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PRYSMIAN GROUP | DIRECTORS’ REPORT
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Products have also been developed for TADS (Tender Assisted Drilling Units), used in shallow water. These
consist of an optimised package of cables, stations and mechanical subsystems for both static and dynamic
applications for power, instrumentation, control and telecommunication connections between the tender
barge and drilling equipment set. This subsystem is called Bridle.
Lastly, the portfolio of high-performance fire-resistant products has been extended with the addition of a new
and unique design developed to resist jet fires (as required for offshore applications).The new family of
products called BFOU JF (Jet Fire) has passed ISO 22899-1 testing and has been certified by DNV for a 250
kW/m² jet fire with temperatures exceeding 1200° C for 30 minutes (time needed to complete all the safety
procedures in the event of fire).
OEM
.
In the area of cables for special OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) applications, the project to
unify marine cables with the TEMAR family was completed thanks to the creation of a global Prysmian
catalogue for this sector. Certifications are in progress with the different certifying bodies for the plants
concerned.
Cables for nuclear power plants have completed joint type test approval with France and Germany in
connection the process to qualify the entire range with AREVA initiated in the previous year. An international
technical team has been created for this field of application to manage the extension of existing approvals to
new plants and to manage new product development in accordance with AP1000 standards.
In the area of renewable energy cables, products have been developed and approved in accordance with the
new European standards (EN).
In the mining segment, a new solution has been devised for single point suspension cables, in response to
market demand in Australia, involving modification of the cables produced in China and ASEAN and of the
related self-supporting suspension system.
Research has continued into alternative materials such as CCA (Copper Clad Aluminium) for use in flexible
cables. In the area of fire-resistant cables, approval has been obtained for the cabling system according to
UL standards for the American market. Prysmian is the only approved manufacturer of non-metal clad
traditional cables under this highly selective standard. Two international teams were also set up to optimise
and unify the design of fire-resistant cables that now offer a variety of different solutions.
PRYCAM
.
With regard to the development of Prycam technology, some important innovations were
developed in 2015 that will lead to the birth of two new products: the first is the development of the
Pry-
Cam® Gate
prototype; this new patented technology consists of electronics for automatically measuring the
time elapsing between two partial discharge pulses. This innovation will make it possible to install a system
that can determine with absolute certainty whether an accessory, or a length of cable, is affected by partial
discharges without having to use any kind of expertise or artificial intelligence algorithms. The second major
innovation is the
Pry-Cam® Brain;
this system involves the creation of a "smart" search engine that, using
nearly 100,000 measurements performed around the world with Prycam technology, processes the data and
helps operators to produce a diagnosis as objective and reliable as possible, helping them to separate the
discharge source and to identify it. This technology will also be used for automatic generation of alarms in