The removal of halogens and other hazardous substances from materials intended for the electric and electronics sector is an industrial priority since long. The main reason lies in the dangerousness of these products when they reach their end of life.
For some compounds, this process started successfully, for example with the use of self-extinguishing systems without chlorine, bromine, red phosphorus and antimony. For other materials, a good compromise between performance and price compared to conventional solutions with a high environmental impact is instead more difficult to reach.
This is the case of PVC, a polymer containing large amounts of chlorine in its molecular chain, safe and versatile when used at room temperature, but potentially dangerous if heated or burned due to the release of chlorinated chemical species harmful to human health.
Among the many uses of PVC, one of the most common is the manufacture of conduits and pipes for the positioning of electric cables. Compliance of these products with current laws requires passing many non-trivial tests for thermal and mechanical stress resistance.
To successfully replace PVC in the manufacture of corrugated pipes, LATI has developed a special extrusion formula based on polyolefins made self-extinguishing by environment-friendly additives, LATENE EP1-V2HF.
In addition to the absence of toxic substances, this formula naturally also offers all the properties necessary for corrugated elements to meet the requirements of the industry standards, e.g. EN61386 for pipes and accessories for electrical plants.
However, LATI’s research was not limited to corrugated pipes, but developed also compounds for the extrusion of rigid conduits. The flame resistance performance includes V0 self-extinguishing at 1.6 and 3.2 mm thickness. This material, LATENE HD1 H2W-V0, features excellent mechanical strength at low temperature, a completely halogens and red phosphorous free formula, and is interesting for PVC replacement also in terms of price.
LATI’s proposal for the sector of civil and industrial electrical installations includes LATENE EP7-V2HF, a compound based on self-extinguishing PE-PP copolymer optimized for PVC replacement in the molding of flush-mounting junction boxes.
In this case, too, performance and price find a winning agreement for modern, practical and safe electrical installations.