ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS

Electrical Cabinets and Enclosures

Electrical cabinets and enclosures are used in appliances and consumer electronics to house and protect electrical and mechanical components. They also play an important role in aesthetics and design. Plastics are a material of choice because they are light weight, have excellent properties, are easy to process, and offer unparalleled design freedom. Examples of plastics used in these applications include polyolefins (PP, PE), styrenic polymers (HIPS, ABS), and engineering plastics (PC, PET, PBT, PPO/HIPS, PC/ABS).

Flame retardants are used to enable plastics to pass strict flammability standards such as UL 94. Halogen-based flame retardants have been used in plastic electrical components for many years. While effective, their use is being phased out in many countries due to concerns over potential effects to human health and the environment. Amfine's flame retardants are halogen-free, and represent more eco-friendly alternatives to conventional halogenated products for use in polyolefins, styrenic polymers, and engineering plastics.

FP-2100JC and FP-2200 are flame retardants developed for use in polyolefins, where they offer excellent performance in established tests such as UL 94. Compared to other halogen-free flame retardants, these products can be used at lower load levels and as a result have less effect on mechanical properties and give compounds with lower density. FP-2100JC has outstanding thermal stability and is ideal for use in injection molding and high rate compounding applications employing high temperatures. FP-2200 offers the highest level of efficiency as a flame retardant and is recommended for use in extrusion applications.

FP-600 and FP-800 are designed for use in styrenic polymers and engineering plastics. These products provide excellent performance in industry FR tests along with excellent processability due to their low volatility, high thermal stability, and resistance to mold deposit.

 

Wire & Cable

Cross-linked polyethylene (XL-PE) is widely used as insulation for low and medium voltage cable applications. Antioxidants used in XL-PE must not interfere with the cross-linking process while providing protection against degradation during processing (scorch resistance) and long-term service.

AO-26 is a new antioxidant developed to provide outstanding oxidative stability to polyolefins under extreme conditions. It is non-interacting with peroxides used as cross-linking agents in XL-PE, is non-discoloring, provides excellent scorch resistance and long-term oxidative stability, and has excellent resistance to extraction.

PVC wire and cable insulation requires an effective thermal stabilizer to maintain its electrical properties over long lifetimes. This has traditionally been accomplished using stabilizers based on lead salts, but their use is being phased out around the world due to toxicity concerns. Amfine and its parent company Adeka have been world leaders in the development and commercialization of environmentally-friendly, heavy metal free thermal stabilizers for a variety of PVC applications.

RUP Series are heavy metal free PVC thermal stabilizers developed for wire and cable applications. These systems are recommended for use in building wire requiring UL-83 THWN-THHN.