Longitudinal waterblocking performance of conductive and non-conductive waterswellable nonwovens

Since the introduction of plastic insulated cables for transport of energy and telecommunication networks, longitudinal water penetration has become a subject of major interest. Besides already introduced systems like Aquablock, petrolatum filling, steel jackets etc., water expandable tapes offer a distinct solution to the so called longitudinal water ingress into the cable interstices. The tape have been developed in cooperation with European cablemakers and a practical experience of three years is available now. Power cables have been subjected to the French FDF test where water penetration during functioning of the cable has been measured. Besides measurements on the cable itself the lecture will propose a measurement method for swellable effectiveness and control. Other phenomena regarding interaction between metallic screens and the tape, temperature electrical resistivity and long term stability will be reported.