Rethink Grounding Designs: Copper Prices, Copperweld and Conductive Fills.

Copper is expensive. Theft is rising:

We are waking up this week to record high copper prices and a market environment where things are set to keep rising. Copper for delivery in July ended the day up 3.2%, with futures trading at $4.7490 per pound ($10,470 a tonne) on the Comex market in New York. If you’d like to see more, check out this article from mininig.com.

Now is the time for companies to start re-thinking grounding designs:

• The best hedge that our customers can make against sky high copper prices is to install Copperweld for all grounding their applications

  • Copperweld is accepted by the the Canadian Electrical Code

  • Methods for design are outlined in IEEE80-2013 : IEEE Guide For Safety In AC Substation Grounding

  • Connector manufacturers fully support the application of their products on Copperweld.

  • Common sizes are in stock with large Canadian wire and cable distributors

  • Modeling information is available for tools like CDEGS to help with selection specification

• Concerned about corrosion of bi-metallics? Don’t be.

  • Here is a great article so users of Copperweld CCS wire and strand can evaluate the corrosion resistance and expected performance within their specific application and area.

Conductive Fills Optimize Grounding Designs:

We see it time and time again. Projects are bid based on designs to minimum code, and then costs skyrocket once the contractor gets on site and starts dealing with real world conditions. Linking this issue to the discussion above on copper prices, engineers and designers need to look at ways to manage these costs up-front during the design phase of the project. In additon to specifying Copperweld, designers can also use modern materials to enhance the local site conditions and complete more cost effective designs.

Conducrete encasing a coductor. It will increase the cross-sectional area, improving grounding and will harden to make sure that the conductor cannot be damaged or stolen

SAE Inc. (Barrie Ontario) has lots of information on the material solutions on their website. This link will take you right to their grounding products. It comes in three forms to help with constructability

• ConduCrete - The Powder - Most cost effective for large ground-enhancement applications

• ConduForm - The Paste - For those times you need to mold or form the material. Can be used to encase conductors on exposed surfaces (Such as rock)

• ConduFlow - The Liquid - Pourable to help surround odd shapes where conducrete and conduform aren’t quite right.

• ConduDisc - The Puck - Prefabricated grounding plate, encased in SAE’s material to ensure long-lasting and reliable grounding design. Especially useful for grounding wood utility poles.

System protection cannot work properly if the system is not properly grounded. use of copperweld and conductive fills help prevent theft and ensure the system works the way it is supposed to

SAE has engineers on staff that can help with design using their materials. They can also provide all of the material properties and modeling data needed for project design.

Long story short, rather than throwing more copper and more rods at projects, SAE recommends using their materials to build more cost effective designs.

Need Assistance? Have questions? Hit the button below and submit your information.