Under the name of “Undersea” fiber optic cables, several cable designs have been carried out to be installed in both fresh and saltwater immersion environments.
Its main application is the interconnection between two points, allowing long-distance communication by bypassing any natural or artificial geographical obstacle to achieve said communications link.
Communication through a fiber optic cable enables the transmission of massive bandwidths over extremely long distances, with the added advantage of immunity to interference from electric fields.
Our Product Engineering and Innovation area considered it relevant to undertake this type of application with in-house manufactured products and the technical advice of an expert company in this category of products.
The result of this collaboration has yielded an optical cable that can be installed at depths of over 500 meters, withstanding pressures exceeding 50 bar and guaranteeing total watertightness, as demonstrated by the results obtained at the Testing, Research and Services Center (CEIS) located in Móstoles (Madrid). CEIS issued certificate number CEL-0859/20-1 on 11-13-2020 for the cable type CFO AL-SWA-PE UNDERSEA 125 kN (ET.94.875) under recommendation CIGRÉ 623 TB, 2015, “Recommendations for mechanical testing of submarine cables”.
Our experience so far in applications for submerged cables had focused on cables for depths up to 100 meters, manufactured with protective elements in the form of steel wires and protected with polyethylene jackets. This industrial collaboration allows us to add a gel-filled aluminum tube over the optical core to provide a higher degree of watertightness and pressure resistance. This core can house up to 96 optical fibers and is highly crush-resistant, withstanding forces of up to 10 kN.
In order to reach greater depths while maintaining the same watertightness guarantees, marine-grade water-blocking tapes have been incorporated into the cable. This ensures enhanced water-blocking security in the event of cracks in the jackets caused by snagging on dragged objects, bites from marine animals, or falling debris, among other risks.
A new construction variant featuring a stainless steel tube optical core for up to 96 fibers—in 12- and 24-fiber bundles, reaching continuous lengths between 4,000 and 5,000 meters per reel—is currently under development, and we expect its technical specifications shortly.
With this new development, we will dive into a brand-new world of opportunities.
