Because PE pipes are non-conductive and non-magnetic. PE pipes cannot be tracked undergrounded, which will bring inconvenience to future pipeline maintenance. After engineer's research, the cable named Tracer Cable is invented to solve the problem. Currently, tracer cables on the market include: Copper-clad steel tracer cable, film steel wire pressed tracer cable, and wire tracer cable.

1.The function of tracer cables.

The "tracer cable" is laid together with the PE pipe; Generally, a metal wire conductor is used, and a signal is applied to the "metal wire" through a detection device. The detection receiver receives the signal to find the exact position of the tracer cable, that is , to synchronously track the PE. The specific location of the gas pipeline; to facilitate the modification and repair of the PE pipeline.

2. development of tracer cables

The development of the tracer cable has undergone four improvement:

1).tracer cable: it is composed of a matrix of aluminum foil and plastic film. The aluminum foil is mainly used to transmit signal, and the matrix is a fixed aluminum foil. Disadvantages of this kind of tracer cable: the strength of the aluminum foil is very low, even during production and transportation, it is easy to be broken, and the auxiliary equipment is easily damaged. At the same time, the resistance of the aluminum foil is very large, and the effective detection distance and depth are limited.

2). The second generation tracer cable: it is made of steel wire and plastic film. The tracer cable is made of steel wire as a conductor. It has high resistance and limite detection distance, making it difficlut to meet actual needs.

3). The third generation tracer cable: It is composed of a copper-clad steel metal wire core and a PE outer protective layer, with a linear appearance. The tracer wire has high resistance and poor elongation, making it difficult to meet the requirements of the "Buried Cables" spectification, and the detection distance is only 500 meters.

4). The fourth generation PE composite copper-clad aluminum alloy wire is a new type of wire developed from copper core wire and copper-clad steel wire. It is composed of copper-clad aluminum ally and PE outer protective layer. It has a linear appearance and retains the low resistance of the copper core wire retains the longevity of the PE 100, and the detetable distance is 750 meters in one direction! 1500 meters in both directions!

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