The Hindu : CPRI develops new compound to protect cables

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 23, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

CPRI develops new compound to protect cables

By Divya Sreedharan

Bangalore Nov. 22. Every year, households and businesses lose electrical equipment worth crores of rupees in fires caused by short circuits. The Polymer and Liquid Dielectrics Laboratory (PLDL) at the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) here is in the final stages of developing a non-toxic chemical compound to protect power cables from fires. It has also applied for a patent and tied up with a company to launch it commercially.

P.V. Reddy, scientific officer at PLDL, told The Hindu that the Fire Retardant Low-Smoke (FRLS) compound was different from others in the market that claimed to be "totally FRLS" but were actually not.

The composition of the CPRI compound, for instance, did not have toxic chemicals such as lead and antimony which are banned worldwide but are still used in cables here, Dr. Reddy explained.

Laboratory studies on the compound had taken three to four years. Then they signed an agreement with a manufacturer, Farcom Cables. Work had continued for two to three years more with funding from the Department for Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR). "We expect to launch the product by January or February 2004," Dr. Reddy said.

Farcom would pay long-term royalty from sales to CPRI and the National Research and Development Corporation, he said, but would not specify the amount involved.

According to Dr. Reddy, their product will be cheaper than the ones in the market. The compound is, in layman's terms, coated or extruded onto the metallic conductor. The thickness of the coating depends on the rating of the cable.

Dr. Reddy said CPRI was also developing a `zero halogen FRLS'. "Usually when a PVC cable burns, some acid gas is let out and, this, in turn, corrodes nearby metallic components. But `zero halogen' FRLS does not emit that gas." This product, however, was still in the laboratory stage, but CPRI planned to apply for a patent for it as well, he added.

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