Project Summary

Background
Fiber optic communications have been rapidly increasing over the last 30 years. Fiber
optic cable has steadily replaced conventional co-axial (copper) lines as the standard
transmission medium. This is mainly due to its low attenuation (signal loss) over long
distances. Today, the use of fiber optics range from the telecommunications industry
to cable TV and computer networks.

Theory
A strand of fiber is nothing more than a solid glass cylinder (core) surrounded by a
different glass coating (cladding). Light is introduced into one end of the fiber. Due to
the material differences in the core and cladding and the angle at which the light
enters the fiber, light can travel along the length of the fiber with very little
attenuation.


Problem Statement
Due to the fragility of the fiber, protection needs to be added before the fiber can
actually be used in the commercial world. Alcatels cable plant takes up to 12 fibers
and places them in a polypropylene tube. These tubes (buffered fibers at the left end
of the cable in the Figure below) are bound together, surrounded by kevlar yarn and
rip cords (yellow strands), and placed inside of a metal armor jacket (green tube),
completing the core. To finish the process, a polyethylene jacket (black tube) is
extruded over the entire core (shown below). Temperature of the extruded
polyethylene jacket is around 460F. The jacket must then be cooled before it can be
wound on a spool. This is accomplished by guiding the cable through a trough filled
with chilled water. The temperature of the water can be varied (thus varying the
quenching rate) to alter the material properties of the jacket as specified by customers.
After the cable exits the trough it passes through a laser gauge to monitor diameter. It
then goes through a length counter and printer before being wound on a spool.



The problem Alcatel encounters is that after exiting the water trough, the cable must
be totally free of any water before going through the remaining components. If the
water is not totally removed, false diameter readings, improper length count and poor
print quality occur. We currently use an air wipe (shown below) which blows the
water off the cable as it comes out of the trough. The air wipe removes most of the
water but is inefficient and noisy.



The schematic below illustrates the process described above.




Design Task
Design a system that will quench cool the cable jacket to 80 degrees F without leaving
any residue prior to printing using the following criteria:
Quench/Cooling Rate: Variable
Cable speed: 328 feet/min (maximum)
Cable diameter: 0.4 1.25
Noise level: < 85 dB (Avg. over 24 hrs.)
Space limitation: No larger than current system (6' height, 3' width)
Bend radius: 15 times cable diameter (minimum) prefer no bend
Safety: Meet OSHA safety requirements
Electrical Power: < 460, 230, or 110 VAC 3 phase or 1 phase
Cost: < $5000