WIRE JOURNAL FEBRUARY 2019
®
INTERNATIONAL www.wirenet.org
COMPOUNDS & COLORANTS
The Atlanta
PREQUEL Continues
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WIRE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL
What’s new FEATURE
for Atlanta?
Leggett & Platt President & CEO will discuss ‘The State of Manufacturing’ On Tuesday, May 14, Karl Glassman will share his insights into the opportunities and challenges facing the manufacturing sector through the lens of wire and cable.
Global Continuous Casting Forum Back for its third staging since being launched in 2011, the GCCF has its largest-ever technical program, with presentations by copper and aluminum industry veterans.
First-time exhibitors offering new ideas More than a dozen new and/or long-absent returning exhibitors will be among the 400+ companies represented at Interwire. Three such mini-profiles are in this section, and attendees may want to update their “stop by” list because it could prove to be a memorable show floor find.
North American Prysmian executive will share his industry perspective On Wednesday, May 15, Giacomo Sofia, who heads Operations for Prysmian Group North America, will discuss “Positioning for Future Challenges and Opportunities.”
James Monroe WJI Photo booth It’s one thing to attend, but your Atlanta visit won’t be complete if you don’t take advantage of the James Monroe-sponsored photo booth at the event entrance. Group shots? Not a problem!
Show floor to be connected...by fasteners There will be a decided fastener presence in Atlanta, with more than a dozen OEMs confirmed as exhibitors as of press time. For more details, see p. 77 and the March WJI issue.
What else will be going on? Choose “Conference Registration” when you register and find out first-hand. 38 | WIRE JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL
2 new speakers join Fundamentals’ instructor roster WAI’s Fundamentals of Wire Manufacturing day-long course on Monday, May 13, will feature two new instructors. Joao Noroña, l, senior product development manager at Paramount Die Company, speaks five languages and holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an MBA from John Hopkins University/Carey Business School. Mark Spencer, is managing partner of W. Gillies Technologies, LLC, member RSD Group. He holds a B.S. degree in biology from Springfield College.
Mordica Lecture at Sonoco Theater The 2019 Mordica Memorial Award winner, Walther Van Raemdonck, will present his Mordica Lecture at the Sonoco Theater on the show floor, on Tuesday, May 14, at 1 pm. A frequent technical paper author, he has been senior process technology manager of wire products at the Technology Center of NV Bekaert SA, Zwevegem, Belgium, since 2013.
Show floor to offer the best of exhibitors Interwire, the largest such trade show in the Americas, will once again offer attendees a wealth of resources and options to explore, presenting technology and services from more than 400 companies. At Interwire 2017, visitors hailed from 45 states and 50 countries. From A to Z, Interwire is the place where attendees can search for specific technologies, and see what new methods and approaches are feasible.
Are you ready for some fun? It doesn’t matter if you are a football fan or what you came to Atlanta for, because the Welcome Reception on Tuesday night, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the College Football Hame of Fame, is intended for all attendees. The event will also include comedian John Floyd (limited seating).
Q &A The following exchange by Richard Baker, a key organizer of the Global Continuous Casting Forum, discusses the purpose and goals of the event.
How was program developed? The program has been prepared by a team of very experienced professionals that have spent their career in the continuous casting sector. Most of the group worked together in planning the 2015 GCCF and the inaugural one in 2011 championed by Gary Spence, now retired from Encore Wire. We have taken up the challenge to continue and deliver the best program possible for 2019.
Who is the target audience? Continuous casting is a critical function for the wire and cable industry as quality raw materials are the foundation of successful rolling, drawing and stranding operations. So, our target audience would be individuals who manage any element of this critical process for copper and for aluminum. That includes rod production professionals, quality control managers, lubrication and surface chemists, metallurgists, process engineers, purchasing, and of course, anyone from the commercial side since the content spans the entire spectrum of the casting process. Of note, the 2015 GCCF had representation from 19 countries, and that is a key factor in this truly global, but relatively small field of continuous casting.
Why is important to offer both aluminum and copper tracks? The initial 2011 GCCF focused on the copper business and in 2015 we had the pleasure of adding an aluminum track to this three-day event. Copper and aluminum are the fundamental building block metals of the
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FEATURE
Monday/Tuesday Highlights
FEATURE
Compounds & Colorants
This feature presents observations from suppliers of compounds and related additives, a look at how one cannot be color blind when it comes to wire and cable, and why one cable company decided to change compounds. It is followed by a technical paper that addresses relevant issues and a Products section with a range of compounds.
Mexichem Specialty Compounds Our daily commitment is to be a solid partner for our customers. We do this by offering a wide variety of compound types – specialty PVC, LSHF (low smoke halogen free), TPE and TPU – and by listening to the ever-emerging challenges of our global marketplace. See p. 56. While our customers focus on the cable design, we help by bringing forward next-generation solutions that address the various demands of the end application.
From l-r, staffers Mike Pullano, Nick Liotus (Repco Industries), Will Pavilionis, Maryan Awad and Daniel DeLisle. A recent complexity we have faced together is the emerging Construction Product Regulation (CPR) standards for fire and toxicity performance. Cable engineers are looking for tailored solutions to keep their company’s product offering viable and so we design compounds that meet the various classes. For example, a data cable may need to pass Class C in some applications and Class B2 performance standards for other applications. Instead of offering just one LSHF MEGOLON compound, we give our customers a choice of MEGOLON compounds depending on the cable design and the end application. This same customer may need to design a data cable that can be sold in the U.S. marketplace as well as in Europe and Asia. With our knowledge of global fire standards, and by working in partnership with our customers to understand other critical elements such as data speed or flexibility (to name a few), we have the ability to tailor the existing MEGOLON compound or offer alternative materials,
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including options that are another polymer type, such as plenum capable SMOKEGUARD. No matter the unique design of the cable, we are focused on bringing safer products to the market, collaborating globally to create meaningful solutions, and using our broad polymer expertise to bring value through our products and services. Daniel J. DeLisle, general manager, Mexichem Specialty Compounds.
Nexeo Solutions The wire and cable industry faces many challenges, such as: (1) stringent material requirements to meet CSA, UL, and other industry standards; (2) a rapidly changing landscape of end product needs for many markets, including, Local Area Networks, automotive, photovoltaics, etc.; (3) continued industry consolidation, both in the supplier base and customer base, which tests long-term relationships and can erode personalized attention; and (4) navigating a consistent supply at fair market pricing can be difficult in the current environment due to fluctuating raw material costs and global tariffs. Nexeo Solutions, a global distribution company, partners with suppliers and customers to help solve challenges in unique and unimagined ways. We have a wide variety of wire and cable products to offer, so that as industry trends change, we are ready to supply products that meet our customers’ requirements. See p. 59. We have excellent relationships Nexeo Solutions Director of New Busiwith best in ness Development Kevin Kwiatkowski. class suppliers
Arkema Extreme performance without compounding. The world is becoming more extreme and an extreme world needs extreme materials. When you need high performance solutions for wire and cable, but don’t want the hassle of compounding in exotic additives, Kynar® PVDF is a decades-proven solution in the wire and cable industry. In its natural form, Kynar PVDF exhibits excellent chemical and UV resistance, flame and smoke properties, high temperature ratings up to 150ºC, and proven cold impact resistance. See p. 60. NFPA-262 passing Kynar PVDF grades are also available when high flame and smoke resistance is required for plenum applications.
Need to meet future requirements led to a change in compounds HELUKABEL recently announced that it would change the compounds used in select TOPFLEX and TOPSERV VFD cable products. Below, the global cable company explains why it chose to do so. HELUKABEL chose to upgrade its conductor insulation material to XLPE from PVC/nylon to stay ahead of the curve as the industry transitions towards an electrical installation code update that requires the use of RHH, RHW, RHW-2, XHH, XHHW and XHHW-2 insulation. The product specific cable types being upgraded are: TOPFLEX 600 VFD, TOPFLEX 650 VFD, TOPFLEX 1000 VFD, TOPSERV 600 VFD and TOPSERV 650 VFD. There has been a change to Chapter 4, Article 4.4.2.8 Circuits Supplied from Power Conversion Equipment that states, “Electrical conductors and equipment supplied by power conversion equipment as part of adjustable speed drive systems and servo drive systems shall be listed flexible motor supply cable marked type RHH, RHW, RHW-2, XHH, XHHW, or XHHW-2 or selected based on equipment manufacturer’s instruction.” To date, no motor manufacturers have specifically required XLPE insulation for general VFD wiring applications. The general interpretation of the current 2018 NFPA for wiring with regards to this is that cables using these insulation types are intended for use inside the panel where the wiring is contained between the drives and protection equipment (of the panels) that may experience unusual overload and/or a fault condition. The reason behind this belief is because this requirement is not included in Chapter 12 (Conductors, Cables and Flexible Cords) where THHN and TFFN insulation are still approved. However, HELUKABEL believes that the requirement for thermoset (common to RHH, RHW, RHW-2, XHH, XHHW and XHHW-2) conductors in VFDs under Chapter 12, which applies to cables used for external wiring, or outside of the control panel, will be in the next NFPA update (three to four years from now). This potential code change would be the result of a shift in the market rather than a safety concern when compar-
ing the benefits of thermoset over thermoplastic insulation in terms of premature insulation failure. This is because electrical systems are safeguarded by properly sized cables (using 125 percent FLA), and/or the system’s circuit protection device (circuit breaker or fuses) that would trip or blow before any conductors would be exposed to such extreme currents as to degrade the insulation. Additionally, HELUKABEL is upgrading to XLPE insulation because it does offer electrical and mechanical performance benefits in terms of lower capacitance ratings, especially in applications that require long cable runs, (as opposed to other insulation options) to better match the motors impedance for helping to reduce electrical issues in the system that can waste energy and increase electrical noise. A higher current load rating is also possible due to the conductor temperature resistance of 105°C. The upgrade will be seamless for customers since the TOPFLEX and TOPSERV VFD products are already in stock and can be ordered using existing part numbers.
HELUKABEL cables now offered with XLPE compounds.
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who work in tandem with our technical, product management, and sales teams to ensure stellar service. We have a team of wire and cable market-focused sales and technical personnel who are strategically located around North America and who provide personalized attention to our customers. Nexeo Solutions also has a strong logistics presence that helps sets us apart from our competitors, including our own private fleet and extensive facility network, which has been designed to support our customers. We utilize state-of-the art technology in every part of our organization to help improve efficiency, so our teams can spend more time on what is really important: customer satisfaction. Kevin Kwiatkowski, director of new business development, Nexeo Solutions.