| Mineral Insulated Cable (MIC) from AEI Cables, UK, has been chosen for the fire alarm and emergency lighting system in a major refurbishment of elderly persons� sheltered housing in north Wales.
Some two kilometres of MIC was used in the first of three blocks to be upgraded. The other two will follow and will also use MIC for the fire alarms and emergency lighting. The fully addressable analogue alarm system used more than 200 devices on 18 floors and has been installed into all communal areas including stairwells and corridors.
The project, commissioned by Flint County Council, used MIC for its fire performance qualities and guaranteed mechanical protection for the block, originally built in the sixties.
Graham Astle, electrical engineer of Flint County Council, said: �It is our policy to specify Mineral Insulated Cable for alarm systems such as this. We need to know that the system will continue to operate in a fire should it happen. Another consideration in this project was for mechanical protection in communal areas.�
In a fire, MIC can withstand temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees centigrade, close to the melting point of copper, and none of the characteristics affecting data transmission change.
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