The demand for high-voltage cables to distribute electricity is high and growing fast. Supply is outstripped and new factories are being built all over the world. Look at the audacious Morocco project to link sunny and windy Morocco with the UK. And see ‘The surprising key to a clean energy future’ in Bill Gates’ blog.
High voltage is necessary to minimise the energy loss in transmission. It means that the insulation in the cables, whether under the sea or over land must be flawless. Especially for submarine cables repairing defects or damage on a cable is very expensive. So you would think that online quality checking in manufacture would be vital and commonplace. Yes and no. Yes it is vital, no it is not commonplace. In fact there is only one system that can examine HV cable insulation as it is being made, and that is Acuity’s ultrasonic Ultrascreen. An offline system for manual inspection of cable joints, Ultraprofilor, uses the same technology to 3-D visualise joints in even more detail.
Our technology is in factories of several global cable-makers. All our clients jealously guard the knowledge of the presence of our technology – hence the title of this piece. We have enabled recovery of cable worth millions by identifying defective lengths to cut out of reels that would otherwise have been scrapped.
Cable buyers have therefore not been aware of the benefits of having cable scanned in detail prior to shipment, although this is now beginning to change.
The professional bodies in the industry are showing interest in using our data, potentially for certification.
As the cable market expands so must we, to learn more about our products and about collaboration, please get in touch at: info@acuityproducts.co.uk.
For further information, please visit: www.acuityultrasonics.com