Low-resistance cables cut energy costs

April 20, 2000
All manufacturers are looking for affordable energy.

All manufacturers are looking for affordable energy. One way to get it is to make electrical conductors more efficient. This is exactly what General Science and Technology Corp., Miami, Fla., has done with its low-resistance electrical cables. The technology is primarily based on stranding and drawing multiple wires into a single-wire structure called Multifilament Drawn Wire (MFD). Tests show that this process lowers electrical resistance by as much as 25 to 35%.

MFD wire's advantage over ordinary wire might best be explained by the concept that defines electrical power. Electrical power is the rate of doing work, or the rate at which heat energy is produced when electric charges flow through a conductor. Using electrical power, however, expends electrical energy, resulting in wasted power. Because MFD wire has a lower resistance than ordinary stranded or twisted wire, it is, therefore, a better conductor, according to GST.

MFD wires cost a little more but have very short pay backs, say company officials. The wire is corrosion resistant and highly flexible with a sharp bend radii.

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