In the torrent of the digital age, every cable is the cornerstone of the information highway, and what protects these information veins is the crucial Electrical conduit. Facing the intricate underground network, understanding and selecting the appropriate cable tube type has become the key to building a robust communications infrastructure. This article guides you through the maze of metallic, non-metallic and fiber optic conduits, revealing the unique charms and challenges of each type.
Metal Conduits: The Strong Choice
Metal conduits, made of materials such as steel or aluminum, are known for their excellent physical protection, impact resistance and mechanical strength. Rigid Metal Conduit (RMC), Intermediate Metal Conduit (IMC) and Flexible Metal Conduit (FMC) each have their own characteristics and meet different needs from industrial environments to commercial buildings. Metal conduits not only provide a solid protective barrier, but also effectively shield electromagnetic interference and serve as electrical ground paths to ensure system safety.
Non-metallic conduit: those who can adapt to the environment
Non-metallic conduit, the most well-known material is PVC, such as: CSA DB2 standard cable conduit, showing lightness, flexibility and versatility. This series of pipes complies with CSA c22.2-06 standards, ensuring excellent insulation and corrosion resistance. Its V0 fire rating, excellent heat resistance and UV resistance enable outdoor power systems to operate stably in various climate conditions. It has passed strict ASTM testing and does not contain heavy metals, ensuring that it is harmless to human health during the entire life cycle, whether it is transportation, storage or on-site construction.
Fiber optic conduit: precise transmission protection
In response to the special needs of fiber optic cables, fiber optic conduits are made of non-metallic materials, such as PVC or high-density HDPE conduit, to provide a non-conductive path to ensure the purity and efficiency of signal transmission. Designed specifically for telecommunications, data centers and high-speed networks, these conduits provide excellent EMI protection and facilitate cable installation, maintenance and future expansion.
The burial depth of electrical conduit depends on its usage environment and type, as follows:
Direct Buried Laying: For directly buried cables, the burial depth needs to take into account soil conditions. Generally, the burial depth of cables under buildings is not less than 0.3 meters. In areas with softer soil or complex surrounding environments, such as farmland, construction sites or roads, the burial depth should be between 0.7 meters and 1 meter. Protect cables from accidental damage.
Rural Areas: In rural areas, the burial depth of underground cables should generally not be less than 1 meter, especially in areas with agricultural planting, to avoid possible damage to the cables caused by agricultural production activities. For areas without agricultural planting, the depth of the cable trench can be adjusted according to the actual situation, but the depth of the excavated cable trench should not be less than 0.7 meters. In severe cold areas, the buried depth of cables should consider the influence of the frozen soil layer, and should generally be buried 0.1 meters below the frozen soil layer.
Urban areas: Due to the particularities of the environment, location, channels, etc., underground cables in urban areas generally adopt the wiring method of racking in pipelines. In this case, the buried depth of the cable should be operated according to the actual conditions on site, and the vertical distance from the top of the pipeline to the ground should be maintained at least 1 meter. The depth of direct burial is set below the depth of frozen soil in winter. In areas without frozen soil in the south, the burial depth is 0.7 to 1.0 meters.
Outdoor Buried Laying: For outdoor buried cable ducts, the burial depth should not be less than 0.7 meters. Steel wire conduits with a wall thickness of 2 mm or less should not be buried in outdoor soil.
Anti-corrosion of inner and outer walls of pipelines: For cable conduits buried in the soil, the inner and outer walls should be treated with anti-corrosion to prevent corrosion. The outer wall anti-corrosion coating is one of the basic methods of pipeline anti-corrosion. The coating is evenly and densely coated on the surface of the rust-removed metal pipeline to isolate it from various corrosive media.
