Greener Jacket Compound Solutions for VW-1 Rated Cable Applications

摘要

Flexible PVC (FPVC) has been used commercially as insulation and jacketing for wire and cable constructions since the 1950s and still constitutes two-thirds of plastic consumption for the wire and cable industry in the NAFTA market today. VW-1 rated wire applications represent an important market segment, which includes flexible cord, appliance wire, and data cable constructions. Traditionally, phthalate plasticized FPVC compounds have been the material of choice for VW-1 rated wire applications, but in recent years, new materials have been developed to satisfy a market desire to eliminate the use of phthalate plasticizers. New material development has been further motivated to eliminate the use of raw materials of concern as restricted in the RoHS and REACH directives, to use materials based on renewable resources that are produced with reduced greenhouse gas generation, and to reduce acid gas and smoke generation during combustion. This paper presents two compound technologies that meet many of these new market requirements: a new generation of environmentally friendly, non-phthalate FPVC compounds based on bio-based plasticizers and a halogen-free flame-retardant (HFFR) polyolefin compound based on metal hydrate flame retardant. The performance of these two technologies will be reported and compared to a traditional VW-1 rated FPVC compound based on the following properties: mechanical, low temperature, rheological, flame resistance, smoke suppression, and acid gas generation.