POLYMER PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY-I

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the

Requirements for the award of

Degree of Bachelor of Technology in Petroleum Engineering

Topic: Wire and Cable Coatings

Submitted by:

Jaspreet Singh Nagpal (11602666)

Submitted to :

Dr Prashant Kumar

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY, PUNJAB.

WIRE AND CABLE COATING

Crosshead extrusion process is widely used to coat wires and cables with a polymer.
The basic procedure includes pulling of the wire / cable that is be to coated, at a
uniform rate via a crosshead die, where it is covered with the molten plastic. This
extrusion process in most widely used in wires and cables that find usage in
telecommunication and electrical applications along with electronic industry. For
multiple coatings, two or more extruders may be used in tandem.

DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARD TWO-WIRE-PLUS-GROUND CABLE

BY CROSSHEAD EXTRUSION

Consider the example of the development of standard two-wire-plus-ground cable

that is generally used in home wiring. In the beginning, red insulation is used to coat
one copper wire and black insulation is used for the other. In a secondary process,
following procedures are followed:
 A paper-wrapped copper wire is combined with the black & red insulated wires.
This third wire is used for the ground.
 All the wires are fed through die.
 In the die, final insulating jacket is applied for protecting all the wires together.
The insulating jacket also assists in holding the three wires in a common plastic
sleeve, which is used home wiring
Another approach to produce this product, is via the continuous process of
production. In this, two extruders are used to individually apply red as well as black
coating on the two conductive wires. The successive processes are as follows:
 These two products brought together by using a third copper ground wire
 The three wires are sent via a third crosshead die, where the addition of exterior
jacket takes place
As all the three extruders are running at similar speeds, the end product is developed
with minimal handling. A negative point of this process is the amount of production
loss occurred, in case any of the three extruders is not running efficiently or there is
some problem with only one of the extruders.
Wire coating is generally done by the use of single screw extruders, in which the
crosshead extrusion process is carried out. The job of the extruder is to melt the resin
& forward it to the die at an even & constant melt pressure and temperature. The
crosshead extrusion process is carried out by using a general equipment in the line,
which includes following basic pieces:
  Unwind station or some other wire / cable source for feeding the line
 Pre-tensioning station for setting the tension throughout the process
 Preheat station for preparing the wire for coating
 Crosshead die
 Cooling trough for solidifying the polymeric coating
 Test stations for assuring that the wire is suitably coated
 Puller for providing constant tension through out the process
 Winder for collecting the product
TYPICAL POLYMERS USED IN WIRE COATING APPLICATION
Various polymers are used in wire coating applications by the crosshead extrusion
process. The characteristics of these polymers, which make them ideal for this
purpose, are their flexibility, electrical properties, ability to withstand abuse, and
durability. Typical polymers are as follows:
 Polyethylene
 Polyvinylchloride
 Polyamide
 Polybutylene terephthalate
 Thermoplastic elastomers
 Ethylene propylene copolymers
 Polypropylene
 Fluoropolymers
In the wire coating operation, cross-linked polyethylene is used. The wire is extrusion
coated with this polymer in this process. At the end of coating operation, polyethylene
is cross-linked on to the wire.