Document evoZaaENL7JpZNBEzwOXBBLyG

!x h . ij ii j ip " wi i V " LIA22026 nti^fiTi' --'''- - -* *-- LEAD INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION 4*0 LEXINOTOM AVKNUE NSW YORK 17, H. Y. igiunispnum nwiin.nnp n mm) 1 < H i 3 \ ' :i u .3 1 i i 1 1 j * ? May 17, l&o swxTt 5ng5n7vna'-ro?^iai? CABh- SKUrKL'G To Uesibers of tbo Lead Industrie* Associationi At neetlng of tha Board of Director* of tbo A*,ooiaticc, held on December 9, 19li9, the secretary was in structed to investigate the nature and extent of substittttlon of other natcrlals for lead cable loathing. As a result he suheitt.od the attached lnterln report to the Board at its nceting on ,Vsril lb, 1950. The Board ordered that the Interin report he circulated to all oca. hers of the Association. A* the su^estion of the secre te y the study i.ill be carried further. It is hoped that the final report nay be submitted before long. Very truly yours. ir A Secretary // ' h w j ii in in i u p mu ijwr^vifW1"' yv P^ir "SJ PW i t - r J ' i ; j < 1 1 Survcy of Substitution tor Deed Cable Shaath Part X - Rawer Cable Power coble in recent years he* accounted for perhaps one-third of the totel aaount of leed used for ceble eheething. In surveying the developments with respect to aheethe for power ceble, the following here been interviewed! Hr. Save Allen, ealet aeneger. Anaconda Hire end Cable Co. Hr. Edward P. Dunlaevy, rice president, Phelpe Ebdge Copper Producta Co. Hr. Pettee, General Cable Co. tosars. R. t. Spofford, purchasing agent, and Richard Haya, edver- tlelng manager, Okonite Co, Hr. C. T. Hatcher, aaeiatant chief diatrlhutlon engineer. Consoli dated Edlaon Co. Jr. J. A. Pulaford, Public Service Coapard.es of rtew Jerrey. Sponsor, Underground Croup of Transmission and Distribution Cocclttee of the Edison Electric Institute. For the purpose of this survey It Is well to divide power cable Into four aeparate classifications! (1) low voltage net work cable up to and Including 600 volts, i?) rediun voltare cable froa 600 up to and Including 5,000 volts, 3) high voltage cable over 5,000 and up to and Including 69,000 volts, and (L) very high voltage cable 69,000 volte and higher. In y-ovp 1, substitution has been developing over the last 20 years or ao. rirst rubber and more recently neoprene have been "ubotltuted for coeblnatlona of rubber and lead and Impregnated paper end 'end. This substi tution was the result of lower cost for tiie substitutes which have been found largely satisfactory for these lew voltages. So-e utilities arc still using lead sheathed cables In this field for very speclsl reasons, such as Hew Orleans, under extremely wet conditions. It is roughly estimated that this class of cable aaounte to about ?Cf of the total volume. In Oroup 2 the same type of substitution has been proceeding for tome years but here the substitution Is not yet as coeplwte. This group accounts for a smaller volume than &-oup 1, " tgpusw'S-jytfw. i jijjuw.niJ.a_u i J N 1906.01 wimw s> iiri JilrwiihrSl i mMTf`i ul' ute. 'y*p LIA 2202 8 i iir iii r* -- - 7- In Group } there has as yet been little or no substitution for Im pregnated paper insulation and it la still recognised that a lead sheath nist be used where impregnated paper la used for insulation, This is because metal provides the only absolutely Impervious sheath. It la probably the most im portant field tonnagewise. It anears that there is likely to be little, if any, substitution until some sore economical and effective dielectric la found than paper, or until tome metal is found which may be economically aubetltuted for lead. Experiments are being made in Europe on aluminum aheath but they have not penetrated to this country as yet. Alpeth, a combination of aluminum and polyethylene hca been tried with unsatisfactory result* to data because of the effect of tl;* }*it generated in tha cabla on the polyethylene and tha tendency of the aluminum joints to open up. The only loss of lead business in this group vculd be through a reduction of the thickness of the lead eheath and this is taking place to some extent. Reductions of from 20 to 33S in the lead thickness have been tried, the reduced lead sheath being jacketed with neoprene. Thore are differences of opinion as to the advisability of this reduction. The neoprene supplies additional corrosion resistance but some manufacturers and utilities feel that much reduction in the cable sheath nay cause failures where the cable Is bent. Some utilities are still insisting on the full lead thickness evan though they also use a neoprene jacket for corrosion protection and protection against scoring. ~s In Group L steel pipe, filled with oil or gas under high pressure. Is rapidly substituting for lead sheathed cable because of the high oil ted gas pressures involved. Tha trend here will probably be a continued dis i placement of lead. ' In suraary, it appear* that until better Insulation than paper, or a better cable sheath than lead is developed, such substitution as will take place In power cable has already very largely taken place. In the low voltige field some utilities still use lead, particularly if tha price dif ferential is not too much higher than the non-1 e-c cable. . Since there are some .inferences of opinion and practice both among cable makers and users, there is a possibility that some carefully prepared technical promotion might be developed to keep the present lead shecth business and perhaps to regain some rf the lost market. Sine# this is M engineering problem and sill be decided by engineering facts, it is recommended that w* continue our survey to deveilop, if possible, point* which might be brought to the attention of <>cers o.T power cable to convince thee that they should uss lead sheathed cable. This mould require Interviews with a fairly large number of utility engineer# mho are still convinced that they should us# lead, to develop in detail their reasons. Tl.es* might then in turn be used to Con vince others. sms wewjja^-jimwie w i ?i -a ' " tee u'ij'-iy - y. MHpw immwmr-jm<*%rn*m< . n............ ... m Mfumpitu.............. .. .'Wsfgsffqp^Bigw^qffltgc'W.mjminun is' LIA22029 --**1*- '" ---- --1'-- ' --*-' - >1 -t ,- - --- --- '- - - < -- - -- -- I * Part n - Telephone Cable lhe situation with respect to telephone cable Is quite clearly outlined In the papers to be presented by representatives of the Western "dectrio Co. at the Lead Industries Association Annual Meeting on April U. 1950. Briefly It appears that Alpeth sheath has displaced approximately 75% of all telephone cable lead requirements and that Alpeth production capacity Is being Increased to displace about another lOOC. Lead is coopetltlve with Alpeth at varying prices depending upon the particular site and type of cable the price at which lead Is competitive varying from as low as 6$t per lb. to as high as 1L# per lb. Western Electric Co. frankly admits that they do not know how long Alpeth sheathed cable will last but their research leads then to believe that it will last a satisfactory length of time. Eecajse there Is a possibility of moisture working through the polyethylene Jacket and the Joints In the aluminum sheath, they are developing a new caclc, Stalpeth. which has a corrugated temc coated steel sheath over the aluni:am and polyethylene over the steel. The Joint In the teme eetal is soldered and lead sleevea and wiped solder Joints are used for connections. Tils cable will be a little more expensive than Alpeth so probably lead will be competitive at slightly higher prices than for Alpeth. Shipping of both Alpeth and Stalpeth Is con siderably less expensive than lead. Unofficial opinions expressed Indicate that there will be a con tinuing trend towards the Alpeth or St*lreth sh*aths but that lead will also be an Important part of the business for s long tine to come. It does not seem likely that th lend Industry can do anything tr> promote lead In telephone cable because of the extensive research lacilltln* and the close coordination of all units of the ?ell Telephene Syst'A. y r T