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Electric Energy T&D - Index

Electric Energy T&D - EE Magazine March / April - Index

Circle 20 on Reader Service Card
In the spring of 006, BC Hydro initiated
rejuvenation of the first XLPE cable by contracting
with a supplier of the first generation cable
rejuvenation process. After about 8 weeks, the
fluid that was being injected stalled and could
no longer be pushed through the cable due to
increased viscosity when the fluid reacted with
water in the cable.
Because these cables provided a critical link to
the island, BC Hydro contracted with Novinium
in the fall of 007 to implement its N-REX
process, which had previously been utilized
on another challenging submarine injection
in Puget Sound in the state of Washington.
Novinium developed the N-REX process for
long submarine cables recognizing that the
insulation and conductor shields of these
cables would be saturated with water and that
this moisture would have to be removed before
the cable could be rejuvenated. The N-REX
Process consists of three phases: establish flow
along the entire length of the cable with N-REX
fluid designed to exclude water, supply the
N-REX fluid until the insulation is essentially
dry, and finally treat the cable with Novinium
Ultrinium™ 73 rejuvenation fluid, which will
extend the cable life 40 years.
This project was initiated on October 15,
007 by installing injection adaptors and reenergizing
the cable. The fluid first arrived at
the end of the cable 108 days later completing
the first injection phase. Phase two has begun
and will last several months until all of the
water is driven from the insulation. Phase
three treatment will commence when the cable
is essentially dry.
For more information about the Novinium
N-REX process see the paper “ADVANCES
IN CHEMICAL REJUVENATION OF
SUBMARINE CABLES” in the library at
10 I March-April 2008 Issue
www.novinium.com or contact Rich Brinton
rich.brinton@novinium.com.
circle 61 on Reader Service card
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INJURIES HURT: ARE YOU TALKING
TOO MUCH ABOUT SAFETY?
By Carl and Deb Potter
Many company leaders and managers wonder,
“Are we talking about safety too much?” The
answer: “No one but you knows.” Realize that
everyone may be a little overwhelmed with all
kinds of communications and distractions.
That’s why talking about safety effectively is
more important than ever.
TALKING SAFETY
The fact is that it’s important to talk about
safety. Injuries are a concern for everyone:
They are emotional triggers, and they hurt
everyone in the organization and at home.
Nobody wants to see another person hurt, and
nobody wants to get hurt.
Consider this question: How can you talk about
safety in such a way that your employees don’t
get sick of hearing about it and therefore stop
listening?
THE EMOTIONS OF SAFETY
Too often people view and deal with safety in
an emotional way. Management gets frustrated
when injuries occur and eventually they come
out swinging “the safety hammer.” Pressure
mounts and the managers step-up their
discipline (or corrective action).
Recently, a safety director for a large company
described a situation where an employee was
fatally injured and two others experienced
serious injuries. For years the safety director
had tried to get management’s attention about
needed improvements, but without success.
Now everyone in the company seems to be a
safety expert; every executive has the answer—
and everyone has a different solution.
When this kind of situation emerges, everything
becomes a mess. Finger pointing abounds,
and the employees choose sides: Either the
problem is technical or it’s the people. Employees
often begin to be fearful of retribution