Several Roxtec cable seals (in blue) let cables pass through a bulkhead.

An unusual modular seal fits tightly around cables and lets cables pass through bulkheads.  The developer says the seal  provides a complete safety solution for long-term, cost-effective operational reliability in onshore and offshore wind farms.

The Multidiameter seal from Roxtec, is an adaptable sealing device based on a rubber-sealing module that consists of two halves, a center core, and removable black and blue layers. This construction ensures adaptability of one seal to several different sizes of cables and pipes. The flexibility to peel layers ensures a proper fit for all cables.  A single module can seal a cable or pipe over a span of several different diameters simply by removing layers from the module halves. Easily installed modules are used in combination with a frame and a mechanical compression unit, resulting in an optimum seal suitable for a wide range of industry applications.

The seals are classified for fire resistance, and ensure certified protection against gas, water, rodents, shocks, vibrations, noise, and electro-magnetic disturbance.

Roxtec seals let power and signal cables penetrate the roof of a nacelle.

Seals for converters and drives incorporate a single design that can adapt to copper and aluminum-core cables. Whether concerns are for cable density, high temperature, EMC or just greater reliability, the company says it has an appropriate design. The sealing system has fewer parts, which simplifies design, logistics, and installation.

For control cabinets in the nacelle, the seals let designers plan for future needs and regulations. Electrical installers can add cables and pipes throughout the service life of the turbine, without adding cost. In addition, maintenance and reliability is easy especially when companies can easily have spare parts on site.

For retention systems below the nacelle, a big challenge is vibration. The higher up the turbine, the greater the vibration. Depending on wind direction, vibrations and loads may ”move” inside the turbine. The rubber in the seal modules is softer than the outer jacket of the cable and therefore a retention or fixing system with the modules supporting the cable extend the lifetime of the cables. When a conventional clamp is made of harder material than the cable’s outer jacket, the clamp can damage the cable and incur maintenance costs.

Transformer and technical cabinets may have rodents or water causing downtime. The seal developer must specify a solution that will protect employees as wells as internal assets.

Roxtex
www.roxtec.com