Gel Compositions
AssigneesUnigel IP Limited, Unigel Limited
InventorsScott Allen, Adrian Chisholm, Mukhtiar Singh Sohal, Ivan Tory
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention relates to gel compositions for filling cables, such as communication cables, in particular to gel compositions containing microspheres, to cables comprising said gels, and to methods of preparing such gels
Claims17
-16. (canceled)
A composition suitable for use as a cable filler, comprising a dispersion of compressible hollow microspheres in a gel, the gel comprising:
- a base oil comprising or consisting of a synthetic oil;
- and an organic polymeric gelling agent comprising a styrene block copolymer;
- wherein the synthetic oil is produced from an amount of a feed chemical which is either natural gas or low molecular weight linear alpha-olefins.
A composition as defined in claim 1 wherein the synthetic oil is selected from (i) Group IV base oils, also known as polyalphaolefin (PAO) synthetic base oils;
- and (ii) gas-to-liquid oils;
- or mixtures thereof.
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the base oil comprises or consists of a fully synthetic oil.
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the base oil comprises or consists of a blended synthetic oil.
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the base oil does not comprise a 1-decene homopolymer hydrogenated.
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the composition comprises from 50-99 wt % base oil.
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the compressible hollow microspheres are expanded.
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the compressible hollow microspheres are expanded with an average diameter in the range of 15 to 55 μm.
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the microspheres each have a shell formed from a copolymer, such as a copolymer of acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile (CAS number 38742-70-0).
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the composition contains substantially no thixotropic agent other than the organic polymeric gelling agent.
A composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the organic polymeric gelling agent comprises a styrene block copolymer selected from styrene-ethylene/butylene styrene tri-block copolymer (SEBS), styrene-ethylene/propylene di-block copolymer (SEP), styrene-butadiene-styrene tri-block copolymer (SBS) and styrene-isoprene-styrene tri-block copolymer (SIS), or a mixture thereof.
A composition as defined in claim 1, comprising from 1 to 10 wt % of the organic polymeric gelling agent.
Use of a composition as defined in claim 1 as a cable filler.
A cable, such as a fibre optic cable, containing a composition as defined in clam 1.
A cable comprising a conducting core surrounded by a sheath, a composition as defined in claim 1 being disposed between the conducting core and the sheath, wherein the sheath comprises polypropylene.
A process for making a cable comprising a conducting core and a sheath, the process comprising the step of extruding the cable sheath onto the conducting core and interposing a composition, as defined in claim 1, between the conducting core and sheath during the extrusion step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.