Electrical showcase

Martin Parsons
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Electrical products run the gamut from wiring and jointing to controls and sensors. We speak to two major players about growth in the region and the latest technologies.

Martin Parsons,
Manager, 3M Electro
& Communications Business ME

What is your focus in the Middle East?

3M Gulf covers all the GCC, including Jordan, Lebanon and Libya. The Middle East remains one of 3M’s core markets, and there is a considerable amount of investment being channelled into the company in the region to build and strengthen its operations.

Is the region receptive to innovation?

3M is in the process of bringing its technology even closer to customers with the opening of an innovative Customer Technical Centre in Dubai. This will be the first centre of its kind in the Middle East. It is expected to open later in 2010, and will act as an innovative base for customers to test 3M’s exciting products and solutions that are new to the Middle East market. The centre will also provide 3M with an expanded facility in the Middle East to better support customer needs across the region.

The centre will draw upon 3M’s global R&D strength and 45 technology platforms to provide solutions for local customers. The fact that we are opening this new centre in Dubai demonstrates our commitment to bring innovative solutions to our customers in this exciting and growing market.

The facility will be divided into a number of zones, including 3M Electrical, which will be a part of the centre where we will showcase our technology, capabilities and products for the Middle East market. Customers will be able to touch and test multiple 3M technologies and learn about their various applications in the on-site teaching rooms.

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3M Cold Shrink technologies is what makes up our joints and terminations for low, medium and high voltage classes, and it is classic simplicity – it moulds round a joint or termination under its own elasticity without the need for special tools or techniques.

Its secret lies right inside every 3M Cold Shrink component in the form of a plastic coil. After the component has been placed over the joint or cable end, this inner spiral is pulled out. The insulating tube then contracts from its pre-stretched size and shrinks onto the cable, exerting permanent radial pressure for the joint lifetime.

The simplicity of design is matched by the complexity of the research that 3M has put into the material developments over the last three decades. Silicone rubber is the material used as an insulator for our joints and terminations. It is hydrophobic, or averse to water, which is particularly important in outdoor terminations. Water on the surface forms droplets rather than spreading into an even film that can increase the chances of tracking or of insulation breakdown.

Silicone is mostly inorganic, so leakage currents or arcing on the surface do not create a conducting carbon path. As an additional safeguard, 3M uses track-resistant filler. Silicone is UV-stable without the need for inhibitors, while its smooth surface provides minimal grip for contaminants so rain will wash them away.

Any new product launches / developments?

We will be introducing a new range of LV inline resin jointing kits and resin bags. The new mould body design is based on a hinged, one-part joint body that allows resin to be sealed inside the mould without the use of mastic and tape. It does this by using an expanding foam seal. No need anymore for the installer to cut the mould ends to the cable OD. The installation from the bottom brings a compulsory guide with automatic snap-fit, and the integration of the CMP system into the body eliminates assembly of different parts.

Its piercing system will release the resin once the resin bag is connected on the body. There is also a new environment-friendly resin Scotchcast #40, fully compliant to EU directive 2002/95/EC (RoHS), while EU regulation 1907/2007/EC (REACH) Resin 40 is hydrophobic. It is supplied in the bag with a pouring nozzle, which represents a step less in the preparation process.