- constrained, harsh-environment ap- plications such as outdoor lighting, HVAC equipment, security systems, robotics, industrial motors and ma- chines, food processing equipment, liquid dispensers, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), lighting and under-dash wir-

Enquiries: +27 (0)11 691 9300

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

APRIL 2019