| Mineral-insulated Copper-clad Cable |
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Information AboutMineral-insulated Copper-clad Cable |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT MINERAL-INSULATED COPPER-CLAD CABLE | |
| power cables | |
| passive fire protection | |
| electrical wiring | |
| electric heating | |
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&2; overall diameter is 7.2 mm]] Mineral-insulated copper-clad cable is a variety of Electrical Cable made from copper conductors inside a copper sheath, insulated by inorganic Magnesium Oxide powder. The name is often abbreviated to MICC or MI cable, and colloquially known as '''pyro''' (because one vendor for this product is a company called Pyrotenax ). A similar product sheathed with metals other than copper is called ''mineral insulated metal sheathed'' (MIMS) cable. MI cable fulfills the Passive Fire Protection called Circuit Integrity , which is intended to provide operability of critical electrical circuits during a fire. It is subject to strict Bounding . MI cable is made by placing copper rods inside a circular copper tube and filling the intervening spaces with dry magnesium oxide powder. The overall assembly is then pressed between rollers to reduce its diameter (and increase its length). Up to seven conductors are often found in an MI cable, with up to 19 available from some manufacturers. Since MI cables use no organic material as insulation (except at the ends), they are more resistant to fires than structures that are wired with plastic-insulated cables. MI cables are used in critical Fire Protection applications such as alarm circuits, fire pumps, and smoke control systems. In process industries handing flammable fluids MI cable is used where small fires would otherwise cause damage to control or power cables. MI cable is also highly resistant to ionising Radiation and so finds applications in instrumentation for Nuclear Reactors and nuclear physics apparatus. The metal tube surrounding the conductors effectively shields circuits in MI cable from electromagnetic interference. The metal sheath provides protection against accidental contact with energised circuit conductors. MI cables may be covered with a plastic sheath, coloured for identification purposes. The plastic sheath also provides additional corrosion protection for the copper sheath. HISTORY The first patent for MI cable was issued to the Swiss inventor Arnold Francois Borel in 1896. Much development ensued by the French company Societe Alsacienne de Construction Mechaniques. In 1937 a British company ''Pyrotenax'', having purchased patent rights to the product from the French company, began production. During the Second World War much of the company's product was used in military equipment. The Pyrotenax company introduced an aluminum sheathed version of its product in 1964. MI cable is now manufactured in several countries. Pyrotenax is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Tyco Corporation. PURPOSE AND USE MI cables are used to provide Circuit Integrity for power and control circuits of critical equipment, such as the following examples:
HEATING CABLE A similar appearing product is Mineral-insulated Trace Heating Cable , in which the conductors are made of a high-resistance alloy. A heating cable is used to protect pipes from freezing, or to maintain temperature of process piping and vessels. An MI resistance heating cable may not be repairable if damaged. MI heating cable is normally embedded in concrete and spaced on 12”(300 mm) centers within the concrete, this causes what is known in the industry as striping. TYPICAL SPECIFICATIONS
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