Now it's not so smelly round Pirelli
15 Jan 2000
Preparing electricity cables for underground conditions is a smelly business, as Pirelli Cables knows well. The atmosphere at the company's Southampton works is now sweeter, however, thanks to an Econ-Abator catalytic oxidiser from Jones and Attwood.
The cables are wrapped in insulating paper, which is impregnated with a special compound at a high temperature and under vacuum. Unfortunately, the by-products formed during the impregnation process and discharged from the vacuum pumps, cause nuisance to nearby households. The discharge's high VOC and oil content made the application ideal for an Econ-Abator system, so Pirelli hired a pilot unit for a four-month trial.
The Econ-Abator employs a low-temperature, non-precious metal pelletised catalyst, costing about a seventh of the price of a typical platinum catalyst. This catalyst sits on a patented support grid in a fluidised bed. The grid redistributes the catalyst, maintains uniform bed depth and eliminates channelling, while increasing the unit's efficiency. Catalyst can be added or replaced while the unit is operating, reducing the downtime associated with fixed bed systems.
The oxidiser, operating at a temperature of only 315iC, completely solved Pirelli's odour problem. A full-scale unit has now been working continuously for a year and, according to project engineer Bob Cant, it is also proving far cheaper to run than conventional systems, and requires minimal maintenance.
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