Ellis Patents Centaur Cable Saddles Support London Power Tunnel 400kV Cables

By Chris Dodds on 19th July, 2012

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Ellis Patents Centaur HV Cable Saddles

Centaur Cable Saddles

National Grid London Cable Tunnels

 

Ellis Patents, the world’s leading cable cleat manufacturer, has secured a £1.5million order for its Centaur cable saddles and accessories to secure high voltage cables in National Grid’s London Power Tunnels project. 

Pictured: National Grid London Power Tunnels

The project will help ensure Londoners continue to enjoy safe and reliable electricity supplies. When complete there will be over 30km of tunnels carrying high voltage cables between substations in Wimbledon, Hackney, Willesden and St John’s Wood.
 
Ellis’ Centaur cable saddles, which were developed specifically for use with high voltage cables, were specified by Sϋdkabel, the German manufacturers of the cables being installed in the National Grid tunnels. The order was secured on the back of recent work for National Grid and the fact Ellis was able to prove the suitability and safety of its Centaur product for the project’s specification. 

Pictured: Ellis Patent Centaur Cable Saddles

Richard Shaw, managing director of Ellis, said: “This order has given us dual cause for celebration. Firstly, it’s the largest the company has ever won and secondly it demonstrates why we place so much emphasis on research and development.” 

Back in 2008 Ellis launched Centaur; a heavy-duty extruded aluminium saddle cleat that had been designed and developed in-house in response to a serious safety issue surrounding the restraint of high voltage cables up to 400kV with a diameter range of 100 to 160mm. 

Pictured: Ellis Patents Centaur Saddle - Hinged Aluminium Overstrap

“At the time neither the British nor European Standards took into account cleats on cables of this size,” explained Richard. “This meant those specifying for such jobs were very much in the hands of the manufacturers, who in most cases simply provided warranties for their products.”
 
“The problem with this was that none of the products available had been short circuit tested, and so the warranties were based purely on calculations and mechanical tests. As such there was no proof the saddle cleats being used would withstand the most testing elements of the job they’d been bought for.” 

Pictured: Ellis Patent Centaur Cable Saddles

Prior to launch, Ellis put the new product through the most rigorous of testing procedures. Using cable manufactured by ABB in Sweden, the company shipped the Centaur cable saddles and ABB cable to the Netherlands where they were tested to 163 kA peak and 63 kA RMS for one second, in both 3 phase and phase to phase fault scenarios.
 
“We invested well over £100,000 in designing, developing, testing and bringing Centaur to market,” added Richard. “At the time this was the largest amount we’d ever invested in one new product, but we did so with confidence that it had the potential to solve a major safety issue and fill a gap in a growing market sector – something that has since been proved wholly correct.”

Ellis Patents Centaur Cable Saddle Specifications

Part Number	Cable Range Dia.	Length Of Cable Saddle
Ellis Patents CS100-112/400	100mm - 112mm	400mm
Ellis Patents CS108-122/400	108mm - 122mm	400mm
Ellis Patents CS120-132/400	120mm - 132mm	400mm
Ellis Patents CS128-142/400	128mm - 142mm	400mm
Ellis Patents CS140-152/400	140mm - 152mm	400mm
Ellis Patents CS148-162/400	148mm - 162mm	400mm
Ellis Patents CS100-112/600	100mm - 112mm	600mm
Ellis Patents CS108-122/600	108mm - 122mm	600mm​
Ellis Patents CS120-132/600	120mm - 132mm	600mm​
Ellis Patents CS128-142/600	128mm - 142mm	600mm​
Ellis Patents CS140-152/600	140mm - 152mm	600mm​
Ellis Patents CS148-162/600	148mm - 162mm	600mm​
Ellis Patents CS100-112/800	100mm - 112mm	800mm​
Ellis Patents CS108-122/800	108mm - 122mm	800mm​​
Ellis Patents CS120-132/800	120mm - 132mm	800mm​​
Ellis Patents CS128-142/800	128mm - 142mm	800mm​​
Ellis Patents CS140-152/800	140mm - 152mm	800mm​​
Ellis Patents CS148-162/800	148mm - 162mm	800mm​​

 

Ellis Patents Centaur cable saddles consists of an extruded and pressed aluminium saddle and a hinged aluminium overstrap, which incorporates a Low Smoke Zero Halogen Polymeric liner. The curvature of the cable saddle accommodates the thermal expansion of the cable and the ends of the saddle are flared so that the cable never comes into contact with a sharp edge under any circumstances.

Ellis Patents Centaur Cable Saddles Support London Power Tunnel 400kV Cables - Details

 

Video: Ellis Patents Centaur Cable Saddle - Short Circuit Test

 

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Category:  Cable Cleats & Cable Ties

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