Fire resistant silicone rubber grades for safety cables

With increasing demand in energy, the role of cables is increasing, especially when talking about safety. In case of fire, safety improvement of people and goods is an essential axis of research in many fields, and particularly in the cable area. Since a long time, Elkem offers silicone solutions able to meet the most severe requirements.  

Safety cables are specific cables used in high rise buildings, highly populated and critical areas such as: hotels, offices, hospitals, schools, recreational buildings (cinema, theaters…), underground and tunnels, industrial plants… Those safety cables help to keep fire alarms, emergency exit lights and other life-saving electrical back-up systems operating during emergency situations by giving people more time to exit a building or a transportation system.

Silicone rubber is a material of choice to insulate cables that must conduct electricity under extreme conditions such as fire.

Our product offering for safety cables includes 

• BLUESIL™ MF 8465 
• BLUESIL™ FRC 8470

Those solutions provide several advantages. 

Our silicones rubber improve safety and security

• High fire resistance and improved ashes cohesion: our silicone grades are specifically formulated to maintain circuit integrity in case of fire 
• Nontoxicity of residual gas: the silicone is halogen free and does not contain any toxic elements such as bromine, iodine, chlorine or fluorine

Our silicones increase product life

• Good mechanical property: flexibility, resistance to choc, high tear strength
• Resistance to environment: outstanding resistance to natural aging agent (UV radiation, Ozone, salted fog…), water repellency, resistance to pollution
• Wide thermal stability:  from -50 °C up to 300 °C

Our silicones provide high electrical insulation 

• Very good dielectric properties: low dielectric loss factor leading to low electrical aging

Our silicones rubber allow to reach high productivity and improved competitiveness

Several extrusion processes exist to manufacture silicone-insulated cables. With Elkem Silicone solutions, the choice of the extrusion process is yours. Our products are suitable for

• steam cure, 
• hot air vulcanizing, 
• salt bath cure 
• radiation cure

 

Our silicone solutions meet the stringent standards’ requirements

Cables must comply with stringent standards. In order to support cables’ manufacturers, Elkem developed custom formulations to comply with European standards such as 

• the European standard for circuit integrity EN 50200 PH90-PH120, 
• the British Standard BS 6387 C, W and Z that not only test the burning behavior of the cable but applies mechanical chocs and/or water 
• the German standard DIN 4102-12 that not only tests the fire performances of the cable but of the entire system, 
• the French equivalent of the European circuit integrity standard: the NFC 32070 CR1

At Elkem, we are dedicated people located around the globe, committed to your success. Because cables designs can be complex and technical requirements vary a lot from a project to another, we can develop for you tailor made solutions. You can also benefit from our worldwide presence and dual sourcing if needed. Finally, with detailed knowledge of the evolution of standards and current regulations, our specialists can guide you in terms of legislation as well as giving you regulatory support for your most demanding applications.