Tracer wire Concept

With the further popularization of PE pipelines in the natural gas and water supply industries, PE pipes are gradually replacing steel pipes and cast iron pipes in gas medium/low pressure pipeline networks; Due to the non conductivity and non magnetism of the PE pipe, it is not possible to trace the PE pipe, which brings inconvenience to future pipeline maintenance. Therefore, tracer wire also appear. The commonly used "tracer wire" in the current market include copper clad steel material tracer wire, thin film steel wire pressed tracer wire, and wire tracer wire.

Tracer wire effect

The "tracer wire" is used for detecting, tracing, and locating PE pipelines;

The "tracer wire" is laid together with the PE pipe; Generally, metal wire cores are used to apply signals to the "metal wire" through detection equipment, and the detection receiver receives the signal to find the accurate position of the tracer wire, that is, synchronously tracing to the specific position of the PE gas pipeline; To facilitate the renovation and maintenance of PE pipelines.

The development of tracer wire has gone through three generations:

1. First generation tracer wire: It is composed of a matrix of aluminum foil and plastic film, with aluminum foil mainly used for signal transmission and the matrix being fixed aluminum foil. The disadvantage of this tracer wire is that the strength of aluminum foil is very low, and even during production and transportation, it is easy to break, and the auxiliary equipment is easily damaged. At the same time, the resistance of aluminum foil is very high, and the effective detection distance and depth are limited.

2. Second generation tracer wire: It is made by pressing steel wire and plastic film. The tracer wire is made of steel wire as the conductor, with high resistance and limited detection distance, making it difficult to meet practical needs.

3. Third generation tracer wire: It is composed of copper clad steel metal wire core and PE outer protective layer, with a linear appearance. Taking the HX-13II tracer wire as an example

Tracer wire structure

1. PE outer protective layer, insulation, anti-corrosion, waterproof and anti-aging

2. Copper layer enhances conductivity and improves electrical signal

3. Steel core to enhance the strength of the wire body

4. Double line connected structure, which can ensure that two lines are equally and uniformly stressed

Advantages of tracer wire

1. Low resistance

2. High tensile strength

3. Strong corrosion resistance and aging resistance

4. Double line advantage

5. There is a dedicated protective joint connected at the connection point

Connection method

The tracer wire has a special protective connector for the connection between lines. The connector has a waterproof and anti-corrosion sealed chamber. The exposed wire ends of the tracer wire are placed in the sealed chamber, so as to protect the exposed missing wire ends from corrosion. The connector is made of PE material and has corrosion resistance and aging resistance.