Maintaining efficient coolant flow in a water-cooled Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) power cable is imperative. Not only can kinking water-cooled power cables be very damaging to the power cable, but it can damage additional equipment components influenced by the coolant stream. Additionally, excessive hose kinks reduce conductor and hose cover life.
Prevention begins with front end EAF power cable design–the first step to mitigate or reduce hose collapse. Designing a proper power cable includes determining the best geometric mean radius (GMR), and implementing good core design factoring in size of the conductor, number of conductors and assembly helix. Awareness of pinch points and maintaining recommended minimum bend radius from the factory play an important role, as well.