Introduction to halogen of Integrated cabling cable outer skin

Standard Organizations and manufacturers in North America and Europe have long been arguing over the selection and standards of the outer skin of Integrated cabling network data cables, just as they are still using FTP shielding products for UTP. Currently, North America, South America, Asia Pacific, and China all adopt the North America-based cable fire prevention standard UL and NEC (National Electrical Code ), in some parts of Europe, low halogen or low smoke halogen-free green cable standards are adopted.

Halogen-containing outer skin

Currently, the Integrated Wiring power and communication cables deployed in most regions around the world contain halogen. These cables emit toxic and fog chemicals during combustion. In the fire, halogen cables produce acidic gases, which damage the workers' noses, mouths, and throat. Smoke also makes the victims easy to lose their way and it is difficult to escape from the fire.

Recognizing this potential hazard, some European countries have used halogen-free cables as standards for power and communication cables. However, U. S. National Electrical regulations clearly stipulate that the Integrated Wiring communication network must use cat5e or cat6 UTP (unshielded twisted pair wires) Network cables with halogen package layers. This is because although halogen-containing cables have important defects, halogen cables have strong fire resistance and high burning points. If the cables do not catch fire or are difficult to catch fire, they will not cause combustion, this produces toxic smoke.

In fact, some fires are caused by overheating caused by the power-on time of the integrated cabling cable itself. Halogen-free cables are more likely to cause fire because of low burning points, while halogen insulation can better prevent spontaneous combustion of cables. However, if the cable is already in the fire, the smoke will cause life poisoning. These contradictions have always been the focus of debate in the industry.

Currently, fans of cable halogen, including federated companies and Goodrich, are dominant in technology. Halogen opponents expect to persuade NFPA (American Fire Prevention Association) to modify the current standards to stop halogen use or allow halogen-free cables to be used in ventilation of buildings.

This is not the first time that halogen-free cable advocates attempt to modify standards, but has not been successful so far. The main reason is that the burning of Self-burning cables in the main trunk trough makes it difficult for people to control regional fire prevention, resulting in a fire in the whole building, and low-burning points are prone to fire sources. Another major reason is that there is no evidence that halogen-free cables can save lives (because there are a large number of other decorations in the House that contain halogen ).

According to the current U.S. Construction Act, the only legally installed halogen-free cable is to place the Integrated Wiring cable in a metal catheter, which doubles the cost of the entire wiring system. Therefore, most European countries, including France, Italy and the UK, are switched to halogen cables. Currently, halogen-free cables account for about 25% of communication cables in Europe. In North America and most of the world, halogen cables exceed 98% of the market. Avaya, a wiring manufacturer, has launched a full range of data cable solutions for users of different standards and regions to meet different user needs.

Halogen-free advantages

Halogen-free Features: Low burning points, easy combustion, but low toxicity. At present, the international standards related to integrated wiring and cable are mainly concerned with three issues: Fire resistance (Cable burning speed), smoke density (How much visible smoke is produced) and toxic (the amount of damage to the human body ). The u. S. Fire Prevention Standard only involves the first two issues, but it is more widely used and rigorous. To meet u. S. Standards, halogen must be added to the polymer of the cable insulation layer, the PVC cable contains chlorine, while the FEP (Teflon PTFE) cable contains fluorine.

FEP has a strong fire resistance. It can endure temperatures above 800 ℃ before the smoke is dissolved. It is several times higher than the temperature of 150 ℃ for halogen-free cables, FEP is also an efficient insulator. Therefore, FEP is very suitable for the production of high-speed data transmission cables and is a key factor for the widespread use of cat5e UTP in ventilation. In high-rise shafts and other ventilated places, FEP cables have largely replaced PVC cables. The standards in some European countries are different. In order to comply with strict anti-virus specifications, the manufacturer of Integrated Wiring cable does not use halogen, instead of metal, and is added to the polyethylene and polyene cable insulation layers. When heated, this cable emits only visible vapor with low toxicity. However, this halogen-free cable does not provide better fireproof performance than halogen-containing cables, and its insulation layer will soon burn. Therefore, halogen-free cables do not comply with strict American fire prevention standards. To meet the fire prevention requirements of ventilation and ventilation levels, they have to add excessive metal hydroxide, thus affecting cable performance and technical requirements.

Competition for cable toxicity

When the PVC cabling cables burn, hydrogen fluoride and dioxide gases are emitted, which are identified by Greenpeace as "scientifically known and toxic synthetic chemicals ". When the FEP cable is burned, it releases a colorless, tasteless, but more toxic hydrogen fluoride than hydrogen chloride. Tests show that another hazardous gas exists in FEP smoke. This type of super toxin has never been correctly recognized by humans, and now its research has stopped, but some people think that this type of super toxin is only a product in the experiment, and does not exist in reality.

1. Cable safety level in cabling specifications
2. High-performance fireproof cable Integrated Wiring