EoW July 2013

UK Focus on

offers feasibility and project planning, project management, QHSE, reporting and on-site contract management in support of major contracts fulfilled by the others. Whilst Mr Drever and Ms Williams will have MD responsibilities for individual companies within the group, their expertise will be harnessed as appropriate, across all divisions within the group. Oil resistance in cables Cables demonstrating various degrees of oil resistance are specified for use in a number of applications such as railways, shipbuilding, offshore platforms and wind turbines. Often the most difficult performance parameter for the cable sheath is the retention of mechanical properties after immersion in IRM902 and IRM903 oils at elevated temperatures. Standards for offshore drilling rigs may also require resistance to oil drilling muds, which can be more demanding in this respect. Cables used in these applications also have the added difficulty of having to be installed and to operate in very cold climates. Some typical standards are BS7655-1.4 2000 Insulation and sheathing for cable elastomeric cables, BS7655-1.5 2000, Insulation and sheathing for cables - coil end leads, BS7655 2.0 Meltech Engineering – UK Website : www.meltech.co.uk

2000 Sheathing compounds for ships wiring and offshore applications, BS7655 2.6 1997 Ordinary duty oil resisting types, EN50306-1 2002 Railway rolling stock cables having special fire performance, EN50305 2002 Railway rolling stock cables - thin wall, EN50264-1 Railway rolling stock cables - standard wall, and IEC 60092-359 Sheathing materials for shipboard power and telecom cables. These types of cable are usually made using rubber as the sheathing and insulation. However, there are a number of companies who are keen to enter this market who do not have the use of the continuous vulcanisation (CV) line necessary to cure the rubber. In addition, even in those companies that have this technology, there can be a shortage of capacity and it is expensive to install more. SX-0620 is a new grade of crosslinkable oil resistant sheathing compound, which has exceptional resistance to IRM902 and IRM903 and, at the same time, is flexible even at cold temperatures. It employs the Sioplas crosslinking technique, which also means that it can be processed on conventional cable extrusion equipment. An added benefit is that because the Sioplas process is a low pressure process, it is not necessary to use hard rubber insulated cores to avoid deformation during the CV process. If the applicable standard allows Sioplas crosslinked or even thermoplastic insulated conductors, these can be used instead, thus making important savings on processing costs and possibly CV capacity.

The new appointments come on the back of a period of sustained growth for Meltech, based in Blackburn, UK. Founded more than 30 years ago, it stands out as a North West engineering company which weathered the worst effects of the downturn in UK manufacturing by developing a determined approach to worldwide exports, focusing on blue chip customers and harnessing its considerable technical strengths.

▲ ▲ Chairman Marcus Moir, centre, with Peter Drever and Helen Williams

In recent years, Meltech has picked up orders from multinational companies such as Technip, Oceaneering and Parker Scanrope, delivering projects in Russia, USA, Europe and South America. Meltech Group has now been organised to emphasise its four operating divisions, three of which – Heat Treatment, CRE, (Continuous Rotary Extrusion) and Cable Machinery – are product driven. The fourth, TPS (Total Process Solutions),

Photo: bigstockphoto.com – ‘Ranoch Moor, Scotland, UK’ by Alexander Morrow

36

www.read-eurowire.com -eurowire.com

September 2012 S July 2013