Low Voltage (LV) Underground Cables

Visico™/Ambicat™ cable insulation has been developed to meet the society’s and network owners demand for greater reliability of cable networks. Being a moisture cured crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) technology, Visico/Ambicat improves supply security vis-a-vis PVC through:

• higher thermal resistance (90 vs 70 degrees Celcius) – allows to run more power through the cable;
• reduced risk for costly electrical failures - ability to accept temporary overloads without damage to the cables (250 vs 150 degrees Celcius);
• far more resistant to the presence of moisture which leads with time to the breakthrough of the cables.

In addition, by combining Visico/Ambicat XLPE insulation and PE jacketing a weight saving of more than 40% over traditional PVC cable constructions can be achieved. Another reason to consider to use only PE material in the cable construction is that XLPE insulation and PE jacketing do not require separation before recycling at the end of cable working life.

Simplifying and raising XLPE production productivity

Visico/Ambicat is designed to reduce complexity and cost in the production of high quality, moisture cure, LV cables. It is a two component system and is delivered in pellet form fully quality controlled. It comprises a base material and proprietary catalyst that provides for fast crosslinking in ambient conditions, improved ease of cable processing and minimal downtime which leads to higher productivity than with any other technology. 

Other key features of the system are:

• a unique scorch retardant technology – allows for longer production runs and less time for cleaning of extruders;
• increased output and quality using standard extruders.

Better for environment and people

Visico/Ambicat insulation system has low environmental impact. Its catalyst system contains no tin, no flammable liquid or harmful additives and requires no energy for elevated temperature crosslinking.

Optimising the benefits

Selecting the correct jacketing material can further enhance the performance and strength of the cable. For instance, with a strong HDPE jacket the cost for cable laying can be significantly reduced.

Wide experience has shown that Borstar® bimodal PE compounds provide the ideal complement.  These jacketing materials are characterised by:

• superior processing with a wide processing window;
• mechanical toughness;
• excellent stress crack resistance.