As a design engineer what should you consider while selecting the cable for application?How do you approach selecting the right cable for an oil and gas application?
The solution is simple i.e to install Oil resistant cables. LAPP being the leading cable manufacturers in India has always been the pioneer for highly flexible industrial cables. Today, Lapp offers a wide range of highly flexible cables for control and power applications in industrial environments. These cables have also been engineered and tested to be oil, coolant and chemical resistant and withstand dry, damp and wet conditions and therefore allowing you to save money on downtime and lost production.
Cable issues are difficult to diagnose and resolve and result in more than 70% of signal transmission issues. With downtime costing a lot, availability requirements demand that the right cable is specified for each use.
The good news is that despite the broad range of oil and gas applications many of them share common cable requirements. In this article I take away the voodoo and spell out the 3 easy steps to selecting the right cable.
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The Right Industrial Cable Jacket
Having the right outerwear, or jacket, is also the key to signal reliability for oil and gas applications.
Thus the first question to ask yourself is “How harsh is the environment for my project?” The answer to this leads to selecting the right industrial cable jacket.
- Select the Level ofOil Resistant Cables Needed
Now that you have narrowed down the range of suitable jacket types, what level of oil proof cable do you need?
- Special Considerations by Industrial Cable Type
The three most common cable types used in oil and gas applications are Ethernet, Variable Frequency Drive(VFD) and Control and Instrumentation cable. Let’s take a look at the unique selection criteria for each.
a.Ethernet Cable
Should it be Copper or Fiber?
The key considerations for choosing copper or fiber Ethernet cable are:
- If you have runs of 100 meters you need fiber
- If you need data rates of more than 1GB than you need fiber
- If you need Power over Ethernet then you need copper
b.VFD Cable
Many motor systems are used to pump or refine oil and gas. Often these motor systems use Variable Frequency Drives, or VFDs, to precisely control their speed, as doing so greatly reduces both costs and energy consumption. In addition, VFDs also improve process control, reduce manufacturing waste, provide a longer useful life for motors, reduce maintenance and deliver high reliably.
However, there is a downside to VFDs, and that is that they generate disruptive electrical noise in the environment around them that can create problems in the refining or pumping processes. The noise emission can be difficult to track down and eliminate, causing reduced production or downtime.
Proper cable shielding is thus essential for VFD cable, particularly when longer cable runs are required. Choosing well-designed, robust VFD cables ensures motor uptime and reliability of the VFD system and also provides protection for any sensitive instrumentation and adjacent control systems.
A challenge in purchasing VFD cables is that there are no standards for them. Thus it can be difficult to differentiate between minimum construction-grade cable sold as VFD cable and high-performing VFD cable that protects motors and ensures the maximum benefits of a VFD system.
c.Instrumentation and Control Cable
In addition to selecting the right jacket type, the important thing to determine for Instrumentation and Control cables is the type of insulation.
The Right Oil Resistant cables should deliver High Performance and High Availability.
If you follow the steps in this article:
- The right industrial cable jacket
- Select the level of oil resistant cables needed
- Remember the special considerations by industrial cable type:
- Ethernet – copper or fiber, bonded-pair technology
- VFD – choose high-performance cable characteristics
- Instrumentation and Control – select the right insulation
You will choose a cable that provides reliable signal transmissions and high availability.
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